T H A L I A NH A L LM A R C H2 92 0 1 9

What is TED

WH

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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a grassroots, localized program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. The Port City’s event is called TEDxAirlie, where dynamic speakers and TED Talks video will

combine to spark deep discussion and connection to an intimate audience. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including TEDxAirlie, are self-organized.

Bridges are iconic structures used to connect people, places and things. Physically and metaphorically, we cross bridges daily—precisely TEDxAirlie’s central focus.

Comprised of volunteers who are licensed by the uber-popular TED, a nonprofi t organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, TEDxAirlie’s topics promise to be diverse, thought-provoking and impactful. We believe The Port City’s greatest assets are the ideas and dreams of its’ citizens. TEDxAirlie strives to be a platform that gives those ideas and dreams a voice.

Speakers will come together to help bridge connections to today’s most pressing local, national and global issues, and each speaker’s compelling Talk will be recorded for submission to TED.com. Sit back, relax and prepare yourself for some BIG IDEAS.

2 0 1 9 T H E M E

1Jason GrahamBorn a Bridge

OpeningRemarks

6Mona Badie TechnologyNeeds Women!

8Dr. Skip Johnstone Peeling Back the Onion

9Evan FoldsBe a Part of Agriculture | Growing Healthy People

S C H E D U L E

Taylor Lee2 0 M I N U T E I N T E R M I S S I O N

After-Party,Ironclad Brewery

Closing Remarks

2Julie-Ann Scott Pollock Targeting The Busy Body: A Hyper-Embodied Embrace Of Mortality3

Cedric Harrison Bridging The Racial Gap Of Socio Economics 4

David Wise The Empathy Machine: An Ava-tar’s Bridge To Understanding

5Cliff Ray Life-saving Listening

10Ben DavidFixing the Bridge: Treating the Root Causes of Crime

11Stephanie Lanier Create the Things that You Wished Existed

7Ben Knight Creativity & Entrepreneurs — Building Bridges of Innovation

J A S O N G R A H A M

BORN A BRIDGE

For nearly 20 years, Jason has dedicated his life to the arts and culture in Oregon. With his home based in Bend, he has sought to challenge his own personal views and improve his levels of participation, patronage and change agency within the town.

He believes art is a necessity more than a luxury and that we need art that rep-resents the status quo and challenges the status quo with careful, compassionate consideration for the viewer.

Jason seeks to fi nd voices that need to be heard within this state, and beyond,

through the mediums that best carry their messages. He has helped to create, run, and compete in poetry slams, open-mic competitions, and juried art shows. Jason is currently the Artist-in-Residence at Fishtrap Writing Community and is a four-time TEDxBend performer.

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J U L I E - A N N S C O T T - P O L L O C K

TARGETING THE BUSY BODY: A HYPER- EMBODIED EMBRACE OF MORTALITYJulie-Ann is a professor of Communica-tion Studies at UNC-Wilmington with specialization in storytelling, performance and stigmatized identity. She is the recipient of the UNCW Distinguished Professorship, the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence, Distinguished Scholar and

Public Service award, Wilma Magazine’s ‘Woman to Watch’ in education and the YWCA’s ‘Woman of Achievement’ in education. In addition, her book Embodied Performance as Applied Research, Art and Pedagogy received the 2018 book of the year in Ethnography from the National Communication Association. As a disabled woman, her storytelling research focuses on how we can learn to embrace our mortality and accept our movement across the unstable “bridge of ability” throughout our lifetimes. Em-bracing instead of fearing our embodied vulnerability can lead to empathy, human connection and social justice. Her book explores this topic, using the term “hy-per-embodiment” to describe the body they embraced rather than the fears of their mortality. It seeks to create a culture that adapts with our changing embodiments.

C E D R I C H A R R I S O N

BRIDGING THE RACIAL GAP OF SOCIO ECONOMICS Cedric Harrison is the Founder of Support The Port Foundation, Inc. a 501(c)3 non profit organization that aims to “bridge” the communities of Wilmington together through philanthropy, scholarship, music, arts and culture. Through these roles Cedric strives to connect individuals with opportunities and expand their horizons, while creating a more equitable and har-monious community. Beyond founding Support the Port, to enhance, cultivate and provide a renewed sense of community ownership and ex-cellence, Cedric is the Assistant Director

at The Nixon Minority Male Leaders Program Center at CFCC. In this role, he works on improving minority retention and graduation rates, supporting students in the program with free college tours of NC-based colleges, providing free tutors to ensure students are supported with their academic endeavors and hosting events.

He is also a freelance writer, public relations expert and professional actor.

