When two people independently suggested to me that I might organise a TEDx event, I dismissed the idea, saying I hadn’t got time, I didn’t have the right kind of contacts, and various other excuses. However the seed of this idea was planted and somehow wouldn’t go away. Having been to three TED conferences I [...]
I’m collating links to blog posts and photo collections here, so if you have written anything, please email or tweet the link. And please revisit occasionally to see if there are any additions. From the blogosphere Tobit Emmens has blogged on his role as production manager, and is especially interesting on observing the stresses and [...]
Let’s turn ideas into action – please sign this petition to Tim Cook CEO of Apple now! I’ve just signed, and I can see that other TEDxExeter-sters have too. Go on, what are you waiting for? What other actions has yesterday inspired you to take? Maybe it’s too early, and you still need to take [...]
A selection of tweets @GeekDadGamer : The only framework I have to make sense of @TEDxExeter is a spiritual one. Not expected that, or the emotion. @JohnWLewis : Superb #TEDxExeter event today. Substantial concerns about sustainability topped by @TEDchris catching people doing something right! @TPiMBWAcademic : @BandiMbubi Amazing speech, absolutely deserved the standing ovation! pure [...]
Thanks to the Northcott, to the volunteers, to Tobit the production manager, to the speakers, and to us the team. We went down to the stage to take our bow, and I managed to fall over the scenery. Oh well! Flowers for Jeanie and Claire, the wondrous organisers. The videos of the talks will be [...]
Curator of TED and Jeanie’s brother, starting with a big hug – aaaah! He’s left the red spot and is shaking the hands of the front row. Staple-guns at the ready! But phew, he’s back on the spot.He’s changed his talk from the City 2.0, and instead is looking at what he’s learnt from past [...]
… is a locally-sourced, free-range, organic poet, so can be enjoyed guilt-free. She will start with nursery rhymes, and build to a crescendo of beautifully crafted brilliance. “Jack and Jill went up the hill, because everywhere else was flooded.” Shout out for the organisers – Jeanie, Claire and the rest of the team. Thanks! “Teignmouth [...]
While representing in court a man who had been badly injured, Polly looked out of the window and reflected on how we are damaging the earth, and thought a thought that changed her life: “the earth is in need of a good lawyer”. She continued considering what needs to be put in place. Humans have [...]
“It all started with a fish”, when his Dad decided that it was time for his six-year-old son to learn to fish… in west London with a length of bamboo, a piece of string, a bent nail, and a piece of Mother’s Pride as bait. He sent a bored Hugh off to look for worms, [...]
Only one session to go, and then TEDxExeter will be over… bar the clear-up, the team party tonight and a wash-up meeting sometime in the next week or two. But rest assured, there are plans afoot for another one next year. I understand a few people have been tweeting about today. Catch the feed at [...]
Not in person, but on film singing “Turn the lights out”, which closes the Transition 2.0 film. The song will be released as a single on May 7th, and proceeds will go to the Transition Network. “I want to see the stars… I want to make it beautiful with you”
After more Kagemusha to get my heart beat going, we transition to Rob Hopkins. Can you see what I did there? He’s going to tell us a story, which has the potential to change, and is already changing the world. He’s a local boy, and the story is about Totnes, twinned with Narnia. Totnes has [...]
As well as writing about video games, ‘Geek Dad Gamer’ gets local artists and singer-songwriters to respond in unusual ways to games. He showed a video of Rebecca Mayes singing about Halo 4. Rebecca was going to sing live to us, but unfortunately has a bug today.Video games are not just entertainment, excitement, adrenalin and [...]
She’s got us dancing to Jessie J “it’s not about the money money money”. Get over the post-lunch graveyard slot.But in some cases it is. 90% of adults haven’t had any financial education. Personal debt is over £1.5 trillion, greater than national GDP. 15% of young people thought an ISA was an iPod accessory, and [...]
This afternoon starts with another TED Talk – William Kamkwamba on how he harnessed the wind.William was a simple farmer in Malawi, a country of small farmers. In 2001, they had a serious famine. HIs family had only one meal a day, and he had to drop out of school. INstead, he went to the [...]
