BIC to Host TEDx Berkshires 2024

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC) are hosting TEDx Berkshires 2024.  
 
TEDx Berkshires is a local, independently organized event.This year's event will be held on Thursday, OCt. 10, 2024, from 1:30 – 5:00 pm, with a reception to follow. 
 
Tickets are now available for this in-person event.
 
"Innovation usually starts with an idea, sparked in response to a need for change or a desire to improve," shares TEDx Berkshires Executive Producer Stephen Boyd, the CEO of Boyd Biomedical and Chair of the Berkshire Innovation Center.  "The TEDx Berkshires stage offers the perfect showcase to share the success of diverse ideas and the vision of the Berkshire Innovation Center. Collective wisdom always wins, and we are thrilled to promote this year's event as a growing community focused on life-long learning and exploring technology together."
 
2024 Speakers:
  • Tammy Valicenti, Licensed Psychotherapist, will present on transforming trauma with EMDR.
  • Dr. Robert Gentleman, Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard University, will present on the use of transformer models in teaching.
  • Justin McKennon, Principal Scientist, Electro Magnetic Applications, will present breaking into the world of innovation and technology in his talk Establishing Your Roots.
  • Dr. Elisabeth Reynolds, Professor of the Practice, MIT, will present her call-to-action in support of small and medium-sized manufacturers.
  • Brad Corrigan, Musician, Founder and CEO,  Love Light + Melody, will present about reimagining poverty through the lens of belonging to each other.
  • Sarah Eustis, Founder and CEO, Main Street Hospitality, will present on generational hospitality stewardship and reinvention.
  • Michelle Jungmin Bang, Award winning Eco-entrepreneur, and Author, Sun & Ssukgat, will present on discovering the gift of time through Asia's centuries-old self-care wisdom.
  • Dr. Jeff Wetzler, Author, Co-Founder of Transcend Education, will present on how to learn something from anyone (…and why to try).
  • Melissa Lavinson, Executive Director, MA Executive Office of Energy Transformation will present on the challenges and opportunities involved in the complex efforts related to meeting the Commonwealth's decarbonization goals.
This is the second year that the Berkshire Innovation Center will be the host of TEDx Berkshires.  The inaugural TEDx Berkshires was held in Lenox in 2010 and was produced by Ethan Berg, Jamie Berg, and Dr. Mark Liponis. 
 
"TEDx Berkshires has always been a fun and stimulating form of "intellectual recreation" said Ethan Berg.  "I am particularly excited the talks will be hosted in the state-of-the-art BIC facility where so much of the Berkshire community comes to turn ideas into action."
 
Tickets for TEDx Berkshires are $100 for seating in the main stage area, or $75 for seating in the auditorium, and will include a reception following the TEDx talks. 

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Community, Investment Keep Silver Screens Lit in the Berkshires

By John TownesSpecial to iBerkshires
This is the second of three articles in a series on the evolution and current status of movie theaters in Berkshire County. Read Part I here. 
 
In the wake of the 2020 COVID pandemic and its disruptions to the film industry, the county lost its two largest multiplex cinemas.
 
The 10-screen Regal Cinema in the Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough closed in 2022. Then in 2023, the eight-screen North Adams Movieplex in the Steeple City Plaza closed.
 
As a result, there are currently three full-time multi-screen movie theaters in the county — Images Cinema in Williamstown, the Beacon Cinema at 57 North St. in Pittsfield, and the Triplex Cinema at 70 Railroad St. in Great Barrington. These three surviving theaters in Berkshire County are totally separate operations and have their own individual histories and roles in their communities.
 
Nevertheless, there are also connections and common themes, including their downtown locations.
 
For a number of years, both the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington and the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield were siblings. Both were founded and originally owned by Richard Stanley, a South County real estate developer and investor who is also active in community-revitalization initiatives. Both theaters were established as vehicles to stimulate their local downtowns.
 
In Great Barrington, the primary destination for movies for most of the 20th century was the historic downtown Mahaiwe Theater. However, in 1988, it was facing potential demolition. That triggered a long community campaign that successfully saved and restored it as the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
 
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