TEDx due to make ‘Waves’ at CSUMB

By Mark Muckenfuss

For the third academic year in a row, Cal State Monterey Bay will host a TEDx event, Feb. 7 from noon to 5 p.m. in the Otter Student Union ballroom. A dozen speakers are expected to participate. 

Dan Burfeind, the senior coordinator of Student Organizations, Leadership Development and Assessment, said this year’s theme for the talks is “Waves.” 

“The theme is relatable to our location, where we are as a campus and where we are in the community,” Burfeind said. “Small things can make big changes, such as we as a campus making waves and seeing the ripples in Monterey Bay and throughout the region.”

TEDx programs are an offshoot of the parent TED Talks, a series of global events held on an ongoing basis with the concept that “powerful ideas, powerfully presented, move us to feel something, to think differently, to take action,” according to the organization’s website.

Scheduled talks at the CSUMB event will deal with such topics as bipolar disorder, the danger of deficit thinking in education, how small actions influence the future and using music to influence social messaging.

One of the speakers is a CSUMB staff member, the remaining are students representing the full spectrum across the campus, from first-year students to those in graduate programs. They were culled from about 30 applicants. 

Having the event at CSUMB, Burfeind said, is a natural fit. 

“Ted Talks and universities, they go together,” he said.  Universities are these places where ideas are tested and argued about. To me, this is an avenue for individuals to share their voices, share their stories and their ideas. A lot of them are confronting something they’ve had to deal with in their lives and it’s a way of overcoming it.” 

Burfeind said he and his assistant, Hailey Sanfilippo, work with the speakers to focus and hone their presentations.

“A lot of people have a lot of self-doubt,” he said. “They say, ‘I don’t know if I should do this. I don’t know if I can do this.’ It’s great seeing them at the end, delivering these fantastic products.”

It’s also a good feather to have in their caps. 

“It gives our students some real-life experience,” he said. “It’s impressive to be able to say, ‘I’m a TEDx speaker.’”

The event is free but TED Talk regulations limit the size of the audience to 100 people, Burfeind said. Tickets are available through the event web page and the public is invited. The Otter Student Union is located at  3118 Inter-Garrison Road, Seaside.