TEDx Jersey City 2015: Metamorphosis brought forth some creative thinkers that enlightened the eager Jersey City audience interested in hearing new ways to elevate the city. The eight hour seminar was broken into four sections with musical and dance performances and speakers covering topics from economics, literature, and relationships.

Entrepreneur and real estate developer Avi Telyas discussed building up the city.  His goal is to build an affordable apartment building near Liberty Science Center that entrepreneurs can rent out office and living space for one affordable price. Telyas believes the building would provide a social world for entrepreneurs and capital for the families.

Psychiatrist Willie Earley shared the truth about relationships with the Tedx audience.  Earley addressed the value in truth and opines in relationships stating, “We shouldn’t try to put on airs.” Instead we as people should focus more on authenticity, be brave through honesty, and be willing to listen.

Following Telyas and Earley was Angus Vail who principal work revolves around the Container Globe. Vail spoke about the history of Shakespeare and how he could reimagine the Globe in England into something portable. Vail then explained that the idea would be to re-purpose shipping containers into a Globe or Globes that could be a stage to a variety of art productions whether it is ballet, theater, or a punk rock concert.

“In the same way containers travel around the world, so can the globe. It gives us a really great opportunity—we can move globes to underprivileged communities,” Vail said.

Vail also explained that the globes may have spikes integrated into their designs that would sport nano-particles. These particles would allow carbon dioxide to be converted to oxygen, making the globes similar to an urban rainforest.

Before Vail left completed his lecture he reminded the audience that “All the world’s a stage.” A loud applause concluded the end of the third session.

The viewers were invited to remain in the auditorium for a performance choreographed by Meagan Woods. The piece was just as heart-wrenching as it was beautiful. There was a hum through the theatre that threw a mix of chills and enthrallment to the performers on the stage.

Between sessions there was a 20 minute lobby reception that allowed the audience to stretch their legs and network.  A few local businesses lined the reception hall advertising everything from food, to art spaces, to dating services.

After the intermission, guests could return to their seats for the third and final portion of the TedX Jersey City Lecture Series. The remaining three speakers were William Cusick who spoke about the idea of virtual reality and theater. Cusick explained that he believes all “Individual audiences ought to be given free reign over the [theatre] space.” Leonard Mlodinow followed where he spoke about the correct history of Quantum Theory.

Most memorably, Mlodinow’s PowerPoint said something that many could relate to—“Most pioneer “geniuses” experienced failure after failure before their success.”

And finally Quanda Johnson graced the stage. The first portion of her lecture was a spoken-word performance she swayed her arms and said “I hear the whistling wind as I fly.” Johnson’s lecture was about breaking the folds of racism that have been built into the society and engrained into the minds of individuals. She explained that if we could take part in the “Breaking to Build” of society that we could transform how things are seen. Referring to the idea of collaging society is something that she referenced to frequently.

“It’s time we seriously invested innovation that addresses this conundrum we call race. Not as something fringe or experimental, but as a relentless ongoing process. If collage by definition breaks what and how we normally say, it has the potential to interrupt stale typical conversation about race and create new ways to examine old racism paradigms,” Johnson said at the conclusion of her talk.

Each speaker sprouted the everlasting idea of metamorphosis and how the world can truly change with the influence of different philosophies. The transformation of how people see the world was truly present at the TEDx Jersey City 2015. The idea of shared thoughts in the conference has excited many Jersey City natives to see the next stage of changes that will take place in the city during the 2016 year.

Shanelle Smith contributed to this article.