… has discovered that he can sing this morning.Volunteers are a vital part of his local charity’s work. If you want something done, ask a busy person. He’s asked us to raise our hands if we volunteer, closing our eyes if no-one wants to see us. Most of us have. Why do we volunteer? We [...]
Now we are going to find out how to live a more generous life and become like Superman… but I might have given that away yesterday.Each year, Charles Handy, the management guru, and his wife work out what they need for the coming year, and add 20% as he is pessimistic. He then divides the [...]
The lights go up as Scilla wanders on to the stage, hands in pockets. She wants to be able to see us. Her question – How do I deal with a Bully, without becoming a Thug? – has been with her since she was a child in 1956 watching kids throwing themselves under the tanks [...]
After Bandi’s talk, I at least need to reflect and recollect, and Chloe offers a musical space to do just that. Chloe believes everyone can sing, but the most important part is the listening. Do I have a voice? Do I listen to myself? She gives us a song: “There is a singing field. I’ll [...]
Bandi is talking about a difficult topic that is close to him, and closer to many of us than we realise: the Congo.Our mobile phones connect us to our loved ones and colleagues, at home and overseas. They are symbols of our interconnected world. But they leave a bloody trail. Tantalum is mined in the [...]
TEDx events always include some of the TED Talk videos. Nic Marks’ talk is on the Happy Planet Index. All today’s talks are being videoed, and will be uploaded to the TEDx Youtube channel in about two weeks. Martin Luther King did not say “I have a nightmare”, but “I have a dream”, and towards [...]
In the first session we had the Big Pictures, and as someone in the coffee break suggested, they turned out to be complementary – soul and passion, politics and science, music and speech, laughter amidst the depression, words and pictures. We hope there are some politicians and policy makers among the delegates. Are you listening? [...]
Two minutes on local food. What you put in your saucepan and where you take your shopping basket is important. People like being talked to, instead of being beeped at by machines that just take your money. Visit your local farmer, discover the power of your children harvesting leeks, and the power of the puddle! [...]
Peter’s story is the most important story in the world. Antony wants to add pictures, which help stories come alive. The atmosphere is an ocean of air, weighing 5,140 trillion tonnes. Carbon dioxide and other gases are invisible. His work involves turning numbers into pictures, and mass (tonnes of carbon dioxide) into volume, displayed as [...]
The TEDx team will staple-gun him if he goes outside the red dot on stage! It’s time to get away from entrenched positions in international negotiations on climate change, but think a bit laterally. He’s giving the conclusions to us already! The climate is still changing, even though we have stopped talking about it. Global [...]
A chance to relax a bit from the blogging for a few minutes… or given the drums that have just been wheeled on stage, perhaps not! … absolutely amazing energy on stage, and energy levels replenished back here in the gods. Woh!
There is a dangerous misconception that we have a choice between ecology and economic development. It comes from the White House, from No.10, from business – that nature and regulations to protect nature are a drag on business. But 100% of our services comes originally from nature – soil, biodiversity, water, resources. “What has nature [...]
Big grin and wave from Satish, and a big cheer from the audience. Threesomes throughout the ages – Father, Son, Holy Spirit; mind, body, spirit; liberté, egalité, fraternité; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Satish comes with soil, soul and society. We come from and will return to the soil. We think we can [...]
Jeanie Honey starts the introductions. “Welcome to the very first TEDx event in Exeter” gets a big cheer. Then Tom Dent emphasises the global phenomenon of TEDx – 700 organisers from over 90 nations in Doha, and the first TEDx talks in the Middle East. He met loads of inspirational people committed to making changes [...]
Five minutes to go, and Holst’s Planet Suite is playing over the sound system. The theatre is practically full, which it should be, as the event was sold out 3 months in advance. There is an incredible buzz of excited conversation and almost palpable anticipation. Welcomes and introductions to kick us off, including two minutes [...]
Photos taken by Benjamin Borley. More photos are available in his TEDxExeter collection.
