Asheville, NC, October 4, 2011 - TIME Magazine science and technology editor Jeff Kluger and local hip-hop troupe the Urban Arts Instuitute are two of the virtuoso performers and speakers in the newly expanded six-hour TEDxAsheville, an annual event for inspiring ideas and community action by sharing great ideas, great performances and new technologies.

For the past two years TEDxAsheville was a 3-hour evening event, but in 2011, it grows up. This year TEDxAsheville becomes an immersive, interactive conference event moving to the Diana Wortham Theatre and offering extended breaks for networking and interactivity, as well as
the most inspiring people, performances, ideas and creatvity its 50-member organizing team could find.

This year's theme is ENGAGE. Presenters and perfomers include:

Jeffrey Kluger, TIME magazine science and technology editor

Moog Music, Asheville's own connection to the world of digital music

Michael Hayes and Urban Arts Institute: using hip-hop, dance, theatre
and music to transform communities

Leah Quintal, aid worker bringing solar lighting to the third world

Joyce Roush, one of only two people to donate a life-saving kidney--to
a total stranger

Mariam Matossian, carrying the music, language and culture of Armenia
to a world audience

and more than a few surprises...

TEDxAsheville 2011
Sunday, Nov. 13
12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Diana Wortham Theater
$35

Limited number of $100 VIP tickets includes preferred seating and entrance to the VIP afterparty at The Market Place Restaurant.

Tickets go on sale October 6, 2011. Buy them here
For more information, visit www.TEDxAVL.com

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

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. At a TEDx event, TEDTalk videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration
Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TEDRead the full article