TEDxKitchenerED was this past weekend – Sat May 14, 2016. This was my 2nd TEDx event (I still think this is crazyyyyyy!)
I felt very honored to speak at this particular event. Why? When they posted the line-up of speakers, I was floored! SO many exceptional people! (Check them out here: http://www.tedxkitchenered.com/speakers.html)
About a week before the event, I was asked to be the OPENING speaker. Seriously? Who me?! Just being part of this TEDx event felt like the most amazing brownie. And then to be the opening speaker. Talk about icing on the cake (or rather, my amazing brownie)
My reflections on 2 areas:
ORGANIZERS:
I cannot say enough about Andrew Bieronski (http://www.bieronskied.com/) and the TEDxKitchenerED team. Throughout the entire process – from being selected to speak till the event day – they were there for us.
From idea inception, to reading through multiple (!!!!) drafts of my talk to making the effort and coming ALL the way to Toronto one Friday afternoon to run through my speech.
They always kept us up to date on timelines, logistics, helpful hints and even hosted a dinner for all the speakers so we could get to know each other.
I will remember one thing in particular because Andrew went above and beyond. The day he asked me to be the opening speaker, he knew that it would be quite hard for me because I live in Toronto and it would mean a VERY early start to commute to Waterloo.
Andrew told me that he (and his wonderful wife) would be happy to host me at their place on the night before the event so I would not have to travel that morning. Although I did not take them up on the kind offer, the genuine gesture spoke volumes about his kindness, thoughtfulness and his passion for this TEDx event.
SPEAKERS
I absolutely LOVED hearing every single thought-provoking talk and meeting such interesting speakers. Without a doubt, each speaker had an idea worth sharing. To give you a brief idea:
- Kristin Phillips (educationbits.wordpress.com) spoke about “sticky learning” which involves teaching a subject matter at many points throughout the year instead of at only 1 point in the curriculum. I can completely relate to that because even as an adult, there are many topics that I need to hear about many times before it finally clicks.
- Holly Painter uses poetry to inspire and empower audiences to share their personal stories. I was floored at how powerful spoken poetry really is! I encourage you to check out her site (http://www.hollypainterpoetry.com/) and listen to the videos. She is exceptionally talented!
- Brian Aspinall (http://brianaspinall.com/) talked about coding, rethinking education and how important coding is in everyday life. It inspired me find a class so I can learn more about coding. Not sure if I’ll be lucky to have a teacher as passionate as Brian, but I can hope 🙂
I could go on and on (and on!!) about my fellow speakers but I will leave it at that for now. The videos will be out in about 1 month and I am so excited to share them with you and discuss more about ALL the talented speakers then 🙂 Stay tuned.