Image from tedxomaha.com.

The first-ever TEDxOmaha, an independently organized TED-style event, is ready to take the stage at the Durham Museum this Saturday, October 16th. If you’ve already purchased your tickets, check out the speaker order and event details below. If you’re still looking for tickets, you’re in luck. TEDxOmaha released a handful of “last minute tickets” today ($20 each, purchase at tedxomaha.com/tickets), and they’ve given us two pairs of tickets to give away.

Ticket Giveaway

To enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets, leave a comment below with which local TEDxOmaha speaker you’d be exited about seeing. All names of those who leave a comment will be put into a hat and two winners will be drawn. Deadline to enter is 8 p.m. CDT, today, October 13.

Event Details

On Saturday, the doors of the event venue, the Durham Museum (801 South 10th Street), will open at 7:45 a.m. Free parking can be found outside the venue as well as on the street. Coffee and snacks will be served throughout the day and lunch is provided. The talks will take place in The Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall (left, photo from durhammuseum.org) and begin around 8:20 a.m. Attendee capacity is 256.

TEDxOmaha is being produced by REBEL INTERACTIVE, an Omaha-based full-service branding agency, and has the involvement of a few other individuals. See a list of these individuals in the latest TEDxOmaha blog post: Five Days to TEDxOmaha.

Speaker Lineup

When planning TEDxOmaha, the organizing team was motivated by the fact that this event would bring out some of the best speakers and performers in Omaha. “It gives a platform to the national and international talent that lives here,” said Brian Smith, TEDxOmaha management team member. Smith explained that following the event, video of each talk will be sent to TED for their review. From there, all talks will be posted on TEDxOmaha.com and some possibly on TED.com.

TEDxOmaha will have 15 local speakers in conjunction with six videos of talks from the TED flagship conferences. The day begins with a TED talk video, Derek Sivers: How to start a movement, and ends with a talk from Rita Paskowitz, a professional storyteller. According to Smith, this schedule follows TED’s TEDx guidelines.

Now, without further ado, here’s Saturday’s speaker and performer order:

• TED: Derek Sivers: How to start a movement
• Tom Trenolone, AIA of HDR Inc
• TED: Elizabeth Gilbert: A new way to think about creativity
• Gary Wasdin of Omaha Public Library
• TED: Ben Dunlap talks about a passionate life
• Dr. Jonathan Benjamin Alvarado of University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Break
• Julian Adair of Adair Dance Academy
• Robert Byrnes of Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems
• Jack Phillips of the New Tree School
• TED: David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
• Shane J. Lopez, Ph.D. of Gallup
• Lunch
• Rebecca Lowry of All Young Girls Are Machine Guns
• TED: John Hodgman: Aliens, love – where are they?
• Jeff Koterba of Omaha World-Herald
• TED: Michael Shermer on strange beliefs
• Nancy Kirk of Tri-Faith Initiative
• Matt Mason of the Nebraska Writers Collective
• Break
• Lamarr Womble of Passion for Leadership
• Yasmeen Bora, Violinist
• Annette Nathan of Mark Kamin & Associates
• Rita Paskowitz, Professional Storyteller

Also worth noting, the speakers and performers will sit in the audience throughout the entire event. “One of the TED tenants is to break down the speaker-attendee barrier,” Smith said. “The attendees have access to speakers throughout the entire event.”

See speaker bios and photos at tedxomaha.com/2010-speakers.

Live Stream

A live stream of the entire TEDxOmaha event will be available to the public free of charge. Look for a post later this week with the exact URL or keep tabs on TEDxOmaha.com, a link will be posted on its homepage.

Also, look to TEDxOmaha.com for an announcement of a 5 p.m. meetup following Saturday’s event. There should be much to talk about from the day’s presentations so this should also be a good time and will be open to the public.

To learn more about TED and TEDxOmaha, see our post with a Q&A: TEDxOmaha set for October 16.