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D A V I DW I S E

THE EMPATHY MACHINE: AN AVATAR’S BRIDGE TO UNDERSTANDING

David Wise believes tapping the con-sciousness through modern technology can create experiences that heal the emo-tional and relational connections in us all.As a multimedia producer, David has an expansive history in advertising, network & reality television, corporate commu-nications, SEO marketing, fi lmmaking and now a primary focus on instructional design and virtual reality development. Passionate about the science of design and its eff ects on human perception and

behaviors, intermingled with his autodi-dact pursuits in cognitive sciences and spiritual concepts, a new life path has emerged to design experiences that pro-mote behavioral changes and bridge the gaps in our empathy and compassion for one another.

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C L I F F R A Y

LIFE-SAVINGLISTENINGCliff is the Owner/Founder of P2P® RESCUE, a North Carolina-based compa-ny dedicated to building unique, innovative rescue products for various water safety and ocean rescue scenarios. Founded in 2014, P2P initially manufactured and sold com-petition training standup paddleboards with inset paddle storage.

In August 2015, lifeguards on the North Shore of Oahu encouraged P2P to visit Hawaii and research ways to incorporate their unique technology into rescue prod-ucts. Since then P2P Rescue has been hon-ored to work with and provide rescue boards to over 40 lifeguard agencies in the US, and

also fi re departments, defense contractors, resorts and universities.

At the age of 14, Cliff lost his father in a drowning accident. It was ultimately his father’s visionary, entrepreneurial spirit that led Cliff to leave his career as a real estate developer and take a leap of faith in creating P2P Rescue. P2P remains committed in its eff orts towards drowning prevention and is honored to be working with some of the world’s most experienced water safety personnel to design and build its rescue products.

P E R F O R M E R

T A Y L O R L E ETaylor was a prodigy of the bass guitar at the young age of 12. With the guidance of his mentor Steve Bailey, the bar was set high from the beginning. In 2009, Taylor received a full scholarship and attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music where he studied and performed with the likes of Brian Blade, Mark Whit-field, and Kim Plainfield. During his time at Berklee, Taylor also achieved the highly esteemed “Outstanding Bassist Award.”

Taylor has performed and toured inter-nationally with Recording Artists Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Nico and Vinz, Tedes-chi Trucks Band, Jeff Sipe Trio, Bela Fleck, Bill Evans, and Marcus King—and seen performing on David Letterman, The Today Show and The NFL pro-bowl halftime show. Recently featured in Bass Player Magazine, Taylor’s debut album “Lightning Man” has been received with the highest acclaim. A rising star of the electric bass, Taylor continues to push the boundaries of the instrument creating an exciting new voice.

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M O N A B A D I E

TECHNOLOGY NEEDS WOMEN! Mona Badie, a 14-year GE veteran, is Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer for GE Hitachi Nuclear, a $1B Global business based in Wilmington. In this role, Mona is responsible for all Information Technology systems as well as Digital Transformation and Commer-cial Software, including the Industrial Internet efforts.

Mona is a big advocate of Women in Technology. Amongst other initiatives, she leads the “Girls in Technology” program to encourage girls to participate in STEM fields.

Mona earned her Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. She is married with two children and resides in Wilmington with her husband.

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B E NK N I G H T

CREATIVITY & ENTREPRENEURS — BUILDING BRIDGES OF INNOVATION

Ben Knight, a Chicago native, has transi-tioned well to country, small town living. As a co-owner of Chef & the Farmer and the Vivian Howard Restaurant Group, he has established himself as a leader in small town investment and job creation. Teamed with his wife, Vivian Howard, the two have created businesses in Eastern North Carolina that employ over 120, and generate over 7M in annual revenue.

Knight thrives on entrepreneurial and creative activities and has used his artistic

qualities to combine thoughtful design into warm, fun and inviting restaurants. Most recently, Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria here in the South Front district of Wilm-ington, reinvents an old shirt factory into a bustling contemporary pizzeria, com-plete with wood burning ovens, exposed original terracotta walls, and old school Pizza Hut style Tiff any chandeliers.

In addition, Knight serves as a board member to the NC Rural Center, and is an established contemporary NC artist. When not in his studio, or one of the restaurants, Knight can be found coaching his 7 year old twins basketball team.

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D R . W I L L I A M ‘ S K I P ’ J O H N S T O N E

PEELING BACKTHE ONION

Dr. Skip Johnstone is the fi rst born of parents in Wilson, NC. After several moves in Eastern NC, his family settled in Sanford, NC where he grew up. A medical illness at age nine, as well as four prior generations of physicians, guided his career choice to become a physician.

Dr. Johnstone received his undergraduate degree at Duke University. He matricu-lated at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. He completed a residency in obstetrics and gynecology at ECU and joined a busy, thriving multi-surgical clinic in Pinehurst, NC where he practiced for twenty years.

He entered academic medicine in 2012 and joined the faculty at NHRMC OBGYN Residency program in 2013 as Gyn Division Chief. His charge is to teach vaginal surgery and pelvic reconstructive surgery to residents.

