The Alternative Press

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – Village President Alex Torpey will be one of 10 featured speakers on Saturday, April 21 as part of an idea-sharing seminar hosted by TedxSetonHall, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Nursing building’s amphitheater on the Seton Hall University campus.

“Alex was definitely a local connection for us and he definitely fell in line with our theme of ‘What’s Next?’ when he broke ground last year,” says Daria Preston, a senior diplomacy major at Seton Hall and one of TedxSetonHall’s organizers. She was referring to his election last May.

Ted.com is a nonprofit umbrella organization that organizes various conference series all over the world for the purpose of “spreading ideas worth spreading.”  Ted.com was formed in the 1980s in California to spread new ideas and project concepts in the fields of technology, entertainment and design, or “TED.”

Three years ago a group of Seton Hall seniors founded a branch of Ted.com to bring together members of the New York and New Jersey area community to discuss issues and concepts that they found important.   

“We definitely think that this year is the highest caliber of speakers that we have ever had and certainly the most diverse,” Preston added.

Torpey commented that during his portion of the conference, he will be speaking about how social media and the Internet are tools that are empowering young people as well as less partisan individuals to get involved in politics and social change.  

“I want to get the word out to young people that they can have an impact on social change and even making laws,” Torpey said. 

Torpey has been known to utilize the Seton Hall campus and he also gets involved with various on campus activities as well.  Despite his youth and clear connection to the youth audience at Seton Hall, Torpey added that his talk is an interesting topic that can cross all ages, genders and political lines and would be thought-provoking for all community members to come and listen to.

“Although he is the president of South Orange, we wanted to give him an opportunity to speak about something where his personal thoughts could be displayed,” Preston said.

Torpey was already familiar with Ted.com talks before he had been approached to speak at Seton Hall and commented that he most enjoys the fascinating sessions about science-related topics. 

Cassie Denbow, a TedxSetonHall organizer and junior diplomacy major, said, “TED is really a chance to bring students and the community together in a discussion which they usually don’t have a forum for… to talk about ideas, not community issues between them.” 

In addition to Torpey, several company CEOs as well as an astrophysicist will be speaking.  The talks are meant to be as entertaining as they are informative. 

The TedxSetonHall is free and open to the pubic, although due to official Ted.com rules, conferences are limited to 100 audience members.  A free lunch is provided to allow audience members and speakers a opportunity to discuss their ideas in a comfortable and pressure-free environment. 

For more information please visit: Ted.com or tedxsetonhall.us

Alexandra Lubischer is participating in a hyperlocal journalism partnership between The Alternative Press and Seton Hall University's Department of Communication & The Arts designed to give students real-world experience.