Some readers will know that I am a key helper on the TEDxAuckland event coming up next Saturday. We will have 17 talks of 18 mins each. If you dont have a ticket yet you should make sure not to miss out go here to buy.

I am an ideas person and so the prospect of spending a day having my brain repeatedly zapped by each speaker is waycool in the extreme. I make no apologies for that. Faster, smarter, better is something I aspire to everyday so I am delighted to be helping to bring an event of this size and depth to Aucklanders.

I have met and blogged about Dr Sean Gourley ( can we clone him) numerous times, Dr Michelle Dickinson is an absolute live wire and if there was a Nobel prize for kitesurfing she would have won that already. I wrote about her over here.

Pip Hall is working on a counterintuitive spectacle that I love since I would swim every day if I could. I wrote about Pip over here  after seeing her present in Sydney a few months ago.  I was amazed at how simple the whole thing was – but at the same time I absolutely applaud her project and loved her presentation.

“Professor John Windsor is a surgeon who holds a personal chair in surgery at the University of Auckland. His current research includes the role of toxic mesenteric lymph in the promotion of multiple organ failure; the investigation of specific mitochondrial therapies to restore cellular bioenergetics; the mapping and modulation of gastric electrical activity; and the development of medical devices. read more

Now that TEDx events have been going for a few years there are something like 1000! new talks each month.  That is a lot of organising and other time to arrange speakers, venues and partners to manage all the logistics and costs on the day.

In my view the TEDx events are getting quite close to a movement with a fair amount of momentum now and some cities have completed more than 5 events ( Christchurch in NZ.) While there are detailed brand rules around each event the actual responsibility is local and independent from the brand owners.

For an event the size of Auckland with more than 1000 attendees the work behind the scenes is considerable and much of that time is voluntary with key costs being picked up by sponsors and other partners. So thank you to all of those people – you know who you are.

Recently announced speakers include poet Sam Hunt and Associate Professor Alistair Knott. As with all events of this size it is unlikely that you will like all of the speakers but since they have a time limit of 18 minutes each they will all be giving their best shots on ideas worth spreading.

The pic above includes some of the speakers I will especially be looking forward to. There are a wide range of topics and I love the multi-disciplinary nature of these events. So often someone like David Krofcheck is part of academic events when what he is working on is really exciting and applicable for a wider audience.

See you there on saturday 🙂

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