TEDxQueenstown announces theme for 2016 event

December 8, 2015

TEDxQueenstown announces theme for 2016 event

TEDxQueenstown has announced the theme for its fourth annual event, to be held on April 17, 2016.

‘Connexions’ will be the name of the game for the volunteer-run event which champions ‘ideas worth spreading’.

The event invites leading thinkers and doers to deliver short (18 minutes or fewer) talks on an area of their expertise, each connected by a theme.

2015’s ‘illumination’ themed event drew a 300 strong crowd to the Queenstown Memorial Centre. Key speakers included Caroline Dean, who brought the audience to tears with her talk about workplace bullying, celebrity speaker Cam Calkoen and social activist Mark Balla.

Tickets cost $138 for the half day event, which includes delicious food and drink and live entertainment alongside the inspiring talks.

The non-profit event is choreographed by a dedicated team of more than 30 local volunteers led by co-curator Trent Yeo.

Unveiling the ‘connexions’ theme, Trent Yeo said that he was “very much looking forward” to seeing how speakers incorporated the theme.

“There was a wide range of speakers and performers at the 2015 event and they all brought very different ideas to the theme. ‘Connexions’ is another topic which will provoke discussion and bring an interesting flavour to the stage,” said Mr Yeo.

“TEDxQueenstown was a recent finalist in the Trustpower Community Awards for the work done on the 2015 event.

“It takes a lot of people and a whole lot of backing from good people to make these events happen in our town. Over 3,500 hours of work was put into the last event.”

Work on the 2016 event is well underway. The TEDxQueenstown team have already auditioned a number of speakers, with the final line up set to be announced early next year.

“TEDxQueenstown is unique within the global TEDx programme. It’s an intimate event, set in an amazing location and is building a great reputation,” said Mr Yeo.

“The team has received a large number of applications for speakers and we’re on the hunt for unique thinkers and innovators to address the audience. After the event, each talk is published on the TEDx YouTube channel, so it’s an opportunity to reach out internationally as well as to the Queenstown community.

“’Connexions’ is a very appropriate theme for the Queenstown stage, it’s a transient place with many like-minded travellers coming, going and many settling here. It’s a vibrant and varied community, all connected by the region in which we live.”

Nominations for speakers for the 2016 event are still taking place. Anybody with an ‘idea worth spreading’ can find out more by emailing:speakers@tedxqueenstown.com

ENDS

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