Exploring a theme of humanity

Tiffany Edith gestures as she speaks during TEDxOcala in the Dassance Fine Arts Center at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

TED was born in 1984 out of Richard Saul Wurman’s observation of a convergence among technology, entertainment and design. TEDx is a grassroots initiative in the spirit of TED’s mission to share “ideas worth spreading” independently under a free license granted by TED.

TEDxOcala celebrated its 10th anniversary on Nov. 9 at the College of Central Florida, with a roster of 13 speakers. The theme was “humanity.”

The local event is organized by Manal Fakhoury and a team of other volunteers.

“TEDxOcala 2024, carrying the theme of humanity, was remarkable. I concur with many of our attendees who have reached out to say the speakers sharing their ideas were top-notch, the many details the team provided to create a wonderful day of curiosity, connection, and conversation did not go unnoticed,” Fakhoury said after the event.

“We learned about limitless love, the internal lines of beauty, the ability to claim oneself as an artist, the understanding of consensus through AI when it is not a solution, the true meaning of hospitality, not to be misled by labels, understanding heroic anarchy, the importance of a plan and the lies about perfection, developmental trauma to be transformative, being re-marketable, creating space for joy, and the core of being a global citizen. We are grateful to our community for supporting us for 10 years as we move into our next decade of bringing ideas worth sharing.”

To learn more, go to tedxocala.com