TEDxGowanus' Official Speaker Line-Up For This Sunday's Event

"We are passionate about bringing TEDx to Gowanus because this area is a perfect representation of the culture, innovation, and change that are dominating the new Brooklyn landscape" –Sean Gannet, Organizer TEDxGowanus.

TEDxGowanus, an independently organized TED event, will be held this Sunday, January 26th, 2014 at The Green Building and 501 Union Street in GowanusThe theme of this all-day event is "Inspiring Community". It will bring together area designers, entrepreneurs, artists, historians, and community leaders to share ideas and discuss a full range of topics from the neighborhood's history, industry, ecology, to evolution.

Organized and presented by Sean Gannet, Stone Dow, and Joseph Alexiou, this conversation about Gowanus will feature an impressive list of over twenty speakers, some of whom are probably familiar to many in Gowanus.

Below find the speaker line-up and the schedule for Sunday.

SESSION 1: ORIGINS, 12:15—1:45pm

Joseph Alexiou, The most important swamp in American history
T.M. Rives, What the sale of Manhattan doesn't tell us about Native Americans
Marlene Donnelly, The Case for Gowanus: National Registry of Historic Places
Andrew Gustafson, Why the Baseball Hall of Fame Belongs in Brooklyn

Kate Orff, Rebuilding eco-infrastructure: Marine Gardening with Blue Mussels
Proteus Gowanus, Collaborative Art and Historical Inspiration
Joselin Linder, Stopping a genetic disorder in its fourth generation
Break 2:00—3:00

SESSION 2: IMMERSED, 3:00—4:40pm

Coney Island River Rats, LIVE DIVE OF THE GOWANUS!
Ate Atema, Street Creeks: A Call to Action
Natalie Loney, Inside a New York City Superfund
Monica Byrne, Changing the Disaster Relief Paradigm
Calloway's Salon, A delicious romp through debauchery and laughter with a tune or two
Rachel Fershleiser, Why I <3 bookternet="" br="" the="">Reggie Ossé, Hip Hop: From Counter Culture To Popular Culture

Dinner Break 4:45—6:15

SESSION 3: #GOWANUSINSPIRED, 6:15—8:00pm

Leah Selim, Food is more than culture, it's diplomacy
Pete Raho, Bringing back the American manufacturing sector
Councilmember Brad Lander, Democracy in Local Budgeting
Susannah Drake, Designing a Sponge Park
Eymund Diegel, Unearthing the Ghost Streams of Gowanus's past
Ed Woodham, Public Art, Private Awakening
Blind Ear Music, Live and improvised composition and performance

Cocktails and Conversation at ROYAL PALMS

The event has been sold out for a while. If you did not score tickets for TEDxGowanus, no worries. The entire event will be live streamed.  Or you can attend one of the viewing parties.  Click here for the info.

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'Inspiring Community': Gowanus Gets Its Own TEDx Event

"We are passionate about bringing TEDx to Gowanus because this area is a perfect representation of the culture, innovation, and change that are dominating the new Brooklyn landscape" –Sean Gannet, Organizer TEDxGowanus.

Get ready for the first TEDxGowanus, an independently organized TED event, which will be held at The Green Building at 452 Union Street and at  501 Union Street in Gowanus on January 26th, 2014. The theme of this all-day event is "Inspiring Community". It will bring together area designers, entrepreneurs, artists, historians, and community leaders to share ideas and discuss a full range of topics from the neighborhood's history, industry, ecology, to evolution.

"As a neighborhood that’s undergoing many changes – from the recent Superfund designation, to demographic and cultural shifts, to the physical rebuilding of the area post-­‐Sandy – TEDxGowanus will also be an opportunity to hear visions of the area’s future."

Organized and presented by Sean Gannet,  Stone Dow, and Joseph Alexiou, this conversation about Gowanus will feature an impressive list of over twenty speakers, some of whom are probably familiar to many in Gowanus.

Here is a partial list of presenters. More will be announced.
-Reggie Ossé (aka Combat Jack) – Host, The Combat Jack Show – Through storytelling, Reggie will recount Hip-­‐ Hop’s journey from counter-­‐culture to pop-­‐culture.

-Ed Woodham -­‐ Founder, Art in Odd Places – Devoted to gently “awakening” the masses through art installations, Ed recounts how his public mission influenced a very personal journey.
-Rachel Fershleiser – Tumblr – Rachel is creating “Internet Enabled Literary Communities” which are reinvigorating consumption of the written word.
-Kate Orff – Partner, Scape/Landscape Architechture LLC – Following up on her TED.com talk about greening the Gowanus Canal with oyster beds, Kate will discuss her Blue Mussel Pilot Project in the Gowanus Bay.
-Ate Atema – Atema Architecture – Will follow up on his previous TED talk about an innovative way to channel freshwater into the Gowanus Canal.
-Leah Selim -­‐ Co-­‐Founder, Global Kitchen – Discussing how gastro-­‐diplomacy can bridge cultural divides. 

-Monica Byrne -­‐ Co-­‐Founder ReStore Red Hook -­‐ As a core member of Restore Red Hook, she has a new idea about how to shift the disaster relief paradigm.
-Hans Hesselein – Executive Director, Gowanus Canal Conservancy -­‐ Will be speaking about shifting the responsibility for public park maintenance to the community and residents that use them.
-Pete Raho -­‐ Owner, Gowanus Furniture – As an “Artisan Ambassador,” Pete will show how small batch industry has created a new manufacturing sector with industrial employment opportunities.
-Joselin Linder – Author -­‐ Joselin shares a personal story about the history (and future) of a genetic disorder that originated in her family.
-Marlene Donnelly -­‐ FROGG Member, Benjamin Ellis Architect – What it will take for Gowanus to become the first Urban Industrial Site listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
-Eymund Diegel -­‐ Director, Public Lab – Eymund will describe how he used high-­‐resolution, aerial photography to uncover "Ghost Streams" that feed the Gowanus Canal.
-Joseph Alexiou -­‐ Author /Journalist (Co-­‐Curator of TEDxGowanus) -­‐ Will explain the importance of the Gowanus watershed in the first major conflict of the American Revolution, The Battle of Brooklyn.
T.M. Rives -­‐ Author – Using the Native American origins of the name "Gowanus" as a starting point, Rives will elaborate on the often mistaken history of Native American culture and NYC.

TEDxGowanus tickets are on sale now at Brown Paper Tickets. They are is short supply, so get yours now. A limited number of "Early Supporter" tickets are available and have been priced at just $25. Regular priced tickets will be $50. All attendees will have a full day pass to attend three speaker sessions and the interactive exhibit hall.

This independently organized event licensed by TED will be broadcasted live on www.TEDxGowanus.com.
For further information and news about the TEDxGowanus event, click here.

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