NEXTGEN EXPANDS BRAND WITH “TALKS” FEATURING EMERGING LEADERS ON OCTOBER 4.

Tickets on sale for inaugural conference presenting daily topics affecting communities across Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (SEPTEMBER 5, 2019) – NextGen TALKS, a community-focused showcase of established and emerging leaders from across the state, will host an inaugural slate of presentations beginning at 1:30 p.m. on October 4, at the Visual and Performing Arts Center at Oklahoma City Community College, located at 7777 South May Avenue in Oklahoma City.

NextGen TALKS will present as an afternoon of networking, storytelling on causes and projects that affect communities statewide and introduce a dynamic class of speakers in a format derived from the popular NextGen Under 30 program produced by ionOklahoma.

Previous NextGen Under 30 finalists approached event organizer and NextGen Committee Chairman, Don Swift, with the idea of expanding the Under 30 process by evolving the focus to include a public speaking coaching program, featuring group and individual sessions, to serve as an audition for this “TALKS” format of event. The deadline for submissions was July 31, with an application process that included the selection of a live talk category and theme, recorded video and the upload of custom video to YouTube.

Over 55 professionals applied for the first NextGen TALKS event, resulting in 11 semi-finalists as selected by a panel of judges for the free coaching services. All 11 semi-finalists proceeded as finalists to the main event, by meeting the criteria of 10 hours of public speaking classes and other deliverables in the weeks leading up to an August 29 deadline, effectively securing their 12-minute presentation within the program. The theme is “Now! New! NextGen!”

“The speakers for the inaugural NextGen TALKS are very impressive,” Swift said. “These 11 professionals were selected from incredibly talented applicants statewide and all fulfilled the finalist criteria to proceed to the final program, the entire process of which completely exceeded our expectations for this community-driven, live event. These new and NextGen speakers will deliver extremely special messages at our event and we are looking forward to a full day of storytelling and networking in October.”

Speakers include Brooke Hamilton (Whitten Burrage Law Firm), Erika Lucas (Founder, StitchCrew), Jeff Greene (President, Medencentive), Christian Pearson (Founder, OK Sessions), Robin Roberson (Founder, Goose & Gander), Stacy Eads (Founder, Stacy Eads Consulting), Shane Jemison (Chickasaw Nation), Whitley O’Connor (CEO, The Curbside Chronicle), Seth Fairchild (Executive Director, Choctaw Nation Foundation), Adam Hull (Founder, Artisan Botanicals) and Matthew Herdman (Marketing Specialist, Civic Center).

The speakers will be grouped into three sessions, with a featured session leader providing an introduction. The session leaders are John Higginbotham (CEO, Bank of Oklahoma OKC), Claudia San Pedro (President, Sonic Corp.) and Mick Cornett (Executive Counsel, Jones PR). Dick Pryor from KGOU and Marion Paden from Leadership Oklahoma will co-host as Masters of Ceremonies.

On the day of the event, registration will open at 11:30 a.m., with the program to run from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. A networking reception will start at 5:30 p.m.

Ticket prices range from $19 to $59 and sponsorship opportunities are still available.

The event will be recorded for rebroadcast on television and radio, as well as on the web site.

For more information visit www.nextgentalksok.com and follow on Facebook (NextGen TALKS), Twitter and Instagram (@nextgen_talks).