The Union County Vocational-Technical School will be hosting its third TEDx event in March 2021. The event titled “TEDxYouth@UCVTS” will feature participants from the Union County area, including several from Scotch Plains and Fanwood. 

The goal of both TED and TEDx is to give speakers a platform to express their passions on any topic. Believe it or not, TED and TEDx are quite different. While TED is geared towards professionals in a certain field, TEDx is more inclusive and is designed to bring communities together.

“TED is more for experts in the field and bigger audiences, while TEDx is for local communities, towns and cities,” Union County Magnet Student and TEDxUCYouth Editor Kristen Adams said. 

Even though TEDx is more inclusive to smaller communities, it gives the same opportunity for having 10-minutes to share their experiences on any topic.

“Anybody can write a speech and share it with an audience, in this case, a county,” Adams said. “We wanted to provide a platform for all teenagers to talk about things they’re passionate about. Whether it’s an interest, hobby or a current event, especially now since everything is through the computer screen.”

TEDx offers so many opportunities outside of speaking. Editors are assigned to speakers and they work alongside speakers to help them bring their ideas to life. Speakers can also recruit graphic designers and artists to add graphics and visuals for their presentations.

With the TEDx event, citizens of the Union County community will have the chance to learn something new and that the speakers can share their passions.

“I would say for viewers, my biggest hope is that they will learn something new, they will definitely learn something new,” Adams said. “For speakers, if there’s something that you’re passionate about like music, sports, medicine or even human rights, you can share that with Union County. It’s such a cool event to be apart of.” 

TEDxYouth@UCVTS will occur in March 2021, and the event will be held both virtually and in person.