On Dec. 10, 2016, TEDxGatewayArch presented its third annual TEDx Talks event in the Skip Viragh Center at Chaminade High School in St. Louis, Missouri. At 10 a.m. attendees were allowed to enter the center, register and begin their TEDx experience by visiting with the many exhibitors from tech, design and community-building organizations of the St. Louis area. Exhibitors included the St. Louis Public Library, a virtual reality company named NVIDIA and an organization called Tiny Superheroes. Along with local exhibitors, attendees were provided with food and drink from a variety of local establishments such as Pi Pizzeria, Sameem Afghan Restaurant, Seed Sprout Spoon catering company, Mastermind Vodka and many more.
The 2016 theme for TedxGatewayArch was BOUNCE, centered around the idea that individuals in attendance would be energized by the ideas they discovered and would be motivated to take their own ideas in new directions. To further promote the exchange of ideas amongst the crowd of roughly 300 individuals, every person was given a name card upon registering and was asked to write his or her name and a one word topic which they could discuss with other attendees.
The presentations commenced around 12:15 p.m. and the list of 15 speakers and entertainers were scheduled into three time blocks with 35 minute intermissions between each block. Intermissions allowed the audience time to refresh, socialize and prepare for the next group of presenters. TEDxGatewayArch hosted a wide range of speakers and entertainers from Dr. David Brody, a neurology professor at Washington University who discussed traumatic brain injuries, to Maxwell Planck, technical founder of a company called Oculus Story Studio who discussed the possibilities of using virtual reality to enhance the experience of storytelling, to performances by Afriky Lolo, a West African dance company, and Letter to Memphis, an indie folk band with soul. Once the presentations finished around 6 p.m., there were two post-talk events; an after party and a VIP party, which allowed VIP ticket holders the opportunity to mingle with some of the event’s speakers.
In accordance with the standard of TED Talks, TEDxGatewayArch provided an experience diverse in ideas and entertainment through a plethora of St. Louis’ finest organizations, foods and thinkers.