#tedxhop

As organiser of a TEDx event in the Royal Albert Hall, it’s not often that I get location envy. But standing on the House of Commons veranda overlooking the Thames at the end of a long day at TEDxHousesOfParliament, I must admit I came pretty close.

Although the evening reception took place within the Palace of Westminster itself, the day’s proceedings unfolded in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on the other side of Parliament Square. This was the second year in a row that the Houses of Parliament public engagement team had put on a TEDx event, and speaking to beaming licenseholder and curator Tom O’Leary at the end of a wildly successful day, it is unlikely be the last.

The myriad duties involved in bringing TEDxAlbertopolis to fruition have sadly given me very little time to attend other TEDx events. This is particularly unfortunate given that London is one of the TEDx hotspots of the world, with thirteen upcoming events this year alone.

Having dipped my toe back in the community pool last week, my one word of advice to fellow organisers out there would be to attend as many TEDx events as possible in the run-up to your own. Not only do you get a chance to meet interesting people and, of course, slyly promote your own event, but you also have the opportunity to be reminded of what it is that makes TEDx events so special.

The conferences that most of us spend our time attending are so rigidly standardised that it is all too easy to take inspiration from the wrong source. That is not to say that long, academic-style symposia devoted to in-depth explorations of specific topics do not have their place. Far from it. But it is on occasions salutary to expose yourself to the seemingly random buffetings of different streams of thought, allowing yourself to drift to some entirely unexpected conclusion.

The openness and independence of the TEDx format allows us to act as curators of an intellectual wildlife sanctuary, where ideas from all corners of the world can be brought together and encouraged to coexist. Instead of establishing firm conclusions and plans of action, we aim to provide a forum for making new connections and spreading new ideas.

The theme of the day at TEDxHoP was Democracy and Representation, and the curatorial team had done an exceptional job of providing a variety of unique perspectives on this central issue.

Whether it was Tomas Rawlings on burgeoning democracies in online gaming communities, or Jack Andraka’s impassioned plea for academic publishers to democratise knowledge by tearing down paywalls, there was something to suit every background and every possible interest.

Make sure you put TEDxHