Recently the second annual TEDxCU talk was held at University of Colorado, Boulder. For those unfamiliar, TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas primarily in the form of short, yet powerful talks. TEDx talks are independently ran events to helps share ideas throughout specific communities. For further information and to stream over 1,700 talks you can visit https://www.ted.com
The TEDxCU talk consisted of seven speakers ranging a variety of topics.
– Jeff Donaldson discussed overcoming fear
– Michelle David explained the negative impact of sex-deprived marriages and how to prevent them
– Toby Russel discussed finding capital solutions, and finding sustainable recovery after natural disasters
– Ken Anderson lectured on the important role of big data in relation to disaster response and recovery.
– Matthien Talpe analysed climate change through the perspective of gravity
– Andi O’Connor talked about her blog “Burning Down the House” and her experiences with loss and resilience.
– Scott Smith introduced his call for economic reform to meet a 21st century market
Overall I thought the speakers did a fantastic job. Each talk lasted roughly ten minutes. All speakers used a powerpoint which was only used for visual effect for pictures and very little text. The speakers did a good job of speaking the wide audience which attended. The ticket sales were available to the general public, but I believe it safe to assume that a large part of the crowd consisted of students and those affiliated with the university.
There was one hiccup in the event that occurred during Ken Anderson’s presentation. When Anderson started his presentation there were some issues with his mic or powerpoint presentation, perhaps a combination of the two. For about five minutes the audience watched as he fiddled with his equipment in silence. I did find it odd that he never addressed the crowd, informing us of the technical difficulties. Then after the technology was up and running he began his talk, which lasted about three minutes till he stopped again. In that three minutes there was a slight echo coming from his mic, which I noticed but didn’t necessarily find it distracting. So he walks off stage and gets a new mic and returns to start his talk over from the beginning and finishes it entirely.
Personally, I thought that this situation could have been handled better. Either through more communication with the audience or even ditching the “echoing mic” and projecting his voice. I believe the crowd and the size of the room would have been small enough to address without a microphone. All in all, I thought that the event was a success in spreading ideas and connecting the community.
hallejohnson 