Welcome to our TED talk. If you’ve ever said those words — maybe after sharing your way-too-deep french fry takes or soliloquizing about "Missour-ee" versus "Missour-uh" — then it’s time to put your money where your mouth is.

TEDxKC is going down at the Kauffman Center tomorrow, Aug. 12, at 6 p.m. The event will bring thinkers, doers, and new perspectives to the big stage.

Hold on — who’s Ted?

TED (for Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an annual conference for sharing big ideas. Every year, some of the brightest minds in the world come together to give presentations on topics from astronomy to agriculture — in 18 minutes or less.

TEDx is an initiative to share the TED Conference with local communities. TED provides guidance + resources to independent organizers. Hence, TEDxKC: one of the largest TEDx conferences in the world, organized by local leaders and held right here in Kansas City.

Look who’s talking

We hooked an incredible lineup for this year’s theme: EMERGE. Speakers include:

Lizz Wright, vocalist + owner of Blues & Greens Records, a label with a mission to “restore the basic humanity in the music business.”
Bettymaya Foott, a photographer with the International Dark-Sky Association.
Lyla June, a multi-talented Indigenous scholar, artist, and community organizer.
Arthur Brooks, president of the AEI think tank and Harvard happiness professor.
Alexandra Lockwood, a project scientist for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Majora Carter, an economic revitalization strategist + Peabody Award-winning broadcaster.

Listen up

You’ve got four options if you want to take part in the show:

Get tickets to the live show at Muriel Kauffman Theatre.
Join the watch party at Helzberg Hall.
Volunteer to help set up the event — volunteers get a plus one ticket to the watch party.

All talks will be made available on the TED website.