TEDxUNC conference sells out fast

In a matter of seconds, the TEDxUNC event’s remaining free 50 student tickets sold out on Tuesday.

But the conference’s high demand won’t keep it from a mass audience. It will be live-streamed by ReeseNews.org and later posted online for free.

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, brings together high-profile experts on a variety of topics. Each expert then gives a lecture, which is posted on TED.com for free.

UNC’s TEDx conference — to be held Jan. 21 at the FedEx Global Education Center — will feature 11 lecturers, ranging from Chancellor Holden Thorp to the online executive editor of The Wall Street Journal. The speeches will be a maximum of 18 minutes long.

Only 250 tickets, the maximum capacity of the venue, were released, said Rachel Myrick, one of the organizers.

Of the 250 tickets, 210 went to students, said Hudson Vincent, president of Carolina Creates, which organized the event. The other 40 tickets were given to faculty and to the speakers, he said.

Carolina Creates is a student organization that focusses on spreading creative ideas throughout campus using music, writing and visual arts.

Myrick and other organizers acknowledged the need for a bigger venue next year.

“What I thought was going to be small turned out to grow bigger and bigger because people are familiar with TED,” she said.

Myrick said she had to obtain a license from TED in order to hold the event, which also limited the number of attendees.

“The license requires that everything is done in the spirit of TED,” she said, adding that she will apply for a different license next year in order to host a bigger event.

Ian Lee, vice president of Carolina Creates and a member of The Daily Tar Heel editorial board, said the group is working with students to organize viewing parties of the live-stream across campus.

Myrick said these viewing parties will most likely take place in residence halls.

Organizers have been giving out free tickets as contest prizes to advertise the event. Contests included creating a TEDxUNC logo and recording a video about why a participant deserved to attend.

“I think the whole concept of TED is popular,” Myrick said. “It’s very interesting and inspiring so people were just excited it could be at UNC.”

She added that organizers developed the challenges to not only spread the word, but to find a diverse group of students that were excited about the conference.

Mackenzie Thomas, co-president of the Campus Y who helped organize the event, said the contests helped attract student interest.

TEDxUNC has a committee of 15 students that have been working with the advisory board since the beginning of the year, she said.

Thomas said the event received well over 100 submissions for the ticket contests.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.