A big-ideas conference with Eustace Conway and a pledge of allegiance to the Earth.

by Jess McCuan  .  photo by Matt Rose

Speakers at last year’s TEDx Asheville conference pondered death and wondered whether dolphins could be people too. This year, we can’t wait to hear what Eustace Conway—hero of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2002 book The Last American Man—and locals like Laurey Masterton have to say. Jennifer Saylor, TEDx Asheville’s executive director, says Breah Parker will lead the crowd in pledging allegiance to the Earth. Whatever else happens, Asheville’s second annual independently organized big-ideas rally should be interesting. And a bit smoother on the operations side. “This year, no one will be turned away,” says Saylor, who admits it was both a good and a bad thing that nearly 350 people stood in line but couldn’t attend the free event last year. This year, you must buy a $25 ticket in advance. Or, you can attend an off-site “watching party.” She promises that live streaming video (which somehow never came together last year) will work. The whole point, she says, is to build “an ongoing electronic community based around great ideas in Asheville and for Asheville.” Very ambitious indeed. August 29, The Orange Peel.

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