Who you want to idolize? Celebs? Reese Witherspoon? Tiger Woods? Barry Bonds? James Bond? As if. That British charmer has replaced the winks with a nasty slab of tightly wound violence. So we try to spin it back around, seek out real life superheroes. People who are visionaries. People who have capitalized on their awesome ideas. Since the founding of the TED conference (slogan: "Ideas worth spreading") in the 1980s, the event has hosted speeches by hundreds of intellectual luminaries from across the globe. But TED is also a franchise, and this week, "TEDx" returns to Tacoma. The annual program hosts speakers and interdisciplinary presentations with the hope of inspiring deep discussion and new connections in the South Sound. Sixteen "idea people" will take their ideas and flow them through the theme, "Desire."

TEDX TACOMA, 3-10:30 p.m., Theatre on the Square, 915 Broadway, Tacoma, $79, 253.591.5894