(Source: missbcm)
Talk of the Town - Attendee Blog Roundup
A large part of our existence is the very idea of “ideas worth sharing”, which is reflected in the discussion that continues on Twitter to this very day.
The attendees of TEDxSFU 2012 are natural learners and sharers - talented ones at that - and today we would like to honour their presence in the TEDx community by featuring the lovely and insightful blog posts/recaps they wrote of their TEDxSFU experience.
Without further ado…
Going Against the Grain - A Girl Named Jillian (@jillianwalker)
Spending a day with TED - Sam’s 50-50 (@Sam_Thiara)
Public Service: What Else Would I Be Doing? - To The Dogs or Whoever (@kentdaitken, guest post by @erin_gee)
Day 631: TEDxSFU and Raw Talent 12x12 - Sukhraj Bhattal Photography (@sukhrajb)
A Neophyte’s TED Experience: TEDxSFU 2012 - Grand Prospirator (@gprospirator)
Going Against the Grain @SFUVan - SFU In the City Blog (@SFUVan, guest post by @ontheCL)
Visit the official TEDxSFU page on TED.com for info, videos, and more.
TEDXSFU 2012 VIDEOS ARE NOW UP!
Put aside 3:00:25 hours of your time to soak in the wisdom of 10 talented TEDxSFU speakers. You won’t regret it.
TEDxSFU attendees mixed and mingled at the beautiful Goldcorp Centre for the Arts in the heart of Gastown, Vancouver. The talks, which explored the theme Going Against the Grain, generated a flurry of debates and discussion over coffee and sandwiches at every break.
Everyone left with two pairs of touchscreen sensitive TEDxSFU gloves and many ideas worth sharing throughout the cold Vancouver winter.
Mark Brand took to the stage to recount his personal journey into a world of entrepreneurship, where revitalizing the downtown east side, feeding and employing the homeless, and community gardening are on the top of his priority list.
“I moved to Vancouver and fell in love with the city not because of what it is, but what I think it can be.”
Journalist Luke Brocki took us through the process of journalism and how we can apply it to constant and free learning in our every day lives.
Halfway through the TEDxSFU conference on September 22, emcee Aaron Cruikshank and Breakfast Television host Riaz Meghji shared a hug when the speaker could not recall being a former classmate of Aaron’s.
A group of resilient multitaskers, attendees watched while participating in online buzz via Twitter, Facebook and Livestream. #TEDxSFU became a Canada wide trending topic before noon!
POV of an Attendee: "A Neophyte’s TED Experience – TEDxSFU 2012"→
One of our attendees Samuel Chen wrote a blog post reflecting on his experience at TEDxSFU, highlighting what he learned from the different speakers and the effectiveness of joining the conversation on Twitter. Click the link above to read his thoughts.
“I am still new to the world of tweeting but found my foray into this digital participation rewarding for additional ideas from audience reactions and thoughts. There was also something rewarding feeling that I was representing and contributing to a broader group of learners in those that followed me or are part of my learning community.
Something surprising is that there was significantly more participation in the twitter forum (#tedxsfu) whenever there was a live speaker compared to during the videos that we watched. At a quick glance, there are about 15-18 twitter posts per presentation (about 1 a minute), while only about 5-10 for the video views. This has led me to wonder whether there is something about a shared live experience that increases participation.”
TEDxTuesday finale: our beloved MC, Aaron Cruikshank!
Meet our MC for the big day, a double SFU alumnus (BA Communications, Master of Public Policy), who sat on the Alumni Association Board for a number of years. Aaron was involved in TEDxSFU last year and has been an active volunteer as a speaker and a business case competition judge.
TEDxSFU: Can you tell us one thing that you do in your life that makes you Against The Grain?
AC: Instead of focusing on my own BS day to day, I have dedicated my life to service and trying to find ways to bring out the best in people every day. It’s very fulfilling but makes people wonder if I’m for real.
TEDxSFU: What is your favourite TED Talk?
AC: Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education. From TEDGlobal 2010. Great speaker. Excellent topic. Real inspiring. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I saw this talk.
TEDxSFU: Tell us something no one knows about you.
AC: There’s nothing that NO ONE knows about but… there is something that very few people know about. Growing up, my family was one of the poorer ones in my school and my clothes were always hand-me-downs, things my mom made from scratch (bless her) or army surplus. One time, when I was in elementary school, I had this wealthy friend who was bragging about these custom made Nikes he got from the factory in Oregon. I got tired of him rubbing it in my face so while he was in gym class, I peed in them in the locker room. Filled them right up. The insoles were floating. They never found out it was me and that was over 25 years ago so I think I’m safe to talk about it now.
TEDxSFU: Who is your biggest inspiration?
AC: My Dad. I know, it’s trite and predictable but when we were going through hard times, my Dad never took any handouts from anyone and taught me the value of hard work. When he was laid off for 18 months, he got four paper routes and we lived off that money. He’s also one of the smartest guys I know but he’s not a douche about it. I wish I was more like him.
TEDxSFU: Dogs or cats?
AC: Why not both? I love it when dogs and cats are buddies.
TEDxSFU: What do you love about Vancouver the most?
AC: How clean it is. Overall - I think Vancouver is terribly overrated for a number of reasons but I love how clean it is.
TEDxSFU: What’s your favourite place to eat?
AC: The buffet Asian place in Tinseltown Mall in Chinatown. Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Korean food all in one place? Awesome!
6 things we love for the 6 days left until TEDxSFU:
1. “The Setlist Project” is Kristie Yung’s debut EP. She also happens to be our resident TEDxSFU performer this year. Get a sneak peek at her Youtube channel before the big day!
2. Chocolate cravings satisfied at TEDxItaewon.
3. Notebooks from TEDxBloomington.
4. Australian designers Maricor/Maricar urge us to “Fail better.”
5. TEDxTuesday Speaker Series rewind: Journalist Luke Brocki writes his own bio and we don’t edit all the real stuff out.
6. Ryan Holmes’ TEDxSFU talk “The software of revolution” featured on the official TEDx blog.
