Tickets on sale Monday for TEDx Carson City

Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series introducing the speakers for TEDx Carson City set for April 8 at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St.

Tickets for TEDx Carson City 2016 with the theme, Creating the Community you Want to Live In, will go on sale Monday.

Organizer Gina Hill said the goal for Carson City’s TEDx is to unite listeners in a common vision of creating a community that all would want to live in. She hopes it’s transformational.

“I want people to leave that day with the inspiration and tools to make a real difference,” Hill said. “I’m extremely proud of the fact that all of our speakers that day have strong ties to our community.”

TEDx Carson City is an all-day event in which speakers from a variety of disciplines share their life’s work, passions, and concepts through thought-provoking and entertaining talks that run between 10 to 15 minutes. The event combines live talks, TED Talk videos and opportunities to network.

The talks will be 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April 8 and will feature 15 speakers addressing ways people can make a difference in their community and in their own lives.

Tickets are $99 and limited to 100 people; lunch is included. The talks will also be live streamed at no cost into the Performance Hall of the Brewery Arts Center from the Black Box Theater. Participants must RSVP for those seats, and may purchase lunch onsite. All attendees will be able to mingle with speakers and one another.

Purchase tickets or RSVP for the free overflow seats, beginning 10 a.m. Monday, at tedxcarsoncity.com, 775-883-1976 or at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St.

Living Dye Free: Our story of a suicidal 7-year-old and the effects of artificial food dyes

When her 7-year-old son became suicidal, Rebecca Bevans made it her mission to figure out why.

Her investigation led to a surprising discovery about the dyes common to many foods.

“It changed my son’s life and others like him,” she said. “The problem is that many people do not understand dyes or how to remove them from their lives.”

She will share her findings about the physical, psychological and emotional effects certain dyes can have on developing children.

“One of the most important areas of our community is our children,” she said. “Our children’s health and well-being is vital not only to their future but to our community’s future. We all understand that food affects children physically, but what many do not understand is that it affects them psychologically.”

Bevans has a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience and a master’s in human development. She teaches psychology at Western Nevada College and Southern New Hampshire University. She’s also president of Brain Matterz, a Nevada nonprofit with the focus on brain disorder research and education.

The Assassination of Atticus Finch

During his career, Carson City attorney John Rutledge has attained the highest-possible peer review rating and repeatedly been named to the annual Best Lawyers In America directory.

Still, he says, there’s a lack of credibility.

“There has been a demise of lawyers in our society from pillars and confidantes into the butt of a joke,” Rutledge said. “I want to talk about positive steps that can be taken to reinstate the role of the lawyer.”

Rutledge has served as exclusive transactional counsel for a huge real estate portfolio, multiple publicly traded corporations, and a foreign nation-state in its negotiations for the television reality series, “Survivor: Palau.”

He has also done legal work for, and protected and enforced the intellectual property rights of, famous musicians and several of the world’s largest software companies.

Rutledge said it’s important to give attorneys proper respect.

“The rule of law is the underpinning of any ostensibly free society,” he said. “The lawyer is the glue that holds that underpinning together. Without respect for lawyers, the natural devolution is a disrespect of the law.”

14

Singer, songwriter, humorist and small-town philosopher Antsy McClain writes what he knows: The good life.

Staging his live shows from a small, fictitious trailer park called Pine View Heights, patterned after his own childhood surroundings and experiences, McClain is free from an overabundance of material things and appreciates time with family and friends.

One of three entertainers scheduled for TEDx Carson City, McClain will perform songs from his live shows, which touch upon country, rockabilly, Jazz, swing and a number of pop culture references.

He will also be exploring the notion what most excites us about life at age 14 is important “hard wiring” we should pay more attention to, and apply it more effectively in our 40s, 50s and beyond.

“The closer we stay to that 14-year old design, the happier and more content we’ll be as adults,” he said. “Adversely, as we get farther away from our 14-year-old selves, the more frustrated we’ll be, and the more we’ll try to fill that hole with harmful addictions, bad relationships and self-destructive things in general.”

Living by his mantra of “Enjoy The Ride,” McClain has won friendship and collaboration with some of the most talented musicians in the world. With such a wide circle of mentors like Waylon Jennings, Tommy Smothers, guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel and cowboy poet Baxter Black, McClain says he marches to the beat of a different drum.

Walking in Another’s Shoes

Since initiating her transition into a woman in 2009, Kimi Cole has considered it an amazing journey of a lifetime, rather than a singular ultimate destination.

With a profound understanding of the challenges and struggles that existed secretly for more than 55 years, she decided the most effective application of her life’s experiences would be to share those learned lessons with others.

Drawing from her own experiences, Cole will educate the public regarding the transgender community.

She will also share insights she’s developed based on viewing the world through a unique lens of living as a male, then later identifying and being perceived as female.

Working actively with PFLAG, Carson Region, a national advocating outreach and support organization, Cole has experience presenting to educators, medical professionals and community service organizations.

She works with legislators and advocacy groups, seeking LGBT-positive improvements in areas of fair and equal treatment.

Her goal is to proactively continue raising positive awareness of all diversity communities, in order that everyone, regardless of their background, can enjoy full equality and the ability to peacefully coexist in society.

How to Change Behavior to Ensure a Sustainable Future

Donna Walden will discuss leveraging community-based social marketing to help environmental programs properly select behaviors, establish a baseline and develop strategies that can successfully measure behavior change.

She will discuss some successful pollution prevention programs and case studies. Participants will learn behavior change techniques that are essential in changing the environmental future.

Walden consults environmental companies and nonprofits, helping them to build a presence in a competitive marketplace.

For the last five years, Walden worked for the University of Nevada, Reno managing the Western Sustainability & Pollution Prevention Network, a four-state network funded by the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical resources to state and local source reduction programs.

She was also the executive director for the Sierra Green Building Association in Truckee, Calif., with the mission to educate and promote environmental design, building and living practices in the Sierra Nevada.

In 2013, Walden received national recognition as the Pollution Prevention Volunteer of the Year by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.