Ten presenters are coming to Cullen Auditorium April 17 as part of an independently organized local TED event called TEDxACU.
According to the TED website, “In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.”
The cost of “sharing” for students who did not fill out the required questionnaire and want to attend TEDxACU is $75.
The questionnaire specifically wanted paragraph responses for three questions:
1. Why do you want to attend TEDxACU?
2. What is your favorite TED Talk, and why is that your favorite?
3. TED’s mission is to support “ideas worth spreading.” Why do you want to join the TED movement by attending TEDxACU?
Lauren Lemley, director of TEDxACU, said, “Our goal with the application questions was to ask things that would help us identify the students most interested in the conference and then be able to award those students with tickets.”
Of the applicants who filled out the questionnaire, 200 were accepted. The number of student tickets were limited because the reduced rate won’t cover the full cost of attendance.
Community members pay the full price of $75, ACU alumni pay $50, Big Country educators pay $50, current ACU faculty/staff pay $30, all without a deadline, but only the 200 students who filled out the questionnaire get to attend at the $20 price for approved applicants only.
It’s understandable that limited space means higher-priced tickets; that’s just supply and demand. And it’s also understandable that this is intended to be a community event.
Those who purchase the tickets on http://blogs.acu.edu/tedxacu/, need only answer three questions, all between one and three words.
“To help make connections among attendees, please tell us three topics, ideas, hobbies, etc. you are most passionate about.”
For a community event at a university that prides itself on “educating students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world,” it seems inequitable that the process for students to receive a single ticket out of a limited number is much greater than any regulation for other ticket purchases at a fairly comparable rate.
