‘Ambition,’ was the recurring term used in our conversation with Taylor, President of the Lancaster University TEDx committee, and Diana, one of the committee leaders, as we discussed their upcoming plans for this academic year’s TEDx show scheduled to take place in March.
TEDx are an off-shoot of the TED talks series – that I’m sure most students will remember watching back in secondary school – but with an ‘x’ just for fun. I’m joking, the ‘x’ means it’s an independently organised event for the Lancaster University community.
The aim of the event is to provide students with short talks from a plethora of successful innovators across various fields to help inspire and encourage students to take those next steps.
“The University mainly teaches lots of ideas, the TEDx talks will showcase how to put these ideas into practice.” – Diana
For this year’s organising committee, the TEDx team want to focus on bringing in speakers at the forefront of advances in their respective industries. While they didn’t disclose any of the speakers already contacted, they assured us that, they’re being ambitious, planning a long list of speakers. No student will need to worry about their – however specialised – interests not being catered to.
When selecting the speakers, the TEDx team have also reflected on who would really be passionate about engaging with students and spreading their ideas at the event. Diana commented that they sometimes forego speakers that the committee are particularly interested in so that they can go for others that would be a better selection for the overall student body. Inclusivity is certainly a core value held by the TEDx team.
Both Diana and Taylor are particularly enthusiastic about the positive effect attending the event can have on students at Lancaster, with Diana comparing it to a process of osmosis. By being in such proximity to an inspirational leader at the forefront of one’s personal interests, students will be able to gain inspiration, motivation, and creativity which will hopefully spur them in to action.
Commenting on their own experiences of TEDx in the past, Taylor noted that, whereupon watching TEDx event on how trains may change in the future at a younger age, it instilled in them an ongoing fascination with technology and how it may evolve. As they put it, if every student leaves with a newfound interest they didn’t have prior, then the event will have succeeded.
An event of this ambition naturally doesn’t happen on its own, and as such, the organising committee are very eager to recruit students who are equally passionate about the return of TEDx.
In particular the team are very keen to engage with students who have an interest in marketing to help promote the event. They’re also looking for people that would be happy to help run the event on the day, whether by helping organise the speakers, operating the front of house or being friendly faces for students on arrival.
To get involved, sign up to TEDx via: https://lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2gTJ8KIgMBV615s
