North Dakota State’s Masters of Success program is hosting the university’s second TEDxNDSU event later this month. Ticket prices were released Monday morning at a discounted rate of $35 for a student ticket, higher than ticket prices for Campus Attractions’ spring concert.
Shelby Krech and Anuj Teotia, event coordinators for TEDxNDSU, said that price isn’t stopping some students and interest has been relatively high for the event.
“Most TEDx events average $75 to $100 per ticket, so we are actually offering these tickets to students at a low rate,” Krech said. The organizers wanted to keep the tickets accessible to students, trying to work the base they have and not make the tickets as expensive as possible.
Another reason the price per ticket is so high is because TED as an organization has numerous guidelines that must be followed while setting up an event like TEDxNDSU. Guidelines are placed to maintain their brand as well as the quality of their events since they are displayed on a virtual platform to millions of Internet viewers.
One of these guidelines is that the maximum capacity at this event is 100 people.
Teotia wishes there could be more tickets available, which would lower the ticket cost even further, but if NDSU wants TED to come back next year, the guidelines that have been outlined by TED must be followed in a very certain way.
Krech and Teotia both remember the moment they found out about TEDxNDSU as a time of excitement and anticipation.
“This is a huge thing for us,” Krech said. “Doing events to make things better for everyone around us is a good thing, and it’s what a TED event does. Even if it’s an event that’s not related to you, you can still do good things with it. This will be a great opportunity for community development.”
Teotia said he was very surprised and excited when the group found out about the event they were hosting, as he was coming out of the restroom and heard screams. He also remembers several students crying.
“The excitement has spread very quickly ever since,” Teotia said.
TEDxNDSU will be held from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. April 24 in the Memorial Union’s Century Theater.
The event will feature nine different presenters, including several from the NDSU campus. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to network with the major corporations sponsoring the event.