Bemidji State Brings Back TAD Talks with Speakers from Around the Country

Bemidji State University’s school of Technology, Art and Design (TAD) brought back its TAD Talks for the first time in six years, since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Wednesday’s event had several speakers talking about innovation, creativity, and life after college.

TAD Talks are similar to TED Talks, where experts from all over the country come to one event and give speeches and advice. But these TAD Talks aren’t on a global stage—they take place at Bemidji State and are entirely run by students.

“We’re bringing in some industry professionals to talk about their experiences with life, how they’ve kind of had to overcome certain issues in the industry, as well as showcasing some of the best things that the design industry has to offer,” explained 2025 TAD Talks Producer MacGregor Sharpe.

The talks were put together by students in an event planning class, so not only are they an opportunity for the audience to learn, but for students to have a hands-on learning experience outside of the classroom.

“I had expected it to be more of like, learning about how to plan an event on paper or say, through slides or lecture,” said TAD Talks Communications Specialist Samantha Hoff. “But instead we have real-life experience through being on this team. [It] sheds more light than just reading about it in a textbook, I feel.”

“It’s awesome that we get to talk about not just the work that they’re putting in, but also their mental approach, just communicating and dealing with people,” Sharpe added. “That’s one thing that I personally feel isn’t taught enough in life.”

And among all of the lectures and life-skill learning, the BSU TAD team’s main goal was keeping the audience engaged. That included featuring a push-up contest and making use of a t-shirt cannon.

“Learning doesn’t necessarily all have to be just learning,” Hoff emphasized. “It can be fun as well, you know, and we want to promote that.”

Speakers talked about putting effort into understanding, believing in yourself, and finding balance in your everyday life. And the months of planning and preparation all came down to one show.

“Seeing that what I put on paper come to life, because we’re project managers, so we planned everything right down to the minute and now seeing it come to life is insane,” said TAD Talks Head Project Manager Ivy Chaulklin.

There were six speakers in total at the TAD Talks, and they came from all corners of the country—everywhere from Boston to Florida to right here in Minnesota.