TEDxExeter 2016 set to be a sell out

People hoping to attend the TEDxExeter conference on 15 April 2016 will need to act fast when tickets go on sale at 10am on Tuesday 1 December.

Each year, since the event began in 2012, tickets have sold out faster than the year before.

Last year tickets for the popular event at Exeter Northcott Theatre were all gone in two hours, with concessionary tickets sold in 20 minutes. This year there will be twice as many tickets available, with a simultaneous livestream from the Northcott Theatre to the adjacent Alumni Auditorium at Exeter University. However, tickets are still expected to sell out in less than a day.

“We hope to reach a wider range of people this year,” says TEDxExeter licensee and curator Claire Kennedy. “The expansion into the Alumni Auditorium enables us to offer many more tickets at a concessionary rate. Both audiences will join together in the breaks and at lunchtime to share reactions, reflections and ideas, as well as refreshments and the chance to talk with speakers.

"We are particularly keen to encourage more young people to attend. This year, schools and colleges from around Devon have been invited to bring groups of students to the Livestream event. This is a great opportunity to stimulate thought, inspire action and challenge preconceptions in all our audience.

"This year's theme is Dreams to Reality. While having a dream is a good starting point, our speakers are changing the world through their ground breaking work and ideas: challenging perceptions, inspiring and helping people to find their own solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Speakers lined up for next year will continue to match the extremely high standards audiences have come to expect from TEDxExeter."

The conference is not limited just to those with tickets. Last year it was streamed live on the internet for the first time, allowing anyone anywhere to watch. TEDxExeter was watched by about 1,500 people gathered in viewing parties across Exeter. These included police leaders at Middlemoor and students at schools, Exeter College and the university. Groups also watched at the library, the City Council, St Loyes and the Met Office. Individuals from 38 countries including Iraq, Swaziland and Canada also tuned in. This year TEDxExeter aims to expand this audience too.

All the talks are filmed and made freely available on the internet. The TED translation project means ideas from Exeter reach a truly global audience. So far TEDxExeter speakers’ talks have been viewed more than 5 million times. Four of them have been featured on TED.com: Karima Bennoune sharing stories of real people fighting against fundamentalism in their own communities; Scilla Elworthy speaking on non violence; Bandi Mbubi calling for fair trade phones; and slam poet Harry Baker’s love poem for lonely prime numbers…

Tickets for TEDxExeter 2016 will go on sale at the Exeter Northcott Theatre box office and online at 10am on 1 December 2015. Tickets to see the conference live in the theatre will cost £60. Tickets for the simultaneous livestream to Exeter University’s Alumni Auditorium will be £20.  

The ticket price includes lunch and refreshments during the breaks. Registration will open at 8.30 on the day. The conference will start at 9.25 and finish at 5pm. There will be generous morning and afternoon breaks with refreshments in the University’s Great Hall and lunch will be sustainably sourced. To enable us to include far more people in TEDxExeter this year, all concessionary tickets will be for the Alumni Auditorium.

To keep up with speaker announcements and news about ticket sales or to watch last year's talks, readers can join the TEDxExeter mailing list at www.tedxexeter.com

Tickets go on sale on  Tuesday 1 December 2015 and are available from the Exeter Northcott Theatre Box Office and online at https://exeternorthcott.co.uk/about-us/booking-tickets/