Dear TEDxAmsterdammer,

Depending on your current location you’re either recovering from Koninginnedag (ever tried to explain that to international friends?) or taking a day off celebrating labour. Or maybe I got mixed up with all the festivities. Either way I have some updates to share with you about all things TEDxAmsterdam.

We had quite a busy month. After livestreaming the second global TEDxChange event in the first week of April, many of our volunteers were somehow involved in the TEDxSummit. Our communications team tries hard to cover a lot of other TEDx Events but we didn’t travel to Qatar. Luckily, the TED Blog is filled with great insights into the inspiration people brought and found. Like the interview with ‘our’ Irene on how to green your event in a few easy baby steps.

Upload your audition today

The chance to audition for TED 2013 right here with us in Amsterdam is coming to a close. Upload your inspiration, information and a video today and you might be selected to have a 3 to 6 minutes moment on stage in front of the international TED jurors. After tonight, the registrations are closed. On June 20th, the Worldwide TED Talent Search will come to an end with the final round being held in Amsterdam. We are very excited to co host this with our ‘big brother’ TED. Check out the tips on how to best present your TED Talk!

TEDxSummit with a touch of TEDxAmsterdam

Hundreds of TEDx event organizers came come together in Doha, Qatar, for the very first TEDxSummit ever – also dubbed “TEDx²”. Surely you have seen this jawdropping kaleidoscope video by our creative partners We Are Pi?

Ai Lin Haijer was representing TEDxAmsterdamED: “Two weeks ago, Sara and I visited the TEDxSummit in Doha, Qatar as representatives of the TEDxAmsterdamED team. This specially organized event for all TEDxorganizers around the world aimed to bring these people together and to create a platform rich of cultures, ideas and knowledge. We explored the desert, listened to inspirational stories and connected with organizers from inside and outside our region. We created new communication tools to share our best practices, we learned how to better organize our events in the workshops and we tasted the culture of Qatar. Above all, we met an incredible group of people and we saw what the power of X can do!”

Ideas Worth Doing updates

News from the 2011 Ideas we deem Worth Doing:

- Congratulations to The Winddrinker team: the machine works! For the first time they have produced clean drinking water in Somaliland.

- Boosting Burundi is finalizing their online platform for the Burundian diaspora, together with members of the diaspora, our proud partner IBM and of course the TEDxAmsterdam community (we’re planning a blogpost/video later in May when the platform will be launched).

News from the current Ideas we’re supporting:

- MetFarm served their ‘first harvest’ of with LED lights produced lettuce during the Sanoma Mediaparade last week. And we’ve visited their first ‘urban farming’ pilot in IJburg.

- Ubuntu Streetkids Foundation has launched the Ubuntu Academy. With our partner VODW we’re helping them to grow their marketing strategy.

TEDxChange in Amsterdam: The BIG Picture

Thursday April 5th TEDxChange 2012 took place in Berlin. In Amsterdam people gathered at ABN AMRO’s Dialogues House to watch the live video broadcast from Berlin and discuss how to face the challenges in taking big ideas to the next level. After watching the livestream, similar to 2010, a selection of projects were given the opportunity in Amsterdam to put forward a question to the participating audience members to be discussed during the dinner held afterwards. More information about the projects can be found in the article and you can get a good sense of the event with the photos and pitch videos.

A very special contribution was brought forward by Poetry Pusher Justin Samgar writing this special TEDxChange poem.

Bernice Thijm, organizer TEDxAmsterdamChange: “It was a really inspiring evening with all audience members really enthusiastic to brainstorm with the project owners to help them further their projects”. “I think a really great example of one of the results of this evening is from the Love Matters project, they were given the opportunity to write a guest blogpost for the Gates Foundation Blog, giving them great exposure for their website”.

TED Talk of the month

Colin Robertson – A TED speaker’s worst nightmare

Colin Robertson had 3 minutes on the TED stage to tell the world about his solar-powered crowdsourced health care solution. And then… the whole talk turned out to be a wonderful and hilarious prank by ImprovEverywhere.

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A ‘bug’ round of applause for Jan Wester

To celebrate the launch of Marcel Dicke’s first Dutch recipe book on how to prepare insects (“Het insectenkookboek“) we asked your input on Facebook.

Coming up with a name for a pasta with fried locusts and fried mealworms (larvae of the Tenebrio beetle), chorizo, red sweet pepper, tomatoes, green vegetables, parseley & oregano led to numerous fun suggestions. Thanks! Professor Dicke handpicked Jan Wester as a winner with his title “Italian Stringhoppers“. We can’t wait for Jan to share the results of this meal on our Facebook wall.

Which insect recipes are you dying to try out for yourself? 

“Gouden Lamp” for Andrew!

Before I say goodbye I would like to congratulate yet another blogger with winning a prize. Copywriter Andrew Maaldrink has just received 3 Lamps from the Art Directors Club Nederland for his creative contribution on this viral LG commercial. The “Gouden Lampen” are seen as highly acclaimed professional awards for the Dutch advertising industry.

I’m proud and very happy to have him on board with us. If you’re wondering what Andrew looks like, just watch the video closely – he’s hard to miss with a length of 2+ meters.

Want to stay on top of all TEDxAmsterdam developments? Get the latest news on our website, follow our tweets or join the Facebook club.

I will update you again next month (and maybe we’ll meet at this free photo manipulation exposition discussing whether what we see is real, made by 13-year olds),

Oliver (editor-in-chief)
Tweet to @odeleeuw

The 90-minute international TEDxChange event in Berlin hosted five speakers. IDEO designer Jeff Chapin spoke about his campaign to provide better toilet facilities in Laos to combat diarrhea, German Greens politician Sven Giegold highlighted the country’s efforts to generate more environmentally-friendly power and Theo Sowa talked movingly about the African women who are increasingly finding their voice. Senegalese singer and guitarist Baaba Maal gave attention to the rights of women and girls.

