Organisers hail first TEDxBanbury event a success

TEDxBanbury took place on Saturday February 29 at St Mary’s Church in Horsefair. The non profit sponsored, all day event featured a programme of speakers, many local to Banbury, from different specialisms, and complemented with performing arts.

Following the TED and TEDx format, the theme for the event was ‘It’s the little things...’, inspired by author and journalist Matthew Teller. Each talk within the speaker programme lasted up to 15 minutes, and shared new and innovative ideas that can change perceptions.

TED, an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Design, was founded by Richard Wurman, and Harry Marks in 1984.

Their objective was to bring fresh ideas from the three different disciplines, and share them freely. TED now hosts an annual conference in Vancouver and has spearheaded many initiatives, including TEDx events. The ‘X’ stands for independently voluntary organised local events under licence from TED.

Karen Baldry, the event director for the voluntary organised non profit event, said: "The response received by the TEDxBanbury core team during and post Saturday’s event provides us with a strong indication that the event has been a great success for the town.

"The aim was to provide a platform for new voices to share ideas across a range of disciplines and specialisms woven within the theme ‘It’s the little things…’. The event production was set at the highest standard as possible, within an extremely limited budget.

"It is very important to stress that this event has relied solely on ticket income, to cover the costs of event venue, licences, insurances, technical, filming and marketing costs. All catering was provided by the kindness of small independent companies within and around the town."

Organisers are looking forward to work towards another similar TEDxBanbury event in the future.

Karen added: “We have a series of hoops to jump through with the official post event checks with TED HQ in New York. We look forward to bringing the next TEDxBanbury event once these checks have been completed.

"TED is a significant global brand, which extends to TEDx events at a local level, as voluntary organised non profit events. I have been so proud to embrace and uphold the ethos and expectations of TED, without compromise or conflict of interest, and I extend my thanks to all our partners who embraced the team embracing the TED way."