‘Ideas worth spreading’: TEDx Talk coming to York Beach

YORK, Maine — York Beach has its own TEDx Talk thanks to a local mother bent on bringing the popular series to her hometown for its brand of “ideas worth spreading.”

TEDxYorkBeach is set for Feb. 10 at the York Community Auditorium at York High School from 5 to 9 p.m. with several speakers giving talks on the theme of “power of the past, force of the future.” The series is an extension of the TED conferences that have been held in California since 1984, that flagship conference drawing speakers like Bill Gates and Richard Branson.

Organizer Amanda Woods has always wanted to put on a TEDx Talk herself, having auditioned for the TEDx in Portsmouth in 2019. She has published two children’s books and works with her family to run their businesses like Wiggly Bridge Distillery and York Oil and Propane. She has two kids, Isabelle, 7, and Cooper, 10, who both she said have helped her with TEDx.

“I’ve always loved just the idea behind TED and TED Talks. They just spread ideas worth sharing,” Woods said. “The TEDx platform gives people in communities a spotlight that they never really would have.”

TEDx Talks take place all over the world through the TEDx program, which has an application process that draws thousands of speakers. The talks are always filmed, edited and posted online.

“To give a TEDx Talk is on a lot of people’s bucket lists,” Woods said. She capped the number of applicants she received at just over 90, some looking to audition from as far as Germany and Switzerland.

Woods said she and a panel narrowed down the number to 30, and that this week they were planning to finalize the list of roughly six to eight. Her goal is to select mostly people from New England, although she found one applicant from Utah fascinating – a hostage negotiator speaking on how to use negotiation tactics in daily life.

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“She talks about conflict resolution, not just in heated moments but in your everyday relations,” Woods said. “that’s just fascinating to me.”

Woods chose “Power of the past, force of the future” as her theme for TEDxYorkBeach. She said she was inspired by the idea of remembering York’s history to bring “the country together for something good for the future."

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Putting the spotlight on the York community

TEDx Talks have taken place for several years at the Portsmouth Music Hall, where they resumed TEDxPortsmouth in-person talks this year. The theme when Woods auditioned for TEDxPortsmouth in 2019 was “the point of no return.” She planned to give a talk focused on how every decision in life can be empowering when viewed as a point of no return.

Woods was not selected that year, but she said it planted a seed in her own mind of bringing TEDx to her hometown in York. She began the application process a year later through the TEDx program.

“It kind of fueled me for my desire to want to do something good for the community,” Woods said.

Woods said she was initially rejected, which she believes was because of the number of other places named York in the nation like Pennsylvania. It took adding the “Beach” for her to gain approval.

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Woods’ plans changed when the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. While other TEDx events were continuing virtually, Woods said she wanted hers to be in-person and decided to wait until it was considered safe to do so.

“I fully believe in the power of being in the present for this. It just adds a whole other element,” Woods said. “It can be so meaningful.”

Woods is looking forward to the final product, which will be polished off by a professional public speaking coach that will work with each of the chosen speakers to perfect their speech. As the organizer, Woods is not eligible to speak herself, but she said it remains on her own bucket list.

“Eventually, if I feel the passion for it again,” Woods said, “But right now my passion is to spotlight some really great people in our community.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: ‘Ideas worth spreading’: TEDx Talk coming to York Beach