But the big name speaker was Melinda Gates who spoke of the need for more women, especially in Africa and South East Asia, to be given more access to contraception and family planning and the role technology can play in achieving this goal.

After watching the live broadcast in Amsterdam just like in 2010 a selection of projects were given the opportunity to put forward a question to the participating audience members during the diner held afterwards. They could ask for help to further develop or speed up the growth of their project, except for funding. The participating projects were:

Love matters

One of the six local speakers in Amsterdam Michele Ernsting presented the project “Love Matters”. Providing easy-to-access information and news on sexuality and sexual health for teenagers and young adults. The website launched first in South East Asia, but will expand to Africa and also Latin America. Speaking openly about sex provides young people with honest and positive information, so they’ll be more likely to have safer, healthier sex which is very important.

As this subject has a very close link to Melinda Gates’ talk, after the event Michele was asked to write a guest blog for the Gates Foundation Blog.

“The subject is so taboo that the most googled phrase in India today is “How to kiss”. Kissing is still forbidden in public and so 37 million people want to know how to do that every month,” – says Michele Ernsting.

“We have a “Facebook” page which is just crazy now and exploding. An english site launched last year today has 115 thousand people a month and that’s growing every day.”

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Pimp my Village

Actress Georgina Kwakye presented her foundation called “Pimp My Village” that strives to improve facilities in villages and rural areas in developing countries. Inspired by her father, born and raised in Ghana, and returning to his country as a heart surgeon to help his community. Georgina Kwakye devoted her time to help immigrants do the same for their villages. The foundation focuses on education, health care and community development. She believes that with the right tools, these communities will have a better chance to create a sustainable livelihood, decrease poverty and in turn improve their economic position.

“Pimp my village helps to give back to your roots. We work with migrants who live in Holland and have the same stories like my father: they were refugees and their families were killed, they came here, they studied, they have a great life and they’re giving back to their communities. That’s impressive”.

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Sustainability innovators Enviu

If you have big ideas but never really challenged enough to actually start, “Enviu” can be your inspiration. A company solving sustainability and social issues. Fennie Lansbergen who has a passion for businesses with social goals presented a micro pensions project that provides voluntarily pensions schemes ensuring a stable income when people stop working. The focus on Africa demands an innovative approach to learn how to set up a micro pensions fund in Ghana and to provide access to long term saving products to people working in the informal sector in Ghana. After this first trial, she and her team have the ambition to roll out this concept to other countries.

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Ubuntu Streetkids

Director at “Ubuntu streetkids”, Marieke de Lange strives for a world in which any child feels welcome and can develop into a strong individual. The organization tries to improve the perspective of street children in co-operation with the project partners in developing countries. To achieve this, they use the power of theatre to give the children their pride and self esteem back, to create more involvement and a sense of responsibility in the children’s’ community. At the same time, Marieke de Lange works to strengthen the basis for development aid in the Netherlands in a creative way.

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4 star Eco Hotel and Hospitality School in Bhutan

Cultural anthropologist Dr. Rieki Crins introduced us to her project that could help improve one of our global challenges. After spending the last two decades studying and working in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, her passion for Bhutan combined with the need for sustainability in the tourist sector lead to the birth of this project: a 4 star eco hotel combined with a community hospitality school. She is now working on transforming this dream to reality so local Bhutanese will learn to be successful professional hoteliers. Learning Exchange Foundation ambition is to promote Bhutanese culture and lifestyle including its unique worldview of wellbeing. This initiative will guide young people in becoming entrepreneurs and will help to create a structure for developing the entire economy of Bhutan in a sustainable manner.

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Healthcare solutions

Visiting a doctor is still luxury in some countries and that’s where Health[e]Foundation comes in. This foundation provides proper training for healthcare professionals via blended learning, a combination of both online and offline training.

“In some african countries there’re just three doctors for a million people. If these people have to take care of such a large group of patients, when do they have time to keep their knowledge up-to-date? How can we help them to keep it up-to-date? Of course you can go there as a volunteer for a few months so you can help them build a hospital. It does make life easier for them but doesn’t solve the problem. That’s why we think blended learning is the easiest way to educate more people, because mentors can help train others.”

That’s what Fransje van der Waals, executive director of Health[e]Foundation, was asking the TEDxAmsterdamChange audience during the conference. How to grow the organization so it can train thousands of healthcare workers in developing countries in order to improve local healthcare programs. Health[e]Foundation offers several learning programs regarding different topics, such as HIV/AIDS, pediatric HIV, TB, and Mental Health. Each program consists of a three month training period followed by certification, electronic updates and continuous education.

“Blended problem based learning is effective and we want to improve the future. Everyone is free to join us.”

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TEDxPoetry

TEDxAmsterdamChange gathered lots of interesting different people and this is how we met a non-traditional poet. Playing with words brings joy to Justin Samgar. In his own style of feeling and expressing so called “PoetryPusher” created a poem about TEDxChange.

“I write every day about what I see. Being at TEDxAmsterdamChange I wrote a couple of sentences about every speaker about the main or funniest thing they said. I just try in a simple way to say what happened throughout the whole day, because when you’re listening to the speeches for two-three hours your brain gets tired. That’s the moment I come up and tell you a story, my version of what I saw. Usually people think that’s funny.”

You can read his poem right here.

Bernice Thijm, organizer of TEDxAmsterdamChange: “It was a really inspiring evening with all audience members really enthusiastic to brainstorm with the project owners to help them further their projects”.

“A really great example of one of the results of this evening I think is from the Love Matters project as mentioned above. Writing a blogpost for the Gates Foundation Blog gives them great exposure for their website.”

