Passion drives ideas, people, and communities to action. Passion makes leaders. Passion combined with knowledge creates new ideas worth spreading. Passion can lead both to creation and destruction, to inspiration, suffering, grit, compassion, and extraordinary service. TEDxAsburyPark discovers and curates 25 artists and speakers who will share their passion stories on the famed Paramount Theatre stage in an all-day event on Saturday, May 19, 2018.

“Passion, our TEDxAsburyPark 2018 theme, grows directly from our audience, speakers, ideas, and organizers,” said Brian Smiga, a founder of TEDxAsburyPark and Alpha Venture Partners, a growth venture capital firm. “At several thousand strong, the TEDxAsburyPark community has found its creative home at the Paramount Theatre on the Asbury Park Boardwalk. Our 6th annual event will inspire new ideas, relationships, teams, and projects among our sold-out crowd of over 1400. And we’ll produce another 25 TED Talk videos to add to our library of 130 TEDxAsburyPark talks, all available at tedxasburypark.com.”

Now in its sixth year, TEDxAsburyPark will feature a full day of entertainment including TED-style talks by myriad speakers from across the US and around the world, as well as art, musical acts, comedy, dance, and theatrical performances.

“Passion takes many forms, and Asbury Park has always been a place where people come from far and wide to exhibit their passion for life,” said Gary Mottola, President of Madison Marquette and a TEDxAsburyPark co-producer, who gave his first TEDxAsburyPark talk in 2016. “Asbury Park has no shortage of passion, so we’re the natural venue for a world-class conference on passionate ideas, stories, and art. TEDxAsburyPark will weave together the stories and ideas of local, national, and global artists and thought leaders.”

TEDxAsburyPark will hold several Open Mic nights, which will be open to the public for auditions and an Open Rehearsal in the coming months – all on the Paramount Theatre stage.

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