The line-up of speakers for the Isle of Man’s first TEDx event is taking shape, with NASA astronaut Colonel Ron Garan (USAF ret.) and Manx blues star Davy Knowles confirmed to appear.
TEDxDouglas takes place at the Youth Arts Centre in Kensington Road, Douglas, on Monday, 10th November 2014 and the conference will feature a wide range of speakers with powerful, thought-provoking ideas and guest performers.
A former F-16 fighter pilot, Ron was selected by NASA in 2000 and his first space flight was in 2008 to the International Space Station, returning to the ISS three years later. Ron is also an aquanaut, having spent 18 continuous days living and working on the ocean floor as part of a joint NASA-NOAA research mission to Aquarius, the world’s only undersea research laboratory. He is also Science Advisor to Nobel Laureate Mohamed Yunus and a Social Entrepreneur and Google Evangelist.
An acclaimed blues guitarist and singer, Davy hails from Port St Mary and is now based in Chicago, but regularly returns to the Island and performed at the recent I Love Culture show at the Villa Marina. Davy will speak at TEDxDouglas, as well as performing.
The conference will be split into three sessions – the first from 2pm-3.30pm, the second from 4pm-5.30pm and the third from 6pm-8.30pm.
Tickets are priced at ?30 for one session, ?40 for two sessions, and ?50 for the full day. They will be available via the Villa Gaiety box office and will be on sale soon. More information will be released on www.tedxdouglas.im over the coming week.
TEDxDouglas is being curated by Emma and John Quirk, with the talks being streamed live on the internet and uploaded to the main TED website afterwards for worldwide viewing.
Emma said: ‘We have been inundated with ideas for talks from prospective speakers, and have narrowed the list down and will be unveiling the full line up in the next week or so. We would like to thank everyone who has got in touch with a proposal, and for those who miss out on this occasion, we are aiming to make this an annual event, so there should be future opportunities to reconsider any idea that hasn’t been included on this occasion.
‘TED is such an inspiring community, and the thought of the first TEDx event coming to the Island certainly does seem to have inspired some fantastic ideas. The TED philosophy is about the power of ideas to change attitudes, to make people question the world around them and how they live their lives. We can’t wait to finalise the running order for the sessions and let the public see what we have in store.
‘We are also keen to hear from any companies, or individuals, who would like to support TEDxDouglas – there are several sponsorship opportunities available, and we’d be happy to discuss options with anyone interested in getting involved.’
TED - which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design - is a non-profit organisation devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short talks, normally no longer than 15 minutes. The movement has developed a worldwide following of millions since the first one-off event in 1984. TEDx events are independent from the main TED conferences, but operate under the same banner and follow similar principles and guidelines. There are more than 30,000 talks in the TEDx online library from presentations in 130+ countries.
‘TEDster’ Chris Stott, also CEO of Manx satellite company ManSat Ltd, is the licence holder for TEDxDouglas.
He said: ‘The list of speakers Emma and John have compiled covers such a variety of innovative ideas, covering a wide range of subjects, and the response from prospective speakers has been so pleasing to see. The event is gearing up to be a must-see as this year’s Island of Culture celebrations draw to a close.’
For further details about the conference, and sponsorship opportunities, contact Emma at tedxdouglas@gmail.com or call her on 07624 341823.
You can keep up to speed on the latest news on social media at www.twitter.com/tedxdouglas and www.facebook.com/tedxdouglas.
Photo - Ron Garan.
