Better Off TED

The first TED Talks — short for Technology, Entertainment, and Design — went down in 1984, but only in the past few years, the YouTube era, has their popularity taken off. Sponsored by the Sapling Foundation, the official talks bring together some of the best brains in the world to give punchy but profound 18-minute speeches on topics in science and culture. With the results now appearing royalty-free online and independent events springing up everywhere, TED fever has spread among the country’s intellectuals. Miami-Dade, in fact, now boasts two separate TEDx organizations, with the x indicating an independent organization separate from the original TED organizers. TEDxMIA has already mounted several events, and a neighborhood-specific TEDxCoconutGrove enters the fray this Friday at Ransom Everglades’ Lewis Family Auditorium (3575 Main Hwy., Coconut Grove). The daylong event offers multiple speakers at once, with a dinner break and some musical performances sprinkled throughout. The slate of speakers impresses in its diversity. Practically headlining the thing is legendary producer Emilio Estefan, but other notable names include Pamela Golbin, chief curator at the Louvre; James Grippando, best-selling legal-thriller author; and Thelma Gibson, nurse and Grove activist. Fittingly, given the venue, a number of Ransom teachers, grads, and even current students round out the bill.
Fri., Sept. 28, 12-9 p.m., 2012