Being fortunate enough to attend this year’s TEDxExeter (Exeter’s leading ideas festival back for the 6th year), I have been energised to share some of my favourite speakers, their work, vision and hope for the future. The event took place on Friday 21st April 2017, to a 900+ audience in the Exeter Northcott Theatre and was joined via livestream by a truly global audience. There were over 80 planned viewing events, and last year people in 69 countries watched online.
The day was broken up over 4 sessions and was laid out as follows:
| Session 1 – 9.25 – 10.50am | Session 3 – 2.10 – 3.20pm | |||||
| Madhumita Murgia | My identity for sale | @madhumita29 | Gill Hayes | Hope in hell | @gillhayes2 | |
| Dr. Deborah Lipstadt | My courtroom battle with a Holocaust denier | Streamed TED film | Gulalai Ismail | From radicalisation to peacebuilding | @Gulalai_Ismail | |
| Virginie Helias | Hope in a bottle | @virginiehelias | James Craig | Brexit: Moving forwards together | @JamesKCraig | |
| Ludovico Einaudi | “Elegy for the Arctic” – Greenpeace | Streamed TED film | Jo & Toby Gorniak | Helping young people find their genius | @stfactorycic | |
| Howard Johns | Your invitation to the energy revolution | @howardjohns | Street Factory | Performance | @stfactorycic | |
|
Session 2 – 11.30am-12.50pm
|
Session 4 – 4.00 – 5.15pm | |||||
| Maya Angelou | Still I Rise | Streamed TED film | Casey Gerald | The gospel of doubt | Streamed TED film | |
| Christina Lamb | Finding hope in dark places | @christinalamb | Vik Mohan | How listening to communities can help save our oceans | @VikMohan1 | |
| Nujeen Mustafa | I am not a number | @NujeenMustafa | Rob Wilson | Ending food waste one beer at a time | @iamrobertwilson | |
| Kagemusha Taiko | Performance | @KagemushaTaiko | Matt Harvey | Poetry Performance | @mattharvey4 | |
| Andrew Solomon | How open borders make us safe | @Andrew_Solomon | Kester Brewin | Creating new summers of love in times of darkness | @kesterbrewin | |
All speakers and performers were inspirational, giving the audience a true sense of perspective by sharing their experiences. One of my personal favourites was Howard Johns – Your invitation to the energy revolution.
Howard John’s belief is that we must switch to renewables and how this can be achieved within our local communities, but while the technology is there, the political will to make changes may not be.
He believes in changing the system from the bottom up and making the next great leap forward to achieving clean, affordable, democratic energy. It’s time for us to take control, relocalise, reduce costs and carbon emissions, repower our neighbourhoods and join the energy revolution.
WHAT NEXT?
If you’d like to keep up-to-date with the latest trends, give AB a follow on Twitter and Instagram or subscribe for our exclusive monthly email highlights.
Author: Doug Walker
Doug has over 13 years experience in digital marketing and at least 8 years in the luxury hospitality sector. Doug is an avid gamer but equally likes to spend time outside in the great outdoors. Doug is a self-confessed SEO nerd, when he's not optimising for the web, he can be found in the kitchen cooking up spicy food!
