TEDx Edmonton is a wrap! And what a great day it was.

Update: Check out videos from TEDxEdmonton 2010 here

No doubt more recaps about TEDx Edmonton will be reflected on and written about by many of you. We’re looking forward to reading and hearing more from you as you spread the ideas you heard, and as you spread a few of your own ideas along the way. You can already check out some photos from the day here (lots more to come), and stay tuned for the presentation videos that we’ll edit and post in the coming weeks. Send us your links and photos, so we can share them here too. In the meantime, some final thoughts and thanks:

To our presenters – Tim Antoniuk, Shawna Pandya, Andrew Hessel, Shafraaz Kaba, Theresa Howland, Grant Skinner, Cameron Herold, Sean Stewart and Krystle dos Santos – thanks for taking time out of your super busy lives to share your passions, stories, music (and madlibs) with us. Same goes to my fellow hosts, Cam Linke, Stephani Carter and Michael Brechtel. It was great to share the stage and this journey with you.

To our event partners and my fellow organizing committee members – all your hard work, dedication and contributions helped us put on a show to remember. From setting up the venue, to the set design, to the camera work, to the audio and even dealing with a glitch (or crash) or two – you were all fantastic.

And to all of you who attended and watched online, thanks for helping make our first TEDx Edmonton event a huge success. You discussed, followed, tweeted (to the point that #tedxyeg was the number one trending topic in Canada!), and soaked in every minute of the TEDx Edmonton experience. Your enthusiasm kept us going and you helped push us to set the bar for our next event and beyond.

The world is changing and the creative and entrepreneur economy is here. It’s a new world where ideas, knowledge, creativity and entrepreneurship rule. Where community trumps geography, where small is the new big, and where innovation and entrepreneurial savviness is so much more valuable.

It’s a new world that presents an opportunity for Edmontonians, particularly our young generation, to make our mark on the global stage today. Because if we don’t, other cities will continue to pass us by.

We chose our speakers not only because of their passion, but to show you and to show the world that Edmonton has been quietly outputting world class creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators for years. We just want to be a little more vocal about it. And that’s why we brought TEDx Edmonton to our community, along with other initiatives like artsScene Edmonton and Startup Edmonton.

Everyone needs to know that Edmontonians are working here and beyond, changing the world in their own ways – in science, technology, entertainment, design and more. We wanted TEDx Edmonton to be a spark that would ignite and connect the entrepreneurial and creative energy we’ve always had in our community.

And judging from the feedback we’ve gotten so far, we think it’s working.

So as TEDx Edmonton comes to a close this year, let’s keep this feeling going all year long. Be proud to be Edmonton made. Spread your ideas. Dream big. And be an unstoppable force in making things happen.

Ken Bautista
Event Chair
TEDx Edmonton Organizing Committee

P.S. Check out more of our photos from the event, after party and behind the scenes here!