The University of Nevada, Reno College of Business is sponsoring the second annual TEDxUniversityofNevada, an independently organized TEDx program, bringing a combination of live presenters and videos to spark deep conversation and connections on Jan. 24, 2014. Event organizers have opened the call for speakers to submit a proposal and hope to attract the best local talent and stories worth spreading that the University and northern Nevada has to offer.

"Once again, we'll have the area's most fascinating and engaging speakers come together for one day in Reno to share their passions and discuss their visions for the world," said Bret Simmons, College of Business associate professor and TEDxUniversityofNevada license holder and spokesperson. "We hope to find passionate local voices that few have heard before with perspectives that the global TED community may not have access to."

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.) 

During the inaugural event this past January held at the University's Joe Crowley Student Union, 13-year-old Logan LaPlante introduced the community to a different way to learn in the video Hackschooling Makes Me Happy: Logan LaPlante at TEDxUniversityofNevada. The video published on Feb. 12, 2013, and has garnered more than 285,600 views on YouTube as of this month.

"We are looking for people with a compelling story that can present their ideas in a dynamic way," Simmons said. "We are committed to finding great stories among our own University of Nevada students, faculty and alumni. We will also put some entertainers on our stage, so we hope talented singers, musicians, bands, comedians, actors or other kinds of entertainers will be interested in talking."

The call for speakers can be found at http://www.tedxuniversityofnevada.org and is open from now until September 16, 2013. The sole sponsor of TEDxUniversityofNevada is the Online Executive MBA program in the University's College of Business.

About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with many initiatives.

At a TED conference, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. TED speakers have included Roger Ebert, Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Brian Greene, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Three major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Vancouver, Canada, simultaneous with TEDActive, in Whistler, BC; and the TEDGlobal Conference takes place each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

On TED.com, talks from TED conferences are shared with the world for free as TED Talks videos. A new TED Talk is posted every weekday. Through the Open Translation Project, TED Talks are subtitled by volunteers worldwide into more than 90 languages. Through our distribution networks, TED Talks are shared on TV, radio, Netflix and many websites.

The TEDx initiative grants free licenses to people around the world to organize TED-style events in their communities with TED Talks and live speakers. More than 5,000 TEDx events have been held, and selected talks from these events are also turned into TED Talks videos.

The annual TED Prize grants $1 million to an exceptional individual with a wish to change the world. The TED Fellows program helps world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities. TED-Ed creates short video lessons by pairing master teachers with animators, for use in classroom instruction or independent learning.

For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED.