Full speaker lineup at TEDx SouthLakeTahoe 2018

“Building Bridges” is the theme for the 3rd annual TEDx SouthLakeTahoe on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at MontBleu Resort and the speaker lineup is a robust one, including a South Tahoe High student.

Organizers aim to bring unity and positivity during a time that division is too strong a motivation. While each topic discussed will be different, they will intertwine with the theme in the presentations.

Speakers for the evening are:

JT Holmes: An innovative professional athlete who pushes the sports of skiing, B.A.S.E. jumping, wingsuit flying, and speed riding to new limits. He is an award-winning stunt performer and coordinator in both feature film and commercial works. He has been featured on 60 Minutes. Holmes has been in marketing campaigns for Apple, Red Bull, GoPro, Google, BF Goodrich and Dell and he has appeared in such movies as Hangover 3, Godzilla, Fast and Furious 7, Transformers 3, The Amazing Spiderman 2. He acts and stunt performs in the 2019 release of Running with the Devil.

Ian Ruhter: A photographer who embraces the past by working in a contemporary manner with a 19th century photographic process called wet plate collodion. This allows him to produce one-of-a-kind handmade photographs called Ambrotypes and Tintypes. Working from 19th century literature, he was able to make his own film using USP collodion, silver nitrate, iodides and bromides to produce what he considers to be the most beautiful film in the world. Ruhter also engineered the world’s largest wet plate collodion camera out of a delivery truck and giant camera lens.

Nell Merlino: A catalyst and activist for the advancement of women and girls. She mobilized more than 25 million people to recognize girls’ value and potential with the creation of Take Our Daughters to Work Day in 1993. In 2000, Nell launched Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, the first online micro lender. Senator Hillary Clinton joined Nell in 2006 to launch the Make Mine a Million $ Business program to help women grow micro businesses to million-dollar enterprises. An expert on business growth and the value and visibility of girls, Nell has provided commentary on every major news outlet including CNN, Bloomberg, Fox News, The Today Show, NBC, CBS, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and The New York Times. Her media appearances, quotes and stories have generated over 3 billion female focused media mentions.

Adam Markel: Speaker, author and entrepreneur, who inspires, empowers and guides
people to achieve massive and lasting personal and professional growth. A recognized expert in the integration of business and personal development, Adam speaks and mentors around the globe in the areas of business, entrepreneurship, leadership, and transformation. Adam is CEO of More Love Media, a company dedicated to empowering individuals and businesses to re-imagine, refocus, and capitalize on change in order to thrive in a world where constant disruption is the "new normal”

Kylie Pilkinton: Kylie was born three months early, weighing in at 1lb 13oz. At three days old she suffered a stroke resulting in left side hemiparesis. As a result, Kylie lives with both physical and cognitive challenges, yet still participates mainstream in many activities with her peers, her favorite being dance. Kylie spent her early years in South Lake Tahoe and in late 2008 at age seven, moved with her family to her father’s home country, New Zealand. In 2015, after six years in New Zealand the family returned to South Lake. Kylie attends South Tahoe High School and will graduate in 2019. Her dream is to one day be a motivational speaker and psychologist with a focus on children.

Max Stossel: An award-winning poet and filmmaker who gives a unique voice to modern culture. His performances across four continents, from Lincoln Center in NY to the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, have been described as mind expanding, profound, emotive, and hilarious all at once. His work has been translated to fourteen languages, won multiple film festivals, consistently goes viral, and has influenced the way digital media organizations tell their stories. You can watch some of his short films at wordsthatmove.com.

Sandra Joseph: A history-making Broadway star, a bestselling author, and a keynote speaker. Ten years as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera earned her the record as the longest-running leading lady in the longest-running Broadway show of all time. Oprah calls her a Broadway legend and an inspiration. Sandra has been seen on numerous national broadcasts, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, The Today Show, The View, and Oprah: Where Are They Now? Recognized for her thought leadership, Sandra is a member of The Transformational Leadership Council, a group of 100 top personal development professionals.

Malcolm J Tibbetts: Malcolm assembled his first two pieces of wood together as a youngster in his granddad's workshop. In the mid 90's, after building many furniture pieces and after acquiring a shop full of tools, Malcolm's woodworking journey took him to the wonderful world of segmented woodturning - a truly unique art form. Author of the #1 international bestselling book, Unmasking What Matters: 10 Life Lessons from 10 Years on Broadway and the coauthor of Your Creative Soul: Expressing Your Authentic Voice with five-time New York Times bestselling author Caroline Myss. Three of his wood sculptures line the outside of Tahoe Mountain Lab in South Lake Tahoe. Malcolm's turnings have won many awards and prestigious collectors have acquired many of my pieces. In 2002, he was approached by Linden Publishing company to reveal some of his techniques in the form of a "how to" book on the subject. Malcolm's book, The Art of Segmented Woodturning is now available.

Sam Horn: Founder and CEO of the INTRIGUE AGENCY, is on a mission to help people create quality one-of-a-kind projects that add value for all involved. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, Forbes, INC and on NPR. Sam has spoken to more than a half million people worldwide and for such clients as National Geographic, Accenture, Cisco, Boeing, Intel, NASA, Nationwide, Capital One, Asian Leadership Conference, Four Seasons Resorts, SXSW, U.S. Embassy in London, and dozens of associations including ASAE, NSA, ICF, the National Governors Association. Her books - Washington Post bestseller Got Your Attention?, POP!, Tongue Fu!, What's Holding You Back, ConZentrate and the upcoming SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week - have been endorsed by Dan Pink, Stephen Covey, Seth Godin, Ken Blanchard, Tony Robbins, John Gray and favorably reviewed in Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.

Marusa Bradac: Originally from Slovenia, Marusa is now a physics professor at UC Davis. Her research includes studying the composition of the Universe, her specialty being properties of dark matter, the elusive “stuff" that makes up a quarter of the universe. Increasingly popular in the media especially with the excitement of the latest discoveries about the Universe’s past. Marusa uniquely combines her passion for the Universe with her outdoor loves of skiing, surfing and mountain biking. She is passionate about her research and is committed to provide the best possible education for her students. The one thing that excites her even more than her own research and the outdoors is seeing young and bright minds excited about the world around them.

Steve Rizzo: He is the Attitude Adjuster. You can’t attend one of his keynote speeches, seminars, or read his books and leave with the same attitude. He’s a personal development expert, comedian, motivational speaker and author. His popular PBS special brought him into millions of homes. It’s no surprise that he’s been inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed upon fewer than 200 speakers worldwide since 1977. Perhaps one of Steve’s greatest achievements was the stellar degree of success he achieved as a comedian, being chosen as a Showtime Comedy All-Star and sharing the stage with Jerry Seinfeld, Rodney Dangerfield, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres and many more giants of comedy.

Neha Gupta: A best-selling author, top 100 teen expert, keynote speaker, and entrepreneur. Over the last 12 years she has built both Elite Private Tutors (www.eliteprivatetutors.com) and College Shortcuts (www.collegeshortcuts.com), both with a mission to serve families; transforming teenagers lives from the quest to become super achievers to become superhuman beings.

The night will start out with an opportunity to network with other deep thinkers in Lake Tahoe and a chance to see local artists showcase their talents.

TEDx South Lake Tahoe has sold out both of the last two years. They moved the event to a bigger location this year to accommodate more people. Tickets can be purchased here http://tedxsouthlaketahoe.com/tickets/ or at the MontBleu box office.

Tickets are on sale now for $42 to $52, plus fees. After the show, there will be a free after-party at the Opal Nightclub. Free admission for anyone that has a TEDx ticket.