DCU announced it will host its second TEDx Conference following the success of last year’s inaugural event.
This comes as exciting news for those who dreamed of taking part in TED conferences, either as live spectators, sitting comfortably and enjoying the show, or maybe one day on the stage sharing their own “ideas worth spreading”.
This is the motto of TED conferences, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give talks about their inspirational lives and experiences in 18 minutes or less. TED speakers have included personalities such as Bill Gates, the author of the best seller novel “Eat, Pray, Love” Elizabeth Gilbert, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Ebert, Facebook’s Chief Operative Officer Sheryl Sandberg, the Chilean writer Isabel Allende and the former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Many like me spent hours watching TED Talks videos on ted.com, both for college and personal interest, and I admit taking notes and even crying over some really inspirational speeches. So when last year I heard DCU was organising its first TEDx conference (where the x means it’s a local, self-organised event), I did all I could to get my hands on a ticket.
As expected the conference held in the Helix was a great success. The theme of the event was “transforming lives and societies”. Successful DCU alumni shared their ideas and experiences on a vast range of subjects, from third-level education to entrepreneurship to music film production. One of the most inspiring guests was a former prostitute, Rachel Moran, who described her experience as being a “human masturbation aid” and stressed that “real men don’t pay”.
Another interesting and controversial contribution was given by a serial entrepreneur Liavan Mallin, who presented her revolutionary idea of ‘9-year-old entrepreneurs’. The interesting part of her project was the idea of teaching basic business in school, while I will leave the importance of teaching children how to make money open to debate.
The only downside of last year’s TEDx conference was there were limited seats, and the tickets were sold out in only 30 minutes. However, reportedly this year’s event will be organised on a bigger scale and more tickets should be available for students.
There’s another amazing novelty for the second edition of TEDx DCU, and that is that students were asked to suggest guest speakers. This gives us a chance to play an active role in the outcome of the TEDx conference. So if you have someone in mind with an inspirational life or interesting experiences that you’d like to see at the event, don’t hesitate and send their name in. A Facebook page and Twitter account have been set up for the occasion.
There isn’t an official date for the event, but keep your eyes and ears open and be ready to get your hands on a ticket. It’ll be worth it.
Giulia Luzi
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