Further reading:

Have a look at our photo album on Flickr or watch the videos on the website and find out how much fun we had and join us next year!

On June 20 TEDxAmsterdam will host the European auditions for TED 2013, for which you can still apply until the 2nd of May. But how can you convince Chris Anderson that you and your idea should be part of TED 2013? Joni Bais, a public speaking coach, gives some practical tips on how to improve your presentation.

So, you have this great idea. This idea that can change the world. And thanks to the worldwide talent search, organized this year for the first time, there is a possibility that you will be able to present your idea at the TED 2013 conference in Long Beach. Looks like you’ve made it! But have you? Take a look at this talk by Nancy Duarte at TEDxEast about the importance of good communication. No matter how good your idea, if you don’t present it to your audience effectively, no one is going to remember it and no one is going to do anything with it.

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Okay, now that we’ve established the importance of communicating for your idea well, and we know something about how the best communicators build their presentation, it’s time for some more practical tips. For this let’s turn to Joni Bais, one of the founders of Great Communicators and public speaking coach for several former TEDx-speakers. By looking at how the world’s best speakers use their voices, emotions, and non-verbal communication and translating these patterns into useful and practical tips, she has helped a lot of people with their public presentations. Joni talked me through some of the most important tips and showed me how Joris Luyendijk used these in his talk at TEDxAmsterdam 2011.

Tell a story

Joni Bais - Photo by Melody Rae

One of the foundations of good public speaking is explaining your idea through storytelling. Joni explains: “Why do we remember the storyline of a film even ten years after we’ve seen it? The structure and characteristics of a story sticks to our memory.” But how do you convert your presentation into a story? Try using the following tips:
- Tell your story in a highly descriptive and detailed manner
- Keep your story simple and to the point, instead of talking in abstract terms
- Do or say something unexpected to draw attention of the audience (such as Joris Luyendijk’s “AAAAAAARGH” in the beginning of his talk)

To help yourself with the first two points make sure to use examples. Joni: “By using concepts or metaphors you can connect to concepts that people have in their brains. This helps them to remember your story, as it  draws a direct image in their heads. Joris Luyendijk does this for instance by talking about a ‘department store of brain foods’ [at 15:35]“. It’s also good to use personal anecdotes. “A lot of people are afraid that when they use a personal anecdote their story becomes to ego-centered. But actually people like a personal story, like Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford. People can identify with you more easily when you use the word ‘I’.”

People remember emotions, not facts

The use of emotion is another useful tool that ensures people will remember your talk is the use of emotions. Joni explained: “When I ask you what you ate three days ago you probably won’t remember. But when I ask you what you did on your birthday last year, you’re probably able to tell me a detailed story about that day. That’s because the last is covered with emotion and that’s what our brain remembers.” In order to incorporate this tool Joni asks speakers the following three questions while preparing:
- With what emotion do you want the audience to leave after your talk? In Joris Luyendijk’s presentations this is inspiration for action: “Go do it yourself.”
- Which mantra do you want to convey to the audience? Make sure you can say this in one sentence and repeat this sentence several times in your talk, such as “Share your learning curve” in Joris Luyendijk’s talk.
- What emotion touches you personally? Make sure you reach this emotion in your talk, because in this way you can demonstrate your passion for the idea/subject to the audience. A good example of this is the ‘AAAAAAARGH’ in Joris Luyendijk’s lecture, where he shares his frustation with the audience. And later when he talks about his solution you see that he lights up. By sharing these emotions you take your listener with you during your story.

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Use your voice

Your voice is also a powerful tool  Great speakers use their voice to guide you through their story without boring you. How do they do this? And how can you? Joni gives three simple and practical tips:
- Use variations in volume
- Use variations in pace (listen how Joris Luyendijk talks slower when introducing his idea at around 14:00)
– Use silence
Particularly for the first two tips it’s important that they become an unconscious habit in your speaking behaviour. This is why Joni advises practicing whenever possible, on your bike, in the car, but also in personal conversations.

Avoid distractions

Something that can distract your audience is the way you present yourself onstage with non-verbal communication, such as your posture, your movements on stages and the way that you’re dressed. Joni: “Everything you show evokes associations and as a presenter you want people to focus on what you have to say. The most important thing is to be aware of the associations that people may have and to make sure that you use these wisely and consciously, strenghtening your story. In order to become aware of these associations it’s always good to ask people around you what associations you give them.”

Anything else?

Joni tells me that every speaker she coaches has his or her own strenghts and points of improvement. So, even though the tips provided can help you a lot, it’s impossible to give  general rules. However, there is one advice that Joni gives to every speaker she coaches: “Speak from the heart, not from the tongue! There are a lot of good storytelles out there, but the stories with the most impact are those who are real and personal, coming straight from someone’s heart.”

Training platform Great Communicators helps speakers optimize their performance and make their stories powerful. Triggered? On the 2nd, 24th of May and 14th of June Great Communicators organizes (Dutch) workshops Public Speaking. Furthermore you can connect with them for English and Dutch 1 to 1 coaching to help you with your presentation. See www.greatcommunicators.nl for more info.

Now here’s a different story on making a lasting difference!

Imagine yourself as a street kid in a country in Africa, roaming the streets, searching for food every day, struggling just to survive. Being rejected and denied every day by people who are better off then you are, instead of receiving just a tiny bit of positive attention that you so desperately hunger for.

How does that feel? Do you feel like you have a future?

Then imagine that one day you get to meet a Dutch woman that asks you to join in on a theatre production. From then on you are working on a play with other street kids, creating something entirely new. You discover that you too can create things of beauty and value, that you too can be part of a group of people, helping each other, that you too are of value.

