8 St. Cloud Area Residents to Give TEDX Talk on Thursday

ST. CLOUD -- Eight St. Cloud area residents will get up on stage and give a 12-minute talk on Thursday.

The fifth annual TEDx talk is at the Paramount Theater starting at 6:30 p.m.

Spokesman Brian Hart says TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design and they try to find a variety of speakers to touch on each of those areas.

Hart says the speakers have been working hard on their talks for months now.

Annette Atkins is a historian who uses letters, photos, shoes, art, chairs, census records, maps and other artifacts as keys to unlock the past, a past that is full of wonders and mysteries, stories and landscapes to be explored.

James Alberts is the founder and pastor of Higher Ground Church of Christ, a social justice leader and board member of ISAIAH MN.

Mary Bruno is an artist, community ambassador and owner of Bruno Press letterpress print shop in St. Joseph, MN.

Charles Eisenreich is a lifelong pre-K-12 educator and administrator, with a rich background in participating in and coaching sports.

John Harlander is a physicist and designer of optical instruments for astronomy and space physics including for the recently-launched NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite.

Niloufer Merchant is a psychologist who uses a holistic approach to treating disorders related to trauma, PTSD, depression and anxiety.

Pete Rogers is an expert in automation and robotic systems integration.

Robbyn Wacker is a leader in higher education and an academician in gerontology and sociology.

Hart says a past speaker, Eric Sannerude, had his local talk make it onto the main TED website and has now been viewed over two million times. Tickets are still available for Thursday's event.