Sharing ideas worth spreading

Sharing ideas worth spreading

March 26, 2015

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With nothing but a few slides to back them up, 15 members of the Queen鈥檚 community will take to the stage this Sunday to share some ideas worth spreading. These presenters are taking part in the fifth annual TEDxQueensU conference, an event dedicated to talks about technology, entertainment and design.

Last year's TEDx conference featured a talk by Rachel Wayne, a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology. (Photo Supplied)

鈥淭his is a community event that builds a platform for people to share ideas, create and innovate together,鈥 says Tom Edgerton (Artsci鈥15), Director of TEDxQueensU. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great chance to highlight Queen鈥檚 and Kingston鈥檚 talent, and there鈥檚 a lot of real-time collaboration that happens here.鈥

Mr. Edgerton, who鈥檚 been involved with TEDx since his first year of study, says this year鈥檚 conference is set to be the biggest and best one yet. While there have been TEDx conferences happening at Queen鈥檚 for five years now, the event has undergone massive growth this year, nearly quadrupling in size. Held for the first time in the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, the event is still dedicated to encouraging curiosity, inspiring the exchange of ideas and celebrating dynamic thinking.

The event is comprised of brief talks, usually between 15 and 20 minutes, delivered by students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the Queen鈥檚 community. The talks are followed by opportunities for the audience to meet and speak with one another as well as the presenters.

To better reach those who aren鈥檛 able to make it to campus, the conference will also be live-streamed through the TEDxQueensU .

鈥淭his is a student event, but this is also one of the 成人大片 vehicles we have to show campus, our school and the research and innovation happening here to people around the world,鈥 says Mr. Edgerton.

The speakers at this year鈥檚 event come from a diverse array of backgrounds that includes people like Afraj Gill (Comm鈥15) and Beverly Thomson. Mr. Gill is a technology entrepreneur who鈥檚 co-founded two tech companies and written for the Globe and Mail and Business Insider, while Ms. Thomson is a broadcast journalist, philanthropist, and co-host of Canada AM, CTV鈥檚 national morning news show.

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter who you are,鈥 says Mr. Edgerton. 鈥淚f you have an idea worth spreading, we want you on the stage to share it with us, why we should care and how it will work.鈥

TEDxQueensU will be held on SundayMarch 29 at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts.

More information and a schedule of the day鈥檚 events can be found on their .

Tickets can be purchased through an online .