Performance night. There you are, on stage with your friends, performing! This is your night. In the audience are… the people who used to pass you by. Now they get to see your value as well!

Curtain falls. Applause. Again. And again!

Now, how does thát feel? Do you believe in your own power to create your future now?

This is how Dutch friends Marieke de Lange and Renske Hofman started Ubuntu Streetkids Foundation almost 6 years ago. Since then, hundreds of street children got to participate in plays in different countries. In doing that these children rediscovered their talents and dreams and started chasing them.

Ubuntu Academy

This is Ubuntu’s latest initiative. The Ubuntu Academy helps street kids build up their skills and conviction and guides them to successfully finish schooling and find a job or start up their own business. The sheer beauty of it is that former street kids of earlier projects are now helping the street kids of today to overcome their situation!

With this blog we will inform you regularly of the progress of this wonderful initiative. Let’s help Ubuntu continue this cycle, so street kids can reach their full potential and… inspire others to follow their lead!

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Blogpost for Ideas Worth Doing by Ludo Ansems

In our information age full of ideas worth spreading, how can you make your ideas stick? According to TED speakers Pep Rosenfeld, Chris Bliss, Patrick Chappatte, and Liza Donnelly, comedy doesn’t just make us laugh – it makes us think.

“Comedy has the unique ability to circumvent our ingrained perspective,” says writer, comedian, and TEDxRainier speaker Chris Bliss. When we laugh at a joke, we have to admit that something about the joke makes sense. “It sneaks the message in,” says comedian and TEDxAmsterdam speaker Pep Rosenfeld. “Comedy is the Trojan horse of communication.”

Why makes comedy so effective at communicating information?

Our defenses aren’t up for comedy, says Pep Rosenfeld. Not only that, but laughter releases endorphins, making us happier, relaxed, and more receptive. Humor makes information easier to retain. According to Bliss, this is precisely the reason why viewers of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart are more informed about current events than the viewers of other major network and cable TV shows in the US. And when something is funny, it becomes instantly more viral, meaning that your message is much more likely to be shared with others.

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Turning our walls into windows

A well-timed joke can dissipate tension and make information more digestible, says Pep. A fight-or-flight response fills our veins with adrenaline, which keeps us alert and raises our defenses, explains Bliss. “Laughter is like the water that puts out the fire. No one is open to new information when they’re mad. Anger is the single greatest disruptor of good communication.” Laughter creates an instant bond between people, says Pep. “If I make a comment about something both you and I observe, then we’re on the same team. It’s a great hitting-on technique.”

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The power to unite or divide

On the flip side, comedy may be used as a weapon to increase tension, to divide, and to manipulate. Patrick Chappatte, political cartoonist for the International Herald Tribune and speaker at TEDGlobal, spoke on the “Power of Cartoons”, and describes how they have been used as media propaganda to illicit feelings of fear, anger and hatred toward certain people or organizations. Even in recent years, Danish political cartoons depicting Mohammad provoked riots that lead to casualties. This sparked debates about freedom of speech and censorship. Cartoons are effective at mobilizing people, for better or worse, by sending a strong and succinct visual message.

From animation to activism

So how can we use comedy constructively? Chappatte believes that through responsible use of freedom of speech, cartoons may promote social and political discourse that can lead to positive changes. In an effort to promote dialogue and peace in conflict-ridden countries, Chappatte held workshops in Gaza, West Africa and Lebanon, where he gathered cartoonists from across the political spectrum to meet and publish their cartoons side by side. Although the cartoonists didn’t agree with each other, they each were allowed to voice their opinions about the religious, social and political issues affecting their country via cartoons. View some of Chappatte’s cartoons here.

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Liza Donnelly, a staff cartoonist for the New Yorker and speaker at TEDWomen, began cartooning to confront cultural expectations of how she, as a woman, should dress, act, and think. Liza likes cartoons because they can get at the truth “quickly and succinctly, through the intellect and through the heart.” Liza turned to humor because “humor relies on the traditions of a society, takes what we know and twists it, it takes the codes of behavior and the codes of dress and makes it unexpected”. Women who use humor provoke change and hold a special power, says Liza, which is why she decided to break the glass ceiling as one of the first prominent female cartoonists. View some of her cartoons and blog here.

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How have our TED speakers been using comedy since there TED talks?

Liza Donnelly is involved in Cartooning for Peace, an EU-UN initiative born partially in response to the aforementioned Danish Prophet Mohammad cartoon debacle. Cartooning for Peace brings together cartoonists from all over the world, and covers topics such as freedom of expression, religion, human’s rights, women’s rights, the environment, and more, all with the aim to “unlearn intolerance.” The cartoonists have been exhibiting across Europe, the US, and other countries.

Chris Bliss is working on his Bill of Rights Project, which seeks to “promote an enduring awareness of and respect for the freedoms and the principles guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, through the installation of Bill of Rights displays in civic spaces across America.” He’s organized The Phoenix Comedy Festival, which takes place May 13 and celebrates the “freedom to be funny” to raise funds for the Arizona project.

Pep Rosenfeld just opened a new show at BOOM Chicago on April 10, Branded for Life (Gemerkt voor het Leven), which explores (and mocks) what we buy, sell, and want, and who influences our decisions.

In addition to continuing his work as a cartoon journalist, Patrick Chappatte recently screened a selection of film perspectives on Lebanon at FIFF (Festival International de FIlms de Fribourg). Included was his own animated documentary “La mort est dans le champ,” which describes how the dispersed explosives that remain from the Israeli-Lebanese war still continue to maim or kill people in the region. The screening was followed by a panel discussion led by Chappatte.

So while TED speakers use comedy and cartoons to challenge our preconceived ideas on values, culture and politics, they show us that – on both an individual and global scale – using comedy in communication is an idea worth doing.

