Snap up tickets for TEDxExeter 2015

Now in its fourth year, it is expected to be more popular than ever. Last year all 460 tickets for the event were snapped up in a week. This year, organisers expect them to go even faster.

TEDx is a programme of local, self-organised events licensed by TED and made possible by local volunteers who want to engage their communities. The organisers have brought together an inspiring range of speakers who will take the long view in their talks.

“We aim to take the long view back into the past, and explore how it has shaped the world we now live in,” said Claire Kennedy, licensee & organiser, TEDxExeter. “We want to ask about what responsibilities the past places on us in the way we live now and how we innovate. Much current political economic and personal decision-making is rife with short-termism. So we will also ask how it can reveal and help us to understand the challenges that face us now, and shape the way we live and the decisions we make.”

TEDxExeter is a day-long event with a mix of speakers, performance artists and film. TEDxExeter 2015 will span a wide range of topics from the death penalty to Magna Carta; from feeding yourself on £10 a day to sculpture and much more.

David Cameron may not know what Magna Carta means, but historian Dan Jones is the perfect person to talk about how in 1215, for the first time, a group of subjects forced an English king to agree to limiting his powers. Back in this century, if you’re facing the death penalty, there’s no one better to have on your side than Clive Stafford Smith. He has represented over 300 prisoners sentenced to death in the southern USA and detainees in Guantanamo Bay – and will speak about the death penalty at TEDxExeter 2015. Matthew Owen, who is originally from Exeter, has now turned his attention to the rainforest where he has worked with indigenous communities to put 500,000 acres of endangered forest out of the reach of loggers.

You may have heard of the glass ceiling – but did you know that women and minorities also risk falling off the glass cliff? Michelle Ryan will explain why. Ever wondered what the role of nanotechnology in dealing with antibiotic resistance? Rachel McKendry, winner of the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award 2014 is the one to tell you. And if you’re worried about your food bills, Jack Monroe is an expert at rustling up delicious meals on a shoestring. Check out her blog A Girl Called Jack – or come and listen to her speak at TEDxExeter 2015.

“It’s a day not to be missed,” adds Claire Kennedy. “ As with our previous conferences there will be music, a delicious locally-sourced lunch and plenty of opportunities in the breaks to meet and mix with your fellow TEDxers and continue the conversation.”

The one day event will feature the following local, national and internationally renowned speakers:

Celia McKeon, a peace-builder who has worked in post-Yugoslav states, Colombia and Northern Ireland; Chetan Bhatt, Professor and director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at LSE and writer on wars, human rights, and extreme religious violence.
Clive Stafford Smith, a lawyer specialising in representing prisoners facing the death penalty.
Dan Jones, historian, author and award-winning journalist.
Dick Moore, campaigner on adolescent emotional wellbeing.
Jack Monroe, cook, campaigner and Guardian columnist.
Jenny Sealey, artistic director of inclusive theatre company Graeae and co-director of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
Kieron Kirkland, magician, technologist, and social innovation geek.
Matthew Owen, founder of Cool Earth, works with indigenous communities to keep their rainforest standing.
Michelle Ryan, Professor at Exeter University and researcher into the phenomenon of the glass cliff.
Peter Randall-Page, artist of international repute.
Rachel McKendry, Professor at the London Centre of Nanotechnology, integrating nanotechnology, telecomms and big data to track and treat infectious diseases.
Sara Hyde, leading thinker on women and criminal justice, and theatre writer and performer.

Tickets cost £50, with a limited number of concessionary tickets at £25 for benefit claimants, disabled people, full-time students and under 18s.

There is more information about the day at www.tedxexeter.com, facebook and twitter.