He still lives in Pinehurst and is married to his high school sweetheart of 38 years. They have four beautiful children.

V I D E O

T E D T A L KV I D E O

STEPHEN WILKES

THE PASSING OF TIME,CAUGHT IN A SINGLE PHOTOTED2016 | Februar y 2016

By blending up to 100 still photographs into a seamless composite that captures the transition from day to night, Stephen Wilkes reveals the stories hidden in familiar locations.

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BE A PART OF AGRICULTURE — GROWING HEALTHY PEOPLEEvan Folds is a serial entrepreneur and spiritual scientist who has worked and founded businesses on many different levels of the regenerative agriculture space, including a retail organic/hydropon-ic gardening store, a wholesale compost tea business, a commercial wheatgrass business, an organic lawn care company, a market vegetable farm, and more. His consulting platform Be Agriculture (www.BeAgriculture.com) serves as a vehicle for his ideas and a means of engagement with other companies and changemakers dedicated to using food and agriculture to grow healthy people, plants, and planet. He was recently elected Supervisor of

New Hanover Soil & Water Conservation District, and has had a lifelong interest in learning about and educating people on the wonders of the natural and spiritual world. He is active, performing lectures and workshops for gardening and farm-ing groups all over the globe, and is a contributing writer for many reputable international gardening publications. He received degrees in biology and religion from UNCW, and is most proud of his two precious children. He has called Wilming-ton, NC home for the past 23 years.

E V A NF O L D S

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B E ND A V I D

FIXING THE BRIDGE: TREATING THE ROOT CAUSES OF CRIME

District Attorney Ben David received his B.A. degree from the University of Florida, where he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. de-gree from Wake Forest University School of Law. He became the elected district attorney fi ve years after joining the Sixth District (New Hanover and Pender Coun-ties) and is currently in his fi fth term.

Ben’s professional organizations include the Wilmington Downtown Rotary, and the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Prevention of Youth Violence. As District

Attorney, he served on the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, the Governor’s Gang Task Force, and Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration. Ben is a past president of the NC Conference of District Attorneys. Most recently, he received his certifi cation as a handler for POTTER, a facility dog who assists victims of crime.

Ben is the author of “Community-Based Prosecution in North Carolina: An In-side-Out Approach to Public Service at the Courthouse, on the Street, and in the Classroom” (Wake Forest Law Review). Ben is an adjunct professor at UNCW, where he teaches Crime and Community in the Cape Fear. He resides in Wilmington with his wife, Stephanie, and their children, Maddie, Sophie, and Fitz.

S T E P H A N I E L A N I E R

CREATE THE THINGS THAT YOU WISHEDEXISTED

One of Stephanie Lanier’s core beliefs: when you have hardship in your life, you shouldn’t waste it. Many words describe Lanier: wife, mom, realtor, entrepreneur, blogger, special needs advocate. Yet, being a “wholehearted tribe builder” is the thread connecting the experiences of and creations in her life. Life-changing moments fueled a search for connection, purpose and spaces for vulnerability. In 2012, Lanier co-founded Wilmington-based Lanier Property Group alongside her husband, Andrew.

She also created The Inspiration Lab, a membership community for women encouraging work-life integration, deeper friendships and the design of more manageable and meaningful lives.

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Join us at the TEDxAirlie After-Party! At the conclusion of today’s event, celebrate at Ironclad Brewery with the organizing team, speakers and sponsors of TEDxAirlie: The Bridge.

This event is open to the community. We invite all those who share a love for TED Talks to join us for the occasion.

Walk one block to Ironclad Brewery115 N 2nd St, Wilmington, NC

3rd St.

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Princess St.

A F T E RP A R T Y !

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O R G A N I Z I N GE X E C U T I V ET E A M

UNCW Communicat ion Studies Department

Claire Ashworth

Ginny Alexander

Dr. Bi l l Bolduc

David Bol l inger

Dr. Jennifer Brubaker

Brookl in Green

Manuela Herrera

Jennifer Mabes

Ben Massey

Laiken McManigal

Micaela Murphy

Rachel Olsen

Dr. Rick Olsen

Ashley Poole

Jeff Rivenbark

Robert Seagle

Xandria Taylor

El l i s Thomas

Frank Tr imble

Dr. David Weber

and numerous UNCW Communicat ion Studies Students who have helped to make this event a success

S P E C I A LT H A N K S

UNCW Communicat ion Studies Society

UNCW Alumni Associat ion, especia l lyChris Montero

Thal ian Hal l , especia l ly,

Nick Fenner

Cole Marquis

Li ly Nelson

Passion is the bridge that takes you from pain to change.

Frida Kahlo

N O T E S

B O O K L E T D E S I G N B Y :

T E D X A I R L I EM A D E P O S S I B L EB Y O U R S P O N S O R S