]]> http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/comedy-in-communication-a-ted-conversation/feed/ 0 http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/ever-imagined-to-speak-at-ted-it-is-possible/ http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/ever-imagined-to-speak-at-ted-it-is-possible/#comments Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:18:03 +0000 Jasper Bergink http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/?p=13657 Yes, it is true: you could win the contest and share your idea with a worldwide public from the stage of TED 2013. Starting today, you can register to take part in the auditions in Amsterdam.

‘The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.’ That is the theme of the TED2013 conference in Long Beach, California. TED has started a worldwide talent search in order to best treat the guests in 2013 with the magic of TED. From Doha to Sao Paolo and from New York to Sydney, auditions are organized to spot new talent. And you might be one of them!

TEDxAmsterdam has been asked to organize a European audition on 20 June. During that day, the thirty most talented speakers amongst the applicants can hold a TED talk with a maximum duration of six minutes that will be judged by TED curator Chris Anderson. Registration to apply for an audition place is possible between 12 April and 2 May 2012.

From TED to TEDx

Through the years, many known and unknown speakers contributed to spreading the TED virus, from Bill Gates to Malcolm Gladwell. Originally sharing ideas with smaller groups, TED now has grown into the format including the well-known ‘TED talks’ available online. With the launch of independent TEDx licenses to organize local TED events along the lines of the ‘big TED’, it was expected that only a low number of extra events would be organized. The opposite was true.

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Last audition in Amsterdam

Marian Spier, vice-chair and experience director of TEDxAmsterdam, explains: “An enormous amount of people worldwide wanted to organize a TED community around specific themes and locations, and in this way TED and TEDx have gotten truly global. However, speaking at TED events is not for everybody – especially not the TED event in Long Beach. It was about time to truly find the talent of the world. Therefore, TED auditions are organized in fourteen cities worldwide. The last round is in Amsterdam.” Monique van Dusseldorp, program director of TEDxAmsterdam, adds: “Of course, we are very proud that TEDxAmsterdam has been asked to organize the TED auditions for Western Europe. We expect more than 30 speakers from all over Europe: scientists, artists and entrepreneurs. TED has a lot of confidence in our organization, and we are planning to make it a very special afternoon.”

The TED auditions take place on 20 June. Registration to compete for a place at the audition is now open, so don’t wait any longer and fill out the form on on.ted.com/auditionsamsterdam. You can also upload a video. For more information on the ‘admission criteria’, please see: http://conferences.ted.com/TED2013/auditions/.

For the Dutch press release, please click here.

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Inschrijven voor de Europese TED auditions in Amsterdam vanaf vandaag

‘The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.’ Dat is het thema van de TED2013-conferentie in Long Beach, Californië. TED-directeur Chris Anderson heeft met zijn organisatie een wereldwijde ‘talent scout’ opgezet om in 2013 de gasten weer te kunnen betoveren met de TED-magie. TEDxAmsterdam is gevraagd een Europese auditie te organiseren op 20 juni. Op die dag kunnen de dertig meest talentvolle sprekers een TED-talk van zes minuten houden; deze worden ter plekke door Chris Anderson beoordeeld. Inschrijven en meedingen voor een auditieplek kan van 12 april tot en met 2 mei 2012.

Amsterdam als laatste kans om mee te dingen voor auditieplek

Door de jaren heen hebben vele bekende en onbekende mensen bijgedragen aan het verspreiden van het TED-virus, van Bill Gates tot Malcolm Gladwell. De ideëen die gedeeld werden met een kleine groep aanwezigen groeide met de jaren via de inmiddels bekende online ‘TEDtalks’. Met de komst van de onafhankelijke TEDx-licenties die het mogelijk maakten om volgens de maatstaven van de ‘grote TED’ eigen lokale TED-events te organiseren, zou er ’slechts’ een klein aantal extra events georganiseerd worden. Het tegendeel bleek waar.

Marian Spier, vice-voorzitter en hoofd experience van TEDxAmsterdam, licht toe: “Een ongelofelijk aantal mensen wereldwijd wilde een TED-community rondom specifieke thema’s of locaties organiseren en daarmee werd TED en TEDx echt ‘global’. Spreken op de TED-events is echter niet aan iedereen voorbehouden. En zeker niet op de TED-bijeenkomst in Long Beach. Het werd tijd om het wereldwijde talent écht aan te boren en daarmee is TED auditions ontstaan. Op 14 plekken in de wereld worden deze audities gehouden. De laatste ronde is in Amsterdam. De TED-organisatie koos daarvoor bewust de TEDxAmsterdam-organisatie vanwege de vernieuwende en grootse aanpak gedurende de afgelopen drie edities. Dat zien we als een groot compliment.”

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• De Amsterdamse TED auditions vinden plaats op 20 juni.

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• Inschrijven om mee te dingen voor een auditie kan vanaf 12 april op: on.ted.com/auditionsamsterdam; een video uploaden kan ook.

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• Meer informatie over toelatingscriteria op: http://conferences.ted.com/TED2013/auditions/

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Over TED en TEDxAmsterdam

TED is een non-profit organisatie die zich richt op het verspreiden van ‘Ideas worth spreading’. Het begon in 1984 in Californië met een vierdaagse conferentie over Technology, Entertainment en Design, maar inmiddels gaan de zogenaamde ‘TEDTalks’ over een veel breder scala aan onderwerpen. De jaarlijkse TED-conferentie nodigt de grote denkers en doeners van deze tijd – denk aan Bono, Bill Gates en Jamie Oliver – uit om hun ‘Idea’ inspirerend over te brengen. De randvoorwaarden: out-of-the-box denken en maximaal 18 minuten presenteren. Al deze TEDTalks staan online. TEDxAmsterdam is een onafhankelijk georganiseerd evenement in licentie van TED en heeft zich als eerste onafhankelijke TED-organisatie toegewijd aan ‘Ideas worth doing’ om de verspreide ideeën ten uitvoer te brengen.

