After a year of planning, TEDxMontaVista is holding its first conference in the auditorium on Friday, April 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Five guest speakers, including MVHS alumnus Natalie Ng, will speak about a variety of topics such as health, STEM, public speaking, sleep and motivation.

“I saw that a bunch of other schools had TED clubs and TED conferences, Chen said, “and I thought, ‘Monta Vista should have one — there’s a niche I can fill.’”

Following his interest in TED shows’ spreading of ideas, Chen joined the TEDx team last year. Once on the TEDx officer team, Chen began helping with regular meetings and planning for this upcoming conference. However, as a new club, TEDx struggled to get the recognition and money necessary to organize this conference.

“This is our first time holding a conference, so we started out from $0,” public relations officer junior Julianna Liu said. “Also, we don’t have much of a reputation on campus.”

TEDx held several pearl milk tea fundraisers after school on Fridays for the conference. Earlier this year, the club gave presentations to both PTSA and school site council, asking for funding. Though PTSA did not grant them any funds, school site council donated money to use for the conference.

Liu was also responsible for contacting guest speakers. Once contacted, each guest speaker had their talk’s content reviewed and their public speaking assessed in order to ensure that their talks would fit the TED guidelines and be relevant to MVHS students.

“I’m just looking forward to being able to spread the idea of TED,” Liu said. “Just to be able to introduce our club and what we do to the school, community and public, and just hearing what are going to be really great, really inspirational speeches by the speakers.”

TEDx is selling 100 tickets for $2 each — presale and at-the-door cost the same.