2018
Connect
In 2018 we experienced a challenging climate. It seemed that more and more communities were feeling divided – and all against a backdrop of increasingly populist politics. So, in for this year’s theme, we chose to focus on making connections and building bridges.
Under the overarching theme ‘Connect’, TEDxExeter 2018 addressed worldwide issues from the economy, environment and business to human rights, mental health and communication.
As always the 900 tickets for the event sold out in minutes. We also organised free viewing events of our livestream and encouraged as diverse an audience as possible to watch the livestream: 34,000 people in 35 countries registered their interest to watch the day live including a cinema in India. Local livestream venues included Devon County Council, Devon & Cornwall Police HQ and the Met Office.
Our speakers
Click on the speaker images to find out more and watch their talks
Alan Crickmore Featured on TED.com
How storytelling helps parents in prison stay connected to their kids. 2018
Amy & Ella Meek
Kids against plastic
Anthony Painter
Want a less polarised society? Try a universal basic income
Bonya Ahmed
Simple narratives can be deadly: how I recovered from a terror attack
Cóilín Nunan
Change farming and save our antibiotics
Dawn Faizey Webster
Fighting back one blink at a time: living with Locked-In Syndrome
Dexter Dias Featured On TED.com
Why, in a world of injustice and vanishing human rights, I choose to hope
Farrah Storr
The discomfort zone
Glass Parachutes
Performances
JJ Bola
Reaching for a place to call home
Kate Garbers
Modern slavery, hidden in plain sight
Patrick Grant
Why we should all feel uncomfortable in our clothes
Rebekah Afari
I’m deaf, but we can still talk
Professor Sophie Scott
Why we should take laughter more seriously
Tom Chapman
Barbers, preventing suicide one hair cut at a time
Vicki Culpin
A wake up call: this talk should send you to sleep!
Impacts of 2018
Amy and Ella Meek – the young founders of Kids Against Plastic ran a session with over 200 school students about how to be #PlasticClever
We gifted all our attendees reusable water bottles from Give Me Tap, saving 1500 plastic bottles at the event (a proportion of the GMT profits fund clean water in Ghana)
South West Water bought a water bowser; Water Aid came along and with ECC, DCC, the amazing Row for the Ocean team – they are SO amazing! – and plastic free Exeter, we galvanised our TEDx community around the #RefillDevon campaign
We printed our programmes on Extract, a new paper product made from used coffee cups. (Thanks to the generosity of our friends at Stormpress)
Anthony Painter (RSA) led a masterclass at RAMM for over 50 leaders from across the city on inclusive growth for Greater Exeter
Patrick Grant and Lucy Clayton from Community Clothing ran a workshop on sustainable fashion and the circular economy for 50+ local business people, designers and Business School students
Building on Kate Garbers’ powerful talk on modern slavery – including her account of a police raid on a car wash here in Exeter – we worked with Unseen, the National Crime Agency and D&C Police to bring the powerful Invisible People exhibition portraying Modern Slavery to Exeter
2018 Gallery
