TEDxPortofSpain is currently preparing for its fourth edition, Doing, Undoing, Redoing, which will be held at the Central Bank Auditorium this Saturday.
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan: Ideas Worth Spreading. The local forum, TEDxPortofSpain (x = independently organised TED event), combines TEDTalks video and live speakers to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group stemming from eye-opening revelations by the respective speakers.
Head of TEDxPortofSpain Keita Demming explained previous years’ events, which led to this year’s theme. “The first year’s theme was Changing Conversations, which was geared toward ways and means on how the TED platform can be used to bring about that change in the conversations that we have,” Demming said.
“Year two, Courage to Change, was so well received, our feature speaker Afra Raymond talking about corruption in T&T got about 700,000 hits.” Raymond is the president of the Joint Consultative Council and in his personal capacity blogs and writes columns on corruption, transparency and other public interest issues.
“Last year’s theme was Connecting,” said Demming. “That year made us more organised and enabled us to benefit from a massive volunteer group who are all forward thinkers and responsible for bringing lots of interesting ideas worth spreading.
“This year’s theme is all about where society is heading and how we could be the stewards of that ship. It’s all about action. This is a forum where people discuss ideas that can possibly transform T&T in a way that we have never seen before.” Previous speakers in the past three years have included environmentalist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, Justice Gillian Lucky, journalist Sunity Maharaj, Fr Clyde Harvey and Kenya-born owner of Wa Samaki Ecosystems Erle Rahaman-Noronha.
Speakers for the event are nominated and chosen as long as eight months before the event, and the organisers say they try to choose presenters who inform, inspire, surprise and delight, or have great stories and ideas worth sharing.
People can fill out a nomination form on the Web site: www.tedxportofspain.com.
Funding for an event like this, Demming admits, is very difficult. Having a few committed sponsors already onboard, he is hoping that more corporate sponsors will jump in so that maybe one day the event will be free for all to attend.
He denied complaints that Ted is elitist and exclusive. “This is not an elite club. It is open for all to attend, and we welcome all walks of life to share with us their life-changing ideas, to engage in discussions.”
Demming says he’s passionate about creating positive change, and the enabling systems that support it. He is currently working on his PhD in adult education, focusing on understanding strategies for social problem-solving.
At the University of Toronto, he serves as the co-ordinator for the Social Economy Centre, which promotes and disseminates multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on issues affecting the intersection among public, private and nonprofit sectors.
Speakers at TedX
One of the feature speakers is Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC, former attorney general of England and Wales. Scotland has achieved a number of extraordinary firsts: in 1991, at 35, she became the first black and youngest woman to be appointed Queen’s Counsel.
In 2001, she became Parliamentary Secretary and Deputy to the Lord Chancellor and a member of the Privy Council. In 2003, she was made Minister of State for Criminal Justice and Law Reform at the Home Office and in 2007, she was appointed attorney general, the first woman to be appointed to that position.
Scotland undertook major reform of the criminal justice system, including the introduction of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, and during her term of office from 2003-2007, crime in England and Wales was reduced to its lowest level since 1981.
During this period, she chaired the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence, which collectively worked together to reduce domestic violence by 64 per cent and led to a £7.5 billion reduction in the economic cost of domestic violence in England and Wales. Dominica-born Scotland is the founding patron of the Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence, and in 2011, she founded the Eliminate Domestic Violence Global Foundation. In November 2012, she was appointed prime ministerial trade envoy to South Africa.
The other speakers at Saturday’s event are psychiatrist Prof Gerard Hutchinson, management consultant Scott Hilton-Clarke, environmentalist Arvolon Wilson-Smith, innovation strategist Eliot Salandy-Brown, correctional rehabilitation specialist Gordon Husbands, economist Terrence Farrell, child psychiatrist Dr Jacqueline Sharpe, TTW director Timmia Hearn Feldman, CEO and Independent senator Dr Rolph Balgobin and Carnival Institute director Dr Kim Johnson.
About TED
TED is a non-profit organisation which started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago. At TED, speakers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, online at TED.com.
TICKET INFO
The cost of attending this year’s conference is $400 and tickets can be requested from the Web site www.tedxportofspain.com. They are sold only on a first-come-first-serve basis.