TEDx prepares for Music Hall event in May

PORTSMOUTH — Co-producers Anna Goldsmith and Kaarin Milne recently welcomed the 2023 TEDxPortsmouth speakers, sponsors, and team members for this year’s speaker/sponsor appreciation party as they prepare for the sold-out event, to be held Friday, May 12 at The Music Hall.

“Seeing everyone together in one room — our speakers, sponsors, team members — it just knocks me out, how much this event means to so many people. Each year I say, ‘This is going to be the best TEDxPortsmouth we’ve ever had!’ ... and each year it’s true,” said Goldsmith.

The team gave a big shout-out to the generosity and community commitment of their sponsors. Platinum sponsor Kennebunk Savings Bank also provided significant support for the creation of a short film on youth mental well-being that filmmaker Jay Childs will debut at the event. Silver sponsors include Colene Arnold, MD, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, Piscataqua Savings Bank, Eversource, and Chinburg. The event’s Bronze sponsors are Sheehan Phinney, Well Told, Exeter Hospital, and Bangor Savings Bank.

“While the community is reflecting on who we are and looking back to where we’ve been,” Milne said. “TEDxPortsmouth is thinking forward, looking ahead to what could be, and inspiring the people here today and in our audience to take us there.”

One of the many things that sets TEDxPortsmouth apart from other TEDx events is that the team includes professional writers and performance coaches who partner with each speaker for a three-month period to help them refine and express their big ideas in the most impactful way.

Celebrating its 11th year in 2023, the event sold out in a record-breaking 70 hours. And in the greater TEDx community, TEDxPortsmouth has earned a reputation as a stand-out show.

This year’s TEDxPortsmouth will be hosted by Monica Dorley, a graphic artist and comedian, and Cliff Lazenby, a former Portsmouth city councilor. The event will feature a diverse lineup of speakers: Claire Bloom, a retired naval officer and the founder of End 68 Hours of Hunger; John T. Broderick Jr., the former chief justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court; Courtney Daniel, vice chair of WSCA Portsmouth Community Radio; James W. Dean Jr., president of the University of New Hampshire; Stephen Gianotti, founder and president of The Woodland Group; Michelle Kelley, an FBI special agent, hostage negotiator, and former second grade teacher; Scarlet Keys, professor at Berklee College of Music; Jennifer Moore, founder and co-creator of Project Upcycle; Andrea Pickett of the Portsmouth Housing Authority; and ninth-grader Bhumika Prem, from Phillips Exeter Academy.

Last year, an unprecedented four of its 12 talks were selected to be released to TED’s global audience of 36 million people — a huge honor for the team. And it also helps explain why more than 200 people applied to speak for just 11 spots.

“I have definitely felt a bit star-struck with this year's group of speakers,” said Goldsmith.

Speakers include a university president, a hostage negotiator, and a former New Hampshire Supreme Court justice, to name a few.

“We’ve all been working really hard,” said speaker Andrea Pickett, describing how the process has swallowed up the free time that she and her fellow speakers have. But Pickett also pointed to the volunteers she met for the first time at the party. “Getting a peek behind the curtain, it’s impressive how many people are putting in free, labor-of-love hours for TED."

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: TEDx prepares for Music Hall event in May