TEDxExeter 2017 - Hope - tickets to go on sale

Exeter’s leading festival of ideas, which is now in its sixth year, is responding to the unprecedented level of demand last year, when tickets for the Exeter Northcott Theatre sold out in just 22 minutes.

Once again the 2017 conference will bring together over 900 people on the day: 465 people will join the audience at the Exeter Northcott Theatre and a further 450 people will be able to watch a simultaneous livestream in an adjacent auditorium at Exeter University. Both audiences will come together to meet speakers and each other and reflect on what they have heard during the breaks. The theme for the day is HOPE.

“We want to maintain the wonderful intimacy fostered by the Northcott’s auditorium,” says TEDxExeter licensee and curator Claire Kennedy, “but we also want to allow many more people to experience TEDxExeter and the connections and conversations that flow. By livestreaming the whole day into the Alumni Auditorium we can offer many more concessionary tickets as well as doubling the size of the audience gathered on the day.”

The conference is not limited just to those with tickets. Last year it was streamed live on the internet, allowing anyone anywhere to watch. Over 30 groups gathered to watch the day together with local viewing venues including RAMM, the Met Office, schools, the College and University, businesses and even the first Scream Screening for parents with young children. There were viewing parties in Rio, New York, Chicago and Mumbai, and people from 69 countries watched the day online. This year TEDxExeter aims to expand this audience too.

All the talks are filmed and made freely available on the internet. The TED open translation project means ideas from Exeter reach a truly global audience. So far TEDxExeter speakers’ talks have been viewed over 7 million times. Five 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; slam poet Harry Baker’s love poem for lonely prime numbers; and Manwar Ali’s direct appeal to stop young people who are drawn to radicalisation. Three more TEDxExeter talks will be featured on TED.com soon.

“As demand for our events grows, we’re exploring ways to increase their reach and impact,” adds Claire Kennedy. “We want to catalyse conversations with policy makers, thought leaders and activists to create positive change locally and beyond. We are excited by the ripple effects from this year’s conference and our TEDx Adventures when local people can spend time with speakers and find out more about their work and ideas.”

“We are also delighted that our cheaper tickets in the Alumni Auditorium mean a younger audience can come along. We are reaching out to schools in the local area, inviting them to bring groups of their students to the Livestream event.”

Tickets for TEDxExeter 2017 will go on sale at the Exeter Northcott Theatre box office at 10am on 1 December 2016. Tickets to see the conference live in the theatre will cost £65. Tickets for the simultaneous livestream to Exeter University’s Alumni Auditorium will be £20 (this is a charge to cover the cost of lunch and refreshments).  

The ticket price includes lunch and refreshments during the breaks. Registration will open at 8.30am on the day, the conference will start at 9.15am and finish at 5pm. There will be generous morning and afternoon breaks with refreshments in the University’s Great Hall.

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