If you listen at all to the noise these days, you have heard that nature – and the preservation thereof – is important. It is not only crucial for our little, old world itself, but also for humans; we live in it, with it, and by its harsh laws whether we like it or not. TED speakers, generally, like stressing this point. Why is it an idea worth spreading?

The TEDxAmsterdam talk discussed in this blog highlights the fact that we can learn a lot about nature’s complex system. Believe me, I know this is not a revelation and surely it’s something all you nature buffs advocate. But taking recent events and publications into consideration, TED speakers who stress the importance of awareness might really be onto an idea worth spreading.

How complex is the system? Why should we revere it? In what way can we learn from nature? And why is this all so important now? These are not questions I profess to be able to answer right here, right now, but you would be impressed if I did, right?

It’s all about attitude

Alan McSmith, the founder of Wilderness Vision, spoke at last year’s TEDxAmsterdam event. Wilderness Vision is a non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the wild. McSmith serves as a professional guide by pioneering walking trails and low-impact tented camps in the South African Lowveld.

And – surprise, surprise – McSmith thinks that nature is important in our lives and in modern society. This is a vague statement by any standards. Of course it’s important. We would not be here if were not for nature. But if you listen closely to McSmith’s talk, you will realize he’s implying that wilderness conservation should not only be considered the conservation of elephants, water, and plants, but also of a sacred attitude toward this very world.

Wilderness is not a specific place, but instead a way of life, according to McSmith.  Considering the social and environmental issues of our age, this is more relevant than ever. ‘When considering the social issues of our age’ are peculiar words. How is nature related to pressing social issues of 2012? What does it have to with marriage, freedom of religion, violence in your neighborhood?

McSmith states simply, “There is a balance in nature that inspires grounding, humility and tolerance which can even inspire European societies far from the African bush. After all, are these not the sacred core values that should bind us together as human beings?”

Boys and cheetahs

As I re-watched McSmith’s talk and heard him guide the audience through an imaginative safari, I couldn’t help but think about the little boy who was mauled by a cheetah in a Dutch zoo a couple of weeks ago.  I just this image of the boy, who was on ‘safari’ with his mom, carefully following McSmith into the imaginary world about which he cautions. And then I was confronted with the stark image of him stepping out with his mother.  Completely oblivious.

The nine year old was visiting the Beekse Bergen Safari Park when he was bitten in the arm after getting out of their car during a drive through the park (even though signs specifically warn not to do this). Veterinarian Sjaak Kaandorp said that the boy saw the cheetah, freaked out, and ran away – a perfectly normal reaction. According to Kaandorp, the cheetah then thought, “Ah, prey!” and went after him. Apparently, the boy’s mother and his friend tried to pry the boy out of the cheetah’s dental clutches but were not successful. Instead, they dragged both boy and beast into the car with them. Only when they started driving did the cheetah let go. The boy’s mom says that she’s terribly embarrassed about the incident.

The boy was brought to the hospital and is fine now. But he got out of the car. What does this say about how grounded and humble he is around and in nature? Or his mother? She admitted to it being a dumb idea. Had she forgotten that animals are real things? That they are living, breathing, toothy beings with territory to defend and young to feed (much like herself). They are not just pretty things you look at in a picture or at a zoo. And both she and her son were sourly reminded about that when they came across one of those pretty things we share this planet with.

It’s not fair to compare McSmith to the boy in Beekse Bergen, but I would like to argue that the difference is that McSmith respects animal instinct. He takes cheetahs seriously. Granted, he’s been exposed to them from a young age. Everyone needs to learn one way or another. It only took one kick from a donkey for me to realize that I should not stand behind hoofed animals. So, this is by no means a ‘blame the boy’ blog; rather, read it as a rehashing of McSmith’s theory in light of a new example.

Men and meat

In another example of the distance between man and animal, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman niftily links the consumption of meat to all the world’s ills. His piece, titled “The Human Cost of Animal Suffering,” might be a bit grim, but he is trying to argue the same point as McSmith.

“If we want a not-too-damaged planet to live on, and we want to live here in a way that’s also not too damaged, we’re better off eating less meat. But if we also want a not-too-damaged psyche, we have to look at how we treat animals and begin to change it.” Bittman basically says we don’t revere these animals.

What was once called animal husbandry is now more accurately described as ‘industrialization,’ however ugly the word, says Bittman. He proceeds to explain how bad this ‘industrialization’ is by citing Every Twelve Seconds: Industrialized Slaughter and the Politics of Sight, which was recently published by Timothy Pachirat.

“You might think that “every twelve seconds” refers to the frequency with which we kill animals, but in a moment you’ll realize that would be impossible; we process more than nine billion animals each year — hundreds per second. ‘Every twelve seconds’ is the frequency with which an Omaha slaughterhouse kills cattle, at total of around 2,500 per day.

It’s this normalization of violence that Bittman is worried about, and he refers to Pachirat to explain it. “Our isolation from killing allows us to tolerate unimaginably cruel practices simply because we don’t see them…’Every Twelve Seconds’ shatters any belief you might have about the system treating animals with a shred of decency…The sheer volume, scale and rate of killing, the way the animals form a continuous stream rather than individual creatures, makes it clear the animals are seen as raw material. The cattle are called ‘beef’ even while they’re alive — and that not only protects people from acknowledging what they’re doing and that they’re doing it to sentient beings, it’s also accurate, a reflection of the process itself.” Note: yours truly is not a vegetarian. By any means.

