The fifth edition of TEDxDayton event will take place on Oct. 20 at the Victoria Theatre in downtown Dayton. This year’s theme is CURRENT.

TEDxDayton spreads ideas and perspectives to spark conversation and connections in the community. The event uses TED’s celebrated format of short, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations and performances that foster learning, inspiration, and wonder while also prompting conversations that matter.

To find this year’s presenters, organizers have issued a “Call for Speakers” on the TEDxDayton website, www.tedxdayton.com. Anyone with a big idea they want to share with the region is invited to apply for consideration. In addition to the application process, visitors may also nominate a person whom they believe should audition.

This year, for the first time, TEDxDayton is accepting applications for performers to take part in TEDxDayton 2017. In years past, some of the most memorable highlights from TEDxDayton have been provided by performers. Classical pianist Steffin Johnson, poets Herbert Martin and Sierra Leone, the Stivers School for the Arts Jazz Orchestra, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and World Jump Ropers are just a few examples of artists and performers who have inspired and entertained TEDxDayton audiences.

“TEDxDayton audiences have high expectations. They demand thoughtful talks that open their minds to new concepts and ideas, as well as issues that impact our region. For our Fifth Anniversary signature event, we need our speakers and performers to take our audience through a mental discovery process, while honoring the technology, entertainment and design format that guides all TED talks,” said TEDxDayton Co-chair Diane Farrell.

Potential speakers should complete the speaker application on www.tedxdayton.com by April 21, 2017. The speaker’s committee will review all applications and invite selected candidates to audition on June 6, 7, and 10. Participants will be notified within a few weeks of auditions if they have been selected to be a TEDxDayton 2017 speaker.

The second TEDxDayton event will take place on Oct. 17 at the Victoria Theatre in downtown Dayton with the theme Explore. Exchange. Excite. To prepare for a second sell-out event organizers are sponsoring a series of TEDxDayton Call for Speakers to give Miami Valley residents the opportunity to present at the event on Oct. 17.

“This is your chance to give the ‘talk of your life’ before a packed theater of smart, engaged, interested friends. It’s a chance for the community to have an opportunity to bring their ideas and passion to the stage,” said event co-chair Stephanie Gottschlich.

“The TEDxDayton Call for Speakers will be the main avenue by which we find the speakers for this year’s TEDxDayton event,” said speakers committee chair Rachel Graves. “We want to open the event up to the entire greater Dayton community to see what people are passionate enough about to share on the TEDx stage and to find the best speakers for this amazing event.”

Participants are asked to sign up for a scheduled time at one of three evening events and come prepared to speak for 3 ½ minutes on a topic they are passionate about. The talk should relate to the 2014 TEDxDayton theme “Explore. Exchange. Excite.” Talks will be given before a panel of judges, and participants will be contacted within a few weeks about whether they have been selected.

TEDxDayton Call for Speakers will be held at The Black Box Improv Theater, 518 E. Third St. in downtown Dayton on May 14, 20, and 22 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. To sign up for a time visit www.TEDxDayton.com. There is no cost to participate. The Call for Speakers is only open to participants, judges and TEDxDayton organizers.

“Last year was a hit, and we want to be even better this time. We hope the people who come through the door for the Call for Speakers will provide us with the top thought leaders in our community,” said event co-chair Sean Creighton.

The first TEDxDayton event sold out three weeks before the Nov. 15 event last year. More than 900 people — a third of them area college students — were treated to an incredible day of fresh ideas from more than 30 speakers and performers. There are currently 27 videos available for viewing for those who were unable to attend or who would like to remember their favorite TEDxDayton moments. Fans of the event can visit http://bit.ly/1jBRdNU to choose from approximately two and a half hours of magical moments from some of the region’s brightest minds sparking deep discussion and connections, inspired by the TED talks mantra of promoting “ideas worth spreading.”

“It’s been so exciting to experience this community’s overwhelming support for TEDxDayton,” said Creighton. “Dayton is a community full of passionate, inspired and engaged people, of dreamers and doers in the world. The way this community has embraced TEDxDayton really illustrates this.

Visit www.tedxdayton.com or the TEDxDayton social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook for the most up-to-date details on what’s being planned.

TEDx is a global program of independently organized events licensed by TED. Follow TEDxDayton on Facebook or Twitter for posts about the 2013 events, speakers, photos and more.

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, TEDTalks video 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 almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. TEDGlobal 2014 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.