POLKx coming to PCCCA in early September

♦ Cedartown campus to host business event in two weeks

Local business leaders are encouraged to take part – or even setup a booth to gain some clients – in an upcoming event at the Polk County College and Career Academy in early September.

The Cedartown campus is hosting the first ever POLKx event, styled around the idea of a TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment

and Design) conference that have been growing in popularity since they began in the 1990s.

The conferences have since allowed for self-organized spinoffs, called TEDx events, to become part of a large network of events around the globe. Now Polk is getting its own version of the event, just not specifically affiliated with TED’s organization.

“It’s not an official TEDx event,” Polk County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Blair Elrod said. “But it’s going to be like going to one.”

PolkX is set to feature as keynote speaker Andy Christiansen, an author, speaker and coach. The event will

also feature Bing Oliver from Peake Coaching and Consulting; Chickfil-A Rockmart Social Media director Jared Stump; organizational and human behavior specialist Thomas Earp and author Doug Grady, a TEDx speaker and creator of the program “40 Days of Focus.”

The POLKx Business Leadership Summit will start at 10 a.m. at the Cedartown campus of the College and Career Academy on Sept. 8. The event looks to wrap up by 2 p.m.

Along with speakers, POLKx will also feature a business-to-business expo, and workshops in several areas like social media and marketing. Elrod

said those who wish to participate in the exhibit area and connect with other business owners with products and services like web design, business cards, accounting and more can sign up by getting in touch at info@ polkgeorgia.com. To have a booth in the expo is $5.

Admission is $5 for the general public, and Chamber members get

in for free.

Pre-registration for POLKx can be found online at polkx.com, along with more information about the speakers and where to find several of their own books.

The Chamber, along with the Chick-fil-A of Rockmart and FOR Polk are sponsoring POLKx.

Georgia has plenty of other TEDx events coming up too, with one today alone at Georgia Tech, and several coming up in the metro Atlanta area in October, and several schools and universities around the state through next year including Emory, the University of Georgia and even Lambert High School.

Videos from past TED events, which inspired the forthcoming conference, can be found online at ted. com. They feature a variety of topics on everything from new computing capabilities to medical breakthroughs to stories from influential thinkers and leaders across the globe, and plenty more.

NPR also features TED talks and conversations about subjects in a weekly TED Radio Hour, broadcast on Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m., and Sundays from 10 to 11 a.m.