Speakers take the stage to share ideas at TEDxFargo

One of the speakers included North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — The F-M community and others across the country come to downtown Fargo for the 11th annual TEDx Talk Conference.

Every year, there’s a theme at TEDxFargo.

In 2019, it was about moving forward.

This year, it’s about going beyond ways to explore boundaries to look forward to what’s possible.

Twelve speakers from all walks of life came to the Fargo Civic Center to speak on their experiences.

“Some of the talks you’re gonna hear is an anthropologist looking at mental health challenges in our prisons. We’re gonna have an opportunity to hear from someone that’s building the world’s largest carbon capture pipeline. We’ve got an opportunity to meet a young man that was in a unique spot and actually accepted George Floyd’s counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis just a few years ago. It’s a wide variety of speakers, some are from our area and some traveled a long ways to be here,” says the Curator of TEDxFargo Greg Tehven.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum made an appearance during the introductions in his first time at the conference since 2012.

“It’s for you to actually be present the whole day and to practice that gratitude, practice that curiosity and when you do that. You’re gonna lift up these speakers. They’re gonna send the message out. Change our community, change our state, change the world. We have a chance to do that, we’re gonna do it right here in Fargo,” says North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

CEO of the non-profit Emerging Prairie has been the curator of Fargo’s TEDx event since he helped launch it in 2012.

He says the lessons you can learn at a Ted Talk are invaluable for anyone.

“Ideas are important. Ideas bring people together. They challenge us, they allow us to be curious. They honor folks with courage to bring ideas into the world. Hopefully, at TEDxFargo, we’re able to take some of these ideas and folks can apply them. They could say, ‘Yeah, that works for my neighborhood, my school, my family, my community and hopefully it makes things a little better,” Tehven says.

Tehven says they took two years off because of the COVID-19 pandemic but that didn’t stop them from hosting smaller gatherings with previous speakers.

You’ll be able to watch the sessions online for free in a couple months.