TEDxExeter talks go live online
Prepare to be moved, inspired, challenged and amused as talks from this year’s TEDxExeter conference go live online today for anyone to enjoy. Viewing figures from past talks indicate that they have the potential to be watched by millions of people in hundreds of countries around the world.
“Brilliant”, “thought-provoking”, “a feast of learning”, “you can hear people thinking”. These are some of the comments that were flying around Twitter during April’s conference. With a line-up that was arguably the best yet, the day was full of ideas worth sharing.
Speakers ranged from household names such as Clive Stafford-Smith – a renowned human rights lawyer and campaigner – to local, 17-year old Exeter College student Beth Barnes, who competed with other students to win her speaker slot. Subjects ranged from a mind-blowing look at theme and variation in nature and culture from artist and sculptor Peter Randall-Page to a personal and emotionally-charged call to embed wellbeing and emotional learning into our education system from Dick Moore and a passionate call for us to end child hunger in the UK from Magic Breakfast founder Carmel McConnell.
This year’s conference was streamed live on the internet for the first time, enabling more than four times as many people as usual to watch TEDxExeter speakers live on the day. They tuned in from 36 different countries including Iraq, Swaziland and Canada . However, the really significant audience numbers come when the videos go online. Four previous TEDxExeter talks have been selected to be featured on the main TED.com website – they alone have been viewed over 3.5 million times. Total views for all TEDxExeter talks since 2012 is well over four million.
Slam poet Harry Baker, whose love poem for lonely prime numbers has been viewed more than three quarters of a million times, returned to TEDxExeter this year, finishing the day off on a high note. Last year Karima Bennoune told the stories of Muslim people fighting fundamentalism in their own communities. Her video has been watched 1.27 million times. Her brave and passionate attack on Islamic fundamentalism at this year’s conference is now online too.
“At the heart of TEDxExeter are the ideas, the speakers, their talks,” says organiser Claire Kennedy. “TEDx speakers tackle humanity’s toughest questions, attempting to answer them with innovation, enterprise and enduring optimism. The best talks change the prism through which we view the world. We shine a spotlight on local as well as global issues.
“Our platform is different: often experts speak to experts, and conferences are sector bound. We include a broad range of ideas crossing disciplines, and our speakers bring their talks alive through stories, engaging both a local audience at the conference and now, with the videos online, enabling them to reach a much wider audience both at home and globally.”
Videos of all the TEDxExeter talks are now available on www.TEDxExeter.com
A playlist of all the 2015 talks is also available on YouTube.
