Temple Performing Arts Center is a stunner. Ever been? We’re thrilled to be in this inspiring space for TEDxPhilly: The City on Tuesday, November 8. Over 25 speakers and even more performers will take the stage to share with the audience some of the greatest challenges, innovations, concepts and realities that shape and are shaped by cities and their inhabitants.

All photos ©2010 Anne Todd

Since speaking at TEDxPhilly in 2010, Nic Esposito a farmer, community organizer, storyteller, and now, self published author(!) has been quite busy! His first book, Seeds of Discent which came out in April 2011, was cultivated by the community through a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign. Parting from the typical political and instructive tone of the genre, this novel instead tells the human story of living sustainably.

Nic is already working on his next book focused on soil management and what he has coined “habitat change” which will “take these ideas a step further from global warming and focusing on the ideas of resource and soil depletion that are just as detrimental.”

Get Inspired and Check Out Nic Esposito’s TEDxPhilly 2010 Talk:

How do you sow the seeds of change? Nic Esposito speaks emphatically to the audience at TEDxPhilly about urban farming happening right here, right now. Nic has set up community gardens in West Philadelphia, where residents take control of their own food security and local economy through the production and sale of agriculture.

Nic has created a bunch of grassroots organizations in Philadelphia. We blame his green thumb. He co-founded Philly Rooted, which pretties up those pathetic empty lots. He also founded and runs Philly Corner Stories, helping Philadelphians tell their corner stories.

Wanna be on film?
The Free Film Collective and TEDxPhilly are looking for engaged Philadelphians who want to be filmed / photographed with the TED ‘X’ on October 7, 8, 9 & 10 in front of some of Philly’s most well-known landmarks. You’ll be featured in a short film and online. Is that you? It’s not to late, Sign up here! »

Call for Artists
We are accepting submissions to be featured in our printed program until October 10th. If you or someone you know creates artwork that relates to our theme, The City, then we want to hear from you! Read the full details on our blog »

TEDxPhilly Happy Hour
Wednesday, Oct 12 2011, 5:30p.m. – 8:00p.m.
You are cordially invited to a TEDxPhilly Happy Hour to celebrate our growing community, get psyched for the day, and mingle with one another (and a few speakers!) There will be special ticketing opportunities too. Discounts and other enticing incentives will be offered as well as drinks from our friends at DrinkPhilly!

Bring your friends, your pals, your coworkers, your compatriots — hell, bring your Mom! Tell them to bring their friends, colleagues, comrades, etc. We have a few treats up our sleeves and we want to share them with you AND your wallets.
Pass it on via the Facebook Event Page or Ticketleap

Sponsor TEDxPhilly
There are so many ways we can highlight your business or organization at TEDxPhilly! See our growing list of sponsors and learn more about how to contribute: tedxphilly.com/sponsors

Will we see you there?
Time sure is flying! We can’t believe it’s October already, and TEDxPhilly is just over one month away. We’re so beyond excited about this year’s speaker lineup. We’ll be confirming a few more, but check out our current list to date:
tedxphilly.com/speakers

We can’t wait to share the day with you, grab your ticket today!

New York was planning to tear down the High Line, an abandoned elevated railroad in Manhattan, when Robert Hammond and a few friends suggested: Why not make it a park? He shares how it happened in this tale of local cultural activism.

Augmented Reality is changing the way we interact with our surroundings, from geolocated public art exhibitions to interactive gaming applications, our perspective of the world around us is a combination of people and places, concepts and interactions. Augmented Reality is moving into its next phase with some projects aiming to change how we see the city around us by bridging the physical and the virtual, creating new urban landscapes in the process.

On October 15th, Re:Activism at ICA will turn Philadelphia’s history of local protests, demonstrations, and other sites of social activism into an interactive game using cell phones and SMS, inviting participants to “play their city”. All necessary game and transportation materials will be provided, but at least one member of each team will need a smart phone. The game will conclude with a pizza party/wrap up session at Kelly Writers House. For more information & to register to participate, check out the Eventbrite page.

Mechanics of Place is a collaborative art project by Hana Iverson and Sarah Drury focused on creative urban engagement. Participants contribute adding their audio, video and images through a Mobile Augmented Reality platform, co creating experiences that bridge the physical and virtual. This process creates an expanding collection of AR poems which are then geotagged in specific locations around the world.

Reconfiguring Site: New approaches to Public Art and Architecture is a six-week residency program at The School of Visual Arts that serves as an innovative model for interdisciplinary approaches to public art, delving into site-specific aspects and intrinsic elements of creating art in an urban setting: scale, history, social meaning and formal aesthetics. “Crossing the boundaries into architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, new media technologies and other arenas, the revitalization of public art has become a global trend, as more sensitivity to the nuance of site is increasingly valued.”

Tyler School of Art at Temple University will be hosting a Feast of Forage with horticulturist Nance Klehm on Sept. 21. Considering the streets of North Philadelphia as a wild urban garden of edible and medicinal plants, Klehm will lead a walking tour of sidewalks, parking lots, and brown field sites where a smorgasbord of earthly delights are waiting to be harvested.

In related news, The New York Times wrote an article on the urban foraging debate in New York City’s parks. Access the article here.