That we feel we have a right to treat animals as we do widgets is hardly in keeping with the sacred attitude McSmith talks about. It is yet another example of someone basically getting out of their car to look at something they have never been exposed to before and, therefore, not understanding it. In the case of meat consumption, they receive ‘it’ on their plate in the form of a juicy burger and don’t think twice about from where their food came.

Even though Bittman is realistic in seeing that his argument won’t magically change meat lovers into vegetarians, he advocates changing our system to one “that allows our children to make more humane decisions…Because once we accept that farm animals are capable of suffering (80 percent of Americans believe this to be true), we might well wonder what they’ve done to deserve such punishment.”

All because it’s too big. Too far removed from what is natural. In another piece Bittman quotes Dean Ornish; “What is personally sustainable is globally sustainable. What is good for you is good for our planet.” This just about sums it up.

Bittman is an opinion columnist and the NYTimes Magazine’s food columnist. He is also the author of Food Matters, The Food Matters Cookbook,  How to Cook Everything, and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Monkeys are us

And so, because of the distance between us and animals and the normalization of violence our connectedness to nature seems all the more irrelevant these days. The thing is; it is actually closer than we originally thought. This fact was recently underscored by the news that we even look more like gorillas than previously expected. Earlier this month British scientists from the Sanger Institute published in the prestigious journal Nature that they had documented and mapped a gorilla’s genetic material for the first time. And it looks more like that of humans then ever expected. I seriously thought they had the gorilla genes down cold already. Maybe that is why I was so surprised by this news. The gorilla was nearly the last big ape to have his DNA analyzed for comparative purposes. The chimpanzee, orangutan, and human were the first. The bonobo, considered to be our closest relative, is still waiting his turn.

I am not sure how you measure genetic difference in percentages, but apparently a human’s DNA differs 1.37 percent from a chimpanzee’s, 1.75 percent from a gorilla’s, and 3.4 percent from an orangutan’s. That puts the chimpanzee closest to humans. But, say the researchers, fifteen percent of our DNA is closer to a gorilla then to a chimpanzee. Researchers say that they are surprised. Based on the DNA results, the Brits seem to think chimps, orangutans, and humans parted ways genetically between six and ten million years ago. If you think about it, we are only 1.37 percent ahead of chimps. We are only 1.37 percent farther removed from nature than they are, yet we act as if we are not a part of the same kingdom.

Planet of all apes

Basically, McSmith is onto something here. He knows the system is complex, yet simple. He says we should revere it because we are part of it and it is bigger than we are. We can learn from nature by actually acting like we are made up by it. I think the idea worth spreading here is that we have reached a breaking point and all the trending eco friendliness, pure markets and back to basics is a reaction to environmental destruction, widespread industrialization, and a human nature that normalizes violence.

Speaker François Thiry on stage (Photo credit: David Laurent/wide)

Hosted by the fascinating Museum of Modern Art, TEDxLuxembourgCity treated around one hundred attendees with sixteen live talks, four musical intermezzos and seven classic TED talks. From entrepreneurship to punk and from design to democracy, all speakers shared insightful stories about success and failure. The main message from these talks? It is fine to fail – failure is a normal, maybe even necessary, step on the road to success!

François Thiry: the Ordos effect

In his inspiring presentation, architect François Thiry from Polaris shares a mysterious tale about a planned city of dreams. Playing on the Bilbao effect, a Chinese developer had invited architects from twenty-seven countries to design one hundred dream villas. Famous artist, activist and architect Ai Weiwei led the project. The villas were designed for the brand new town of Ordos, 800 kilometers west from Beijing.

Thiry and his colleagues designed their dream villa, participated in an architecture congress and received their payments… but none of the villas were built! François tells the public in Mudam, “We were hired not for our skills, but for our ability to project ideas across borders. We became ambassadors of a new urban brand, the newest and most ambitious Chinese city. All these projects were part of a narrative to make the city more attractive. I still don’t know what happened.” The Ordos effect, François argues, marks the passage from urban architecture to media buzz. Paradoxically, the villa is more alive in these stories than if it had ever been built.

Step outside your comfort zone, says Miranda van den Heuvel

Miranda van den Heuvel (Photo credit: David Laurent/wave)

“I am scared”, begins Miranda van den Heuvel, the only Dutch person to speak at TEDxLuxembourgCity. “Speaking at TEDx, I have to get out of my comfort zone. I rather sit at the couch with a cup of tea. But taking risks is the only to get to the place where all the magic happens and where I can grow as a person”. And she is not the only one: Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and J. K. Rowling all had to overcome bankruptcy, failing prototypes and longtime unemployment before they rose to success. Take Miranda’s dare: try, fail, get up and do it again!

Philippe Schlesser: design for the end of the life cycle

“When a caveman designed his knife”, designer Philippe Schlesser wittily argues, “he and his design team knew what was important”. A knife had to simply serve its purpose. When it was no longer useful, it could either be thrown or ‘upcycled’ into arrow-heads, way before upcycling was a buzzword. Nowadays, designers hardly think about what happens to their product after disassemble and disposal. However, Schlesser feels designers are responsible for an ethical and safe disposal of their products. “As a designer, I am bombarded with questions around this. If I don’t know the answer, I ask myself the question: what would nature do?” And indeed, the cavemen who relied on nature usually got it right.

Jérémy Coxet: are we killing punk 2.0?

What if you are a punk – but born too late? That is Jérémy Coxet’s dilemma. Fortunately, punk has found a fertile ground on the web, where the next generation of rebels has found a new platform. But even punk 2.0 is threatened, by the moderation of YouTube, the guidelines of Facebook and the limits of the AppStore. Jérémy finds himself in a system “where everything is organized, processed, sterile, ready-to-consume… It’s like a punk facing a jukebox”. That is not the world a punk wants to live in. Every day, through our actions, we have to stand for an Internet millefeuille, an Internet of a thousand different layers. God save the Web!

