TEDxBrisbane – March 2010

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever TEDxBrisbane event. It was a free, independently organised event which had the aim of trying to replicate a real TED conference. With that benchmark, the event was a raging success.

I won’t go into many details about dissecting the talks given by the event’s speakers, as I think to an extent you ‘had to be there’. Descriptions often barely do speakers justice, although Hannah has done a fine job [1] [2]. Much of the buzz comes from watching the speaker on stage before you, and talking the full 18 minutes to absorb their story.

A real highlight for me were the multiple breaks throughout the day between sessions where attendees were encouraged to move to the ‘Ideas Worth Spreading tent’ outside for refreshments and a chat. It was excellent being able to walk up to any one of the 520 TEDxBrisbane attendees and start up a conversation. These were people who get excited about ideas, and that was a nice change to many social exchanges I am a part of. The vibe was excellent, and I was constantly thinking “this is my idea of a dream society!” I can’t wait for the next TEDxBrisbane event (rumoured to happen later in 2010, as this event was originally scheduled for 2009), and will try to seek out similar events around this city of mine.

Photo credit: Adam Sebastian West