The 411 on 515.

SmartTalk Series Announces Line Up, Gives to Sandy Relief

The SmartTalk speakers for the upcoming season have just been announced today. This winter, Des Moines will be visited by the following five fascinating women:

Doris Roberts (Ray's mom on "Everybody Loves Raymond")

Joan Lunden (of morning TV fame)

King Peggy (the first female ruler of Otuam, Ghana)

Andie MacDowell (actress best known by yours truly as the reporter in "Groundhog Day" or the ER-doc love interest of Andrew McCarthy in "St. Elmo's Fire")

...and wait for it...

Paula Abdul (a woman who needs no parenthetical reference)

I'm so excited about this lineup... and even more excited to be able to announce that for every subscription purchased in November, SmartTalk will donate a portion of the proceeds to a charity helping out with the Hurricane Sandy storm recovery efforts. Tickets become available to the public on Nov. 21, so be watching for an update on how and where to buy your tickets.

AND... one more exciting piece of news: DesMoinesFamilies.com will be giving away a pair of series tickets (that means two tickets to every one of these speakers!) during the month of November. How awesome is that?

For a chance to win this pair of tickets, simply enter your comment below telling us which of these women you are most excited to see and why. The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, Nov. 30.

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Comment by Kelly Moore on November 30, 2012 at 3:31pm: Thanks, all, for entering to win the pair of season tickets. The winner is... drumroll... Amanda VE! Congrats, Amanda. I'll send you a note here shortly with the details.

Kelly

Comment by Amy Kobermann on November 27, 2012 at 12:03am: This is a great line-up of incredible women but I have to say, I am most excited to see Paula Abdul. This lady has swagger like Jagger and can certainly "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow." She has always inspired me to be strong, stay positive, remain true to who I am and to dream big. She's just an incredibly positive, true superstar and getting an opportunity to hear her speak live would be truly amazing.

Comment by Amanda VE on November 22, 2012 at 2:19am: Wow that is an awesome line up this year! It's so hard to pick just one that I would be most excited about as they all would be wonderful!! Paula Abdul would be pretty awesome to see though because she is such a fascinating, caring woman.

Comment by Julia Simpson on November 21, 2012 at 3:06pm: I think I would the most excited about Andie MacDowell - I loved Four Weddings and a Funeral!

Comment by Angela Ten Clay on November 17, 2012 at 10:08pm: I would be really interested in hearing Paula Abdul or Joan Lunden. I look up to both of them and think they are incredibly inspirational!

Comment by Lisa Schmidt on November 12, 2012 at 10:42am: I think this is a great line-up. I love Andie MacDowell, Paula Abdul and Joan Lunden. How inspiring would it be to listen to King Peggy? I bet that is one amazing story!

Comment by Mikayla McAdoo on November 10, 2012 at 7:40pm: Paula Abdul is my hero, and she has inspired me for so many years in so many ways. I have learned so much from her, and I would absolutely be honored to be in her presence at a speech or a performance. It would definitely be a dream come true to meet her!