How Pedro Castilho got his first bike

In a personal story full of irony, Pedro tells us how a sand sculpture competition won him his first bike. Some of the participants of the contest had practised for months. Not Pedro: “without any training, I tried to compete. Of course I failed, and I was devastated: it was completely unfair”. What lessons did Pedro learn about failure? “Resilient people share three characteristics: they relativize what they do, they work really hard and they keep their enthusiasm even when things do not go as planned”. Thus, a failure is only a failure when you consider it one. Pedro shares the wisdom of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa: “Stones on my path. I keep them all for one day I will build a castle”. And the bike? Pedro’s neighbors felt so sorry for his failure that they gave him one!

Further reading

• TEDxLuxembourgCity was covered on www.paperjam.lu: article one, article two, article three, article four.

• For more on failure, also see TEDxAmsterdam blogger Barbara’s interview “fail or fail harder” with TED Global 2011 speaker Tim Harford.

• And are you curious what makes people successful? TED speaker Richard St John shared eight secrets of success during 2005.

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]]> http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/tedxluxembourgcitys-success-stories-on-failure/feed/ 0 http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/tedxchange-in-amsterdam/ http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/2012/tedxchange-in-amsterdam/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:25:20 +0000 Indre Lauciute http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/?p=13552 What idea could be more ‘worth doing’ than helping to grow health, development, and education? Join the global conversation.

On Thursday, April 5th the TEDxChange in Amsterdam is taking place. The event will present six speakers bringing six projects about ideas that can help improving global challenges such as preserving the heritage, supporting immigrants, training health professionals about HIV/AIDS, helping street kids and creating sustainable business model for pensions.

Amsterdam is taking part in the livestream from Berlin, which will be shown on TED.com and TEDxChange.org at 5:30 PM CEST. Get involved – watch the entire 90-minute program for free live and exercise your voice at TEDxChange – global event organized by TED and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This Thursday we’ll take a step back and look at the big picture: Why should we, as a society, continue to invest in global health and development? How can we work across borders and political boundaries to make positive change? And what returns can we expect on our investments?

In this TEDxChange event we’ll have five speakers. Meet Melinda Gates – co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sven Giegold – a Member of the European Parliament, designer Jeff Chapin, independent advisor and consultant Theo Sowa and Senegalese musician Baaba Maal.

After the speeches TEDxChange in Amsterdam there will be discussions about live TEDTalks and local speakers will present their own projects.

The Projects

Health[e]Foundation - a very active organization that has trained thousands of health care workers in developing countries in order to improve local health care programs. The initial focus of Health[e] Foundation on HIV/AIDS has shifted to a much broader focus on health care in general, encompassing pediatric care, infectious diseases in general, occupational disease and other emerging health care concerns in developing countries. We will present an innovative and modern learning strategies that utilize electronic and internet-based modules and conventional on-site training.

Sustainable business model Enviu – Micro Pensions will be presented. It is going to be implemented in Ghana and other African countries. Enviu – Micro Pensions focuses on savings by collecting small payments voluntarily made by mobile phone. Most Ghanaians fall into poverty after retirement because they work in the informal sector so they don’t save for their future. This sustainable business model is going to be implemented in Ghana and rolled in other African countries.

Actress Georgina Kwakye will present a foundation called Pimp My Village, an NGO supporting projects set up by emigrants in their countries of origin. Inspired by her Ghanian father Georgina is managing the projects focused on education, health care and community development. Their goal is to improve facilities in villages and rural areas in the Third World. With the right tools, these communities will have a better chance to create a sustainable livelihoods, decrease poverty and, in turn, improve their economic positions.

Love Matters is a web and mobile site which offers clear, non-judgmental information on safe and satisfying sex. Targeted toward 15-30 year olds in South Asia, Latin America and soon in Africa, the goal is to create online spaces where people feel free to discuss taboo subjects and get all the info they need to stay healthy and happy. The first site launched last June and Love Matters India now has around 150,000 visitors a month. The tiny LM team spans 4 continents.

Have you ever thought how to protect the heritage? Bhutan is setting an example – creating a four star eco hotel and community hospitality college. They’re building a 20-room boutique style 4 star hotel, built eco-friendly so that it will be part of the eco-system without interfering with it. The goal of this project is to protect and maintain Bhutanese heritage in the tourist industry by providing Bhutanese people with a 4 star eco-hotel and a non-profit hospitality management college to set an example and to promote eco-tourism. It is about a 4 star hotel in sustainable manner in central Bhutan, along with an on-site non-profit hotel school. The hotel and school will provide employment opportunities for the local people and prepare young Bhutanese for a significant increase in foreign tourism.

Ubuntu Streetkids Foundation will also be presented on Thursday. World wide there are more than 100 million street children. How can we help the kids who have no other option than to provide for themselves? At tender ages they have already experienced a lot of hardship without much possibilities to just enjoy their childhood. Ubuntu gives them a chance to star in their own theatre performance to let them regain their self esteem and dignity. Their situation needs to be addressed and Ubuntu tries to put them in the spotlight in a positive and creative way by helping them to leave the streets behind, experience their talent and potential, and start education.

About TEDxChange

TEDxChange is designed to act as a catalyst for global conversations on ideas worth spreading on health, development, and education issues.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a strategic partner of the TEDx program, and together we teamed up for a very special project called TEDxChange – an initiative devoted to ideas worth spreading in the areas of global health and development. The TEDxChange team works with TEDx organizers around the world to help facilitate meaningful discussions on topics such as vaccines, polio, malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal and newborn child health, and agricultural development. The TEDxChange initiative also includes a global signature event convened by Melinda Gates and broadcast across the TEDx community.