Overview

TEDxPontiac brings bold ideas to the stage, exploring how adversity fuels innovation, resilience, and community impact.

Igniting Ideas, Driving Change

TEDxPontiac is a community-driven event licensed by TED, created to spotlight innovative ideas, untold stories, and local voices that inspire positive change. This independently organized TEDx event brings together speakers, creatives, leaders, and doers to share ideas worth spreading through powerful TED-style talks and meaningful community engagement.

Attendees can expect a thoughtfully curated experience that sparks conversation, challenges perspectives, and connects people who care deeply about the future of our region.

Ideas Worth Spreading in the Heart of Oakland County

TEDxPontiac is the only TEDx event exclusively focused on Pontiac and the broader Oakland County community. Unlike larger metro-area TEDx events, we are deeply rooted in local storytelling, community pride, and innovation across technology, education, entrepreneurship, social impact, and the arts.

Our mission is to elevate voices that are often overlooked and to highlight the resilience, creativity, and leadership shaping our region. TEDxPontiac is more than an event. It is a platform for ideas that drive progress locally and resonate globally.

Phone-Free Auditorium Experience

To preserve the magic of the TEDx experience and create a fully present, distraction-free environment for both speakers and attendees, we ask that phones remain stored while inside the auditorium during talks. Devices are welcome in the venue, however cameras and recordings will not be permitted during the program.

Our team of professional photographers, videographers, and volunteers will be capturing the moments on stage, and select photos and clips will be shared with attendees so you can celebrate and share the experience with your networks.

Outside the auditorium, you will find activations and gathering spaces where phones are welcome and photos are encouraged.

About TEDx

x = independently organized event

In the spirit of discovering and spreading ideas, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. TED Talks videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection.

These local events are branded TEDx, where x indicates an independently organized TED event. While the TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, each TEDx event is independently organized by its local community.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to discovering, debating, and spreading ideas that spark conversation, deepen understanding, and drive meaningful change. TED is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder, and the pursuit of knowledge without an agenda.

TED welcomes people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world and connection with others, and invites everyone to engage with ideas and activate them in their communities.

🚨 Big News for TEDxPontiac 🚨

We didn’t just sell out once, we sold out twice.

The level of support, energy, and anticipation for May 1st has been nothing short of electric, and we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who has chosen to be part of this inaugural experience.

Because of this overwhelming response and with deep appreciation for the space that helped bring this vision to life, we’re expanding to welcome even more of our community.

TEDxPontiac will now take place in Downtown Pontiac at the Historic Strand Theatre at 12 N Saginaw St, Pontiac, MI 48342

This move allows us to grow the experience while staying grounded in the same purpose, creating a space where ideas, innovation, and community come together in a meaningful way.

We’re also excited to share that additional tickets have been released.

If you’ve been considering attending, this is your opportunity to be in the room for a powerful, history making moment in Pontiac.