TEDxWaterloo

[loveskitchener]

Anyone else excited that Tedx is coming to Waterloo?! It's going to bring such great media and attention to the Waterloo region, and I hear City Centre is one of the sponsors which is great!

[Waterlooer]

Welcome to Wonderful Waterloo!

Yep, I am excited as well!!

[benjaminbach]

Anyone else excited that Tedx is coming to Waterloo?! It's going to bring such great media and attention to the Waterloo region, and I hear City Centre is one of the sponsors which is great!

Yes, Andrin is one of the sponsors, and TEDx will be awesome. I'll be there and would love to chat with any other WonderfulWaterloonitics (hmmm - almost has a ring to it!).

Anyone else going?

[ramynassar]

I'll be there. But I'm running the event, so I kind of have to be.

Andrin Homes & City Centre Condo is a Presenting Sponsor for the event which is very exciting! More information about the event can be found at http://www.tedxwaterloo.com (event now sold out) and the After Party (which will be the party of the year for this region and is open for anyone to attend) at http://www.tedxwaterloo.com/afterparty (a handful of tickets still available)

If you have any questions, drop a line to info@tedxwaterloo.com

[loveskitchener]

After party? sounds good to me! Are the TedxWaterloo speakers attending that?

[panamaniac]

I have never heard of TEDx before the last few posts. I take it that it is a sort of revival meeting for the techie set?

[DHLawrence]

They're a series of seminars in which big ideas are shared for the future in every discipline: technology, medicine, sociology, even land use. One speech a while back discussed adaptive reuse in suburbia. You can see/hear one a day on The Daily Exchange's website.

[mpd618]

I have never heard of TEDx before the last few posts. I take it that it is a sort of revival meeting for the techie set?

TED is a yearly conference with many interesting and provocative speakers, whose (short) talks are then made available online for everyone. It's also a networking event for important people in science, business, etc. TEDx are smaller, local events that try to do something similar. You actually have to apply to be able to attend.

[ramynassar]

Many of the speakers will be sticking around during the after party and there will be a couple of really cool exhibits to touch and play with during the party. Oh - and AMAZING food.

[loveskitchener]

That's awesome. Should be a great night!

[loveskitchener]

Which speakers are you guys most excited to hear from? Roberta Bondar - the world's first neurologist in space - is my top interest!

[Brenden]

I have my ticket, has anyone else been selected to go?

[natcordev]

My wife and I got tickets (thank-you Ramy), we can't wait! Look forward to meeting some "Wonderful Waterloonitics" at the after party!

[Dagmar]

The Queen Street Commons Café (43 Queen St. S., Kitchener) is hosting live streaming of the local TED Talks. It'll be on between 1pm-8pm.

[benjaminbach]

We should set up a mini tweetup for WW members during TedX ! Who else will be there ?

[Spokes]

One thing I don't really get is the whole application process for TEDx. Not as much the process, but the results. So 1400 people applied, 800 accepted, and 600 rejected. (these are all ballpark numbers that I've been given)

So that's all well and good, but the event is at the Centre in the Square which holds 2200. So that's 1400 empty seats. Seats that could have held the 600 that were said no to. I don't get it?

[benjaminbach]

One thing I don't really get is the whole application process for TEDx. Not as much the process, but the results. So 1400 people applied, 800 accepted, and 600 rejected. (these are all ballpark numbers that I've been given)

So that's all well and good, but the event is at the Centre in the Square which holds 2200. So that's 1400 empty seats. Seats that could have held the 600 that were said no to. I don't get it?

Ramy can speak better to this point, but my understanding is that they only have space for 800 at Centre in the Square. They would have LOVED for everyone who applied to attend.

Edited to add:

For info on this, direct from the TedXWaterloo team, check out Notes on Admission. An excerpt:

"It is very important to note that our team was not tasked with evaluating individuals, but their applications. We took time to review over 1,000 applications and offered people admission based primarily on their enthusiasm and the care that they took in filling out the three questions on the form. Without any more information than what they provided, this was not a review of people’s background, achievements, or stature in the community. Rather it was a measure of desire to attend and engage, as best we could determine from their answers to three simple questions. We were very moved by some of the applications, and we are humbled by the passion and enthusiasm of the attendees.

The selection process was not easy and unfortunately we did need to limit the number of attendees (it is not simply a matter of the capacity of the hall: for an eight-hour-long event there are logistics around feeding and managing attendees which we simply could not undertake for an even larger audience). Tough decisions were made, but we are heartened by our community partners who have enthusiastically volunteered to host remote viewing parties all around the region, and by the fact that the entire event will be live-streamed for those who are unable to make it to the event or the remote sites. We also made the decision to make as many after-party tickets available as possible so that at least some of those who could not attend the event live could experience a bit of the TEDxWaterloo ambiance and discuss the talks with attendees and possibly some of the speakers."

[loveskitchener]

http://www.facebook.com/social_graph...50405398354861

A video of the TEDxWaterloo event before the speakers went on! There was so much excitement in the room - you could just feel it!