What's Next? Columbus' 2nd TEDxColumbus took place at the Columbus College of Art and Design with a diverse and dynamic roster of 14 speakers and performers.

Columbus
United States

Bol Aweng

What’s next when your country, Sudan, labels you lost? And furthermore, when you do find your way back, what do you do? Live on the fear, anger and hatred that was the blanket over your upbringing, or find deep love and loyalty to a land that carries your heritage and is home to your family. Bol Aweng will help you to walk in his shoes on this remarkable journey that continues still today.

Jason Barger

What’s Next from the moment we all stand up from our seats today? Jason invites us to think about the way we choose to move throughout our world. Perhaps the first step forward is to Step Back.

Suzanne Beachy

Any diagnosis of mental illness results in a complicated and uncertain fate for those it strikes. When you lose a son as a result of such a diagnosis, it ignites a search for answers. Suzanne Beachy has gained a perspective on life as a result of her loss but is still asking, what is the truth?

Phil Cogley

Also known as the The Saturday Giant, Phil Cogley draws on his skills as an arranger and performs as a one-man band, employing looping technology to build lush arrangements comprised of beatboxing, guitar soundscapes and vocals.

Marcie Gabor

In observing the trends of sustainability, green was not the only color that struck Marcie Gabor’s inner chord. She suggests that in order for us to embrace the real “local-vore” movement, whether a Jeep Cherokee from Detroit or a handmade wooden teething toy from an ETSY merchant, the color to embrace should be a new hue of red, white and blue.

Meagan Jones

At Metro High School, Meagan was willingly thrown into a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum. She went on to be a member of the first graduating class at Metro, but her subsequent course of studies at The Ohio State University took a seemingly different path from STEM. So how did Meagan excel at a school that at face value didn’t embrace her interests? It’s a simple answer, she says, if you are willing to listen.

Doug Kridler

The success of TEDxColumbus is further evidence that Columbus continues to be on the move. Doug Kridler will kick off our program with a short exhortation on the importance of Columbus’ “Inner Go” that makes progress possible.

Teresa Long, M.D.

What would a healthy world look like? From outbreaks and pandemics – HIV/AIDS, obesity, H1N1 – to health disparities, this doctor sees everything. But if we spent just a moment thinking about what a healthy community really looks like, what picture would you paint? Dr. Teresa Long, Columbus’ Public Health Commissioner, will carry us through her vision of that portrait.

Jennifer Dyer, M.D., M.P.H

Dr. Dyer has taken on the doctor-patient relationship with her new IPhone application, the first to be developed out of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. And even though teens love to text, will she be able to transform the media into a life-saving strategy?

Matt Slaybaugh

Our only return performer from TEDxColumbus ‘09, Matt Slaybaugh has been on hunt for What’s Next. We’ll have to see what he’s unearthed.

David Staley

When dreaming about what’s next for Columbus, David Staley does not believe comparisons to Austin and Indianapolis should be involved. Armed with a strong belief that we can tackle breathtaking innovations that made cities like Florence famous, he claims it’s time for a perpetual conversation among our ‘translators.’ The results, he says, are potentially combustible.

Chris Rockwell

As a person that helps innovators take products to market and to profit, Chris Rockwell knows a few things about ideation and design for people. And moreover, why it too often fails. A life-long expert in the human factor, Chris will help us understand how our ingrained point of view can lead our creative instincts astray; and how creating with- instead of for- people can result in breakthrough experiences.

Michael Wilkos

The Columbus Bicentennial will soon arrive. And our city is no longer the ‘average test-market town’ it was just a few years ago. In just a generation significant changes in mobility, demographics, housing, and neighborhoods have resulted in a very different place. Michael Wilkos will examine some fascinating community trends rooted in the data he loves. The details just might surprise you.

Andrew Varner

Andrew Varner, an accomplished pianist, will connect our programming through creative buttons of music.