Looking for inspiring Bay speakers

Sheldon Nesdale wants to uncover hidden gems.

Preparation for TEDxTauranga on July 19 is well under way, says organiser and marketing coach Sheldon Nesdale.

But, despite getting plenty of speaker suggestions from around New Zealand, the organisers are still seeking inspiring speakers who have made Tauranga their home.

"We want to hear those untold stories, discover those hidden gems, meet those legends among us, but only a few have come to our attention so far," said Mr Nesdale.

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit organisation devoted to ideas worth spreading, which started in 1984 as a conference.

Since then, its scope had broadened to include the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the TED Fellows and the TEDx satellite conference programmes.

Mr Nesdale, who organised the inaugural Tauranga event last year, said the purpose of TEDxTauranga was to showcase how everyday people have stood up and made a dent in the universe, and to inspire others to do the same.

The TED conference provided general guidance for the TEDx programme, but individual TEDx events, including Tauranga's, were self-organised.

Mr Nesdale said that ideally he would prefer the majority of the speakers to be locally based.

"If you know someone that has deep knowledge in their field and can present what they know in a fascinating way to the masses, that is the sort of person we'd like to hear from," said Mr Nesdale.