If you’ve never been to ted.com, you should go right now.

The idea is that really smart people are given 18 minutes to give the talk of their lives.

18 minutes. Four minutes less than the actual content of a network sitcom.

18 minutes that can change your life.

Here’s a sample. It’s Ken Robinson talking about how schools kill creativity.

The site is full of bite-sized gems like these, and they’re all fascinating. There are talks on adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses. Sustainable fridges. Dark matter. Life in the deep oceans. There are inspirational talks by refugees, activists, and John Wooden. There are stories from space, the North Pole, and under microscopes. If you scroll through the site for five minutes and don’t find something that interests you, your brain might be made of Ramen noodles. (Look out for that.)

We are excited to help announce that TED is coming to Hampton Roads, courtesy of your friends and mine, NASA. The date is Nov. 20; the place is the Ferguson Center at Christopher Newport University. It is a day-long event that starts at 10 am, and tickets are free, but limited, and aren’t available to the public until Saturday.

Good thing you know us.

If you’d like your two free tickets, go on to our forum and add a new post with an idea you think is worth spreading around Hampton Roads. The first 50 posts will win you a couple passes. Here’s the link if you’re not a button kind of person:

http://www.24sevencities.com/forum

Simple enough?

Here’s the full list of speakers who will be binding your spell (or spelling your bind?) for 18 minutes each at the conference:

# celebrated author Mitch Albom
# neuroscientist Dr. Paul Aravich
# experimental artist Chakaia Booker
# creativity and innovation coach Gregg Fraley
# robotics inventor Dr. Dennis Hong
# planetary and atmospheric scientist Dr. Joel Levine
# astronaut Leyland Melvin from the International Space Station
# aerospace engineer Anna McGowan
# bio-energetics practitioner Dr. Sue Morter
# humorous guitar virtuoso Mike Rayburn
# space illustrator and designer Pat Rawlings
# Oprah & Friends radio host John St. Augustine
# innovation consultant Steve Shapiro