Started in 2010, TEDxEdmonton has helped inspire and spread creativity, innovation, education and entrepreneurship across our community.
Overview
What is TED?
TED is a non-profit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani,Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Nicholas Christakis at TED2010 (Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson)
What is TEDxEdmonton?
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxEdmonton, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxEdmonton events, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small groups. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
We brought TEDx to Edmonton to show our community and the world that we've been quietly outputting world class creatives, entrepreneurs and innovators for years. We just want to be a little more vocal about it. 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 believe TEDxEdmonton can be a spark to ignite and connect the entrepreneurial and creative energy we've always had in our community.
Organizing Team
Ken Bautista
@kenbautista
As co-founder of TEDxEdmonton and Startup Edmonton, Ken has been a creative entrepreneur in the tech space for over 10 years, founding and growing two award-winning interactive companies, Hotrocket and Rocketfuel Games. Ken has been featured in a number of publications including the New York Times, and was recognized in Avenue Magazine 40 Under 40 in 2009, earned a Horizon Alumni Award from the University of Alberta, and was named one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People by Alberta Venture Magazine in 2011.
Tiffany Linke-Boyko
@tiffanyklb
Tiffany has been involved in organizing, coordinating and delivering a range of programs and events such as DemoCamp, Startup Weekend, artsScene Behind the Scenes and TEDxEdmonton. Previously, Tiffany spent the last eight years with Extreme Dream Ministries as an event organizer planning youth conferences all over Canada and overseas. Some of her highlights have been organizing a conference at a soccer stadium in Malawi, Africa and organizing the annual YC Alberta that takes place each May at Rexall Place in Edmonton with 16,000 delegates.
Cam Linke
@camlinke
Cam is a software entrepreneur and startup community activist, helping to grow Edmonton's emerging creative and tech economy by connecting entrepreneurs, investors, developers and creative minds. In 2008, Cam formed DemoCamp Edmonton as a forum to bring the tech community together, and has continued that with his work at Startup Edmonton and Flightpath. Cam is currently the CEO of Touch Metric, makers of business-to-business surveying software. He was recently named one of Avenue Magazine's 2011 Top 40 Under 40.
Sam Jenkins
@samjenkins
Sam is an entrepreneur, a volunteer, a community organizer, an advocate and a technology evangelist. Apart from his role as co-founder and Director of Development for Startup Edmonton, Sam currently services as President and Board Chair of Fringe Theatre Adventures, the organization that produces the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. Sam is a proud graduate of the University of Alberta School of Business.
Michael Brechtel
@mbrechtel
A visual reference to the golden days of advertising on Madison Avenue, Brechtel leads the Strategic team and informs the creative process, sharing insights uncovered through innovative research. As each project evolves he ensures that there’s a reason for everything we do – you know: that it’s all strategic. Michael brought TEDx to Edmonton and is a founder of artsScene. He’s a good guy. He wears bow ties.
Christy Holtby
@christyholtby
Christy is a passionate advocate of world-class healthcare and the non-profit sector. Christy is currently Director of Fund Development for the University Hospital Foundation. Prior to this role, she established the Edmonton Branch of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and worked in development and health promotion with the Arthritis Society and the Ontario Lung Association. She was named to Avenue Magazine's 40 Under 40 in 2011.
Marc Carnes
@marccarnes
Marc has over 13 years of professional arts and non-profit management experience from all over Canada, including most recently serving as Director of Community Relations for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Francis Winspear Centre for Music. He is an active volunteer and supporter of a number of organizations in Edmonton, linking his passion for the arts and its role in building a world-class creative city.
Alana Williams
@scratchlana
Having spent her University years cultivating business acumen thinking she’d be an accountant or lawyer, Alana craved creative industry in her life and found herself drawn to advertising. She now has over 9 years experience in Edmonton’s advertising community where she currently holds a position as Account Supervisor with RED The Agency. She remains a strong advocate and supporter of creative industry through volunteer work with the Advertising Club of Edmonton and artsScene Edmonton.
Cary Williams
@carywilliams
Cary Williams spent many years working on developing a career in getting-the-hell-out-of-Edmonton. After travelling and working in international business, he came to the realization that not only is Edmonton home, but it’s a fantastic place to live IF someone is willing to make things happen. After chairing the City of Edmonton’s Next Gen Committee – for which he was chosen by Avenue Magazine as one of 2009’s Top 40 Under 40.
Miranda Wulf
@miranda_wulf
Miranda Wulf specializes in image consulting and personal styling. Receiving her certification through the London Image Institute and the Image Resource Center of New York, her mission is to empower people to look and feel their best by teaching them how to develop their own personal style specific to career, goals, lifestyle, age and personality. Passionate about community, creativity and innovation, Miranda is a natural connector and loves to see people from various walks of life come together and sharpen one another to create brilliance.
Contact Us
Media
All press requests should be sent to Stephanie Enders who is the spokesperson for TEDxEdmonton. Please note that TEDx event organizers are not able to speak for the TED Conference. Any inquiry regarding TED should be sent to Laura Galloway.
Volunteers
Our volunteer organizing committee is full for 2012. Due to the high interest we receive from applicants each year, we can only recruit a very limited number of supporting volunteer positions around our main TEDxEdmonton events. Stay tuned for details to come.
Speakers
Do you have ideas worth spreading? If so, we're looking for you. Apply to be a speaker at one of our TEDxEdmonton events and strive to give the best talk you've ever given. Reveal something never seen before. Share an idea that could change the world. Apply here.
Community
There are lots of ways to join the TEDxEdmonton community: