Renowned TEDx Talks landing in Thunder Bay on June 10

Emily Cross says she’s tired of hearing people say they’re not good enough.

The idea is the central thesis of the message the 16-year-old Hammarskjold High School student plans to deliver on June 10 at the Tedx Thunder Bay conference being held at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.

“I’m talking about how if you have a passion, then you are good enough,” Cross said on Tuesday at the ticket sale launch of the event, based Ted Talks, a global phenomenon around the world that brings together the brightest minds to discuss the latest thinking in areas such as physics, bio engineering, arts and humanities, transportation and medical technologies.

Cross, who is returning this year to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, is one of 14 speakers taking part in the day-long conference.

Perhaps the most well-known speaker on the list is Leah Parsons, the Nova Scotia mother whose daughter Rehtaeh Parsons committed suicide three years ago after photos of an alleged gang rape were distributed throughout her school.

Others include Thunder Bay software developer Kevin Kuchta, computer programmer Trina Diner, roboticist D.J. Sures, scientist Shohini Ghose and Red Lake’s Linda Lundstrom, an icon in the Canadian fashion industry.

Organizer Mike Wrenshall said he normally has about eight speakers attend TEDx events, but had such an overwhelming application response – 147 in total – that he decided to nearly double that total in Thunder Bay.

Half the speakers are local, the other half from outside the region.

“We think it’s great for Thunder Bay. Just because Thunder Bay is in an area the size of France and we don’t have many people, doesn’t mean we don’t deserve to have something like a TEDx, where we can stay tuned and plugged in to everything that’s going on locally and around the world,” Wrenshall said.

Worldwide, there are about 300 TEDx talks held each month, he added.

“It has really, really taken off, I think because everything is free. It’s all put on YouTube and most of the stuff is webcast, it’s just proven really popular,” Wrenshall said.

Speakers will follows the TEDx format and there will be ample breaks during the day for delegates to connect, share thoughts and visit the innovation alley set up in the Auditorium’s mezzanine area.

Attendance will be capped at 600. Each attendee will be served lunch.

“To attend you sign up at our website, www.tedxtbay.com and register and you’ll be sent an invitation straight away,” Wrenshall said.