Saturday 5聽November saw a mesmerising series of TEDx Southampton talks at聽The Berry聽Theatre, Hedge End,聽which centred on the theme of ‘Self and Society’.
Run in partnership with several area-wide organisations,聽the event was led by聽 and from the University, and featured 14 thought-provoking speakers, with the environmentalist and Guardian columnist聽George Monbiot headlining.
The TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) organization聽runs conferences across the world. Over one billion people have watched the online TED talks聽given by speakers such as聽Brian聽Cox, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Bono.
The TEDx聽Southampton talks (the ‘x’ stands for an independently organised TED event,聽which share the same high-production values),聽were聽delivered to a聽packed audience, with聽topics聽ranging from聽‘Breaking the Spell of Loneliness’ and ‘Mine! – the Power of Ownership’, to ‘The Burger Apocalypse’ and ‘How to Rebuild our Civilisation’.
Host and curator聽James Dyke, who lectures on Sustainability Science at the聽University, anticipates this will be the first of many such high-impact聽events:
鈥淲hat聽we have managed to do for our first City-wide show is bring together a tremendously聽diverse and extremely talented range of speakers. They are scientists,聽journalists, authors, artists,聽photographers, musicians and community leaders.聽Some are very well known already. Others we hope will get some of the exposure聽and recognition they deserve.
“The聽demand for the show has blown us all away, with the 300+ capacity theatre selling out many weeks ago. This聽demonstrates the appetite for events like this in Southampton. People want to聽be entertained, yes, but they also聽like being challenged and engaging with exciting new ideas.鈥�
