PROVIDENCE – TEDx Talks is returning to Rhode Island this weekend with two record-breaking speakers who are generating more early ticket sales compared to the last one that was held here in 2023.
TEDxProvidence, which takes place at the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 8, has already sold three times the number of tickets than in 2023, TEDxProvidence Executive Director Arnell Milhouse told Providence Business News.
"We actually paused our social media campaigns two weeks ago, and traffic has still only increased despite it," Milhouse said. "This has gone viral, taking on life of its own. We ran a very strong campaign for 30 days, but then we stopped posting. We wanted to test to see if we needed more marketing, and we didn’t. People responded on their own."
TEDxProvidence sold about 200-300 tickets in 2023, Milhouse estimated. This weekend's event has already sold upward of 700-800 tickets as of Thursday. He expects another 100-200 tickets to be sold before the event.
John Tarantino, one of the top attorneys in the country and lifelong Rhode Island resident, and Dr. Sendurai A. Mani, whose appearances from the 2023 event each broke TEDx Talk viewing records, are slated to speak again this year.
Tarantino held a talk on redemption stories that currently has 25 million views on YouTube, making it the most viewed TEDx Talk on the platform. At that same event, Dr. Sendurai A. Mani gave the most viewed cancer-related TEDx Talk in the non-profit's history.
Other speakers scheduled to appear Feb. 8 include Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court Frank Williams, Shannon Shallcross, an expert in using AI and analytics, and Sara Monteiro, a poet, curator and cultural advocate.
A full list of Saturday's speakers and more details about the TEDxProvidence event can be found
here. The event will begin at 12 p.m.
Meanwhile, Milhouse says this year's TEDx Providence will be "very different than previous years" for those who attended the 2023 event.
"We're rolling out several new features," he said. "TEDx Talks typically last 4-5 hours, so now we're doing breaking it all down into three different acts so people can better take in what they're learning. Gallery and networking lounges, which have never been offered at TEDx Talks before, where folks can mingle in between talks and even do meet-and-greets with the speakers, fresh off the stage."
"There will be real, catered food at this event, whereas in the past only things like popcorn were served," Milhouse added.
Tickets for this year's TEDxProvidence include chair massages, meditation, 2 ballet shows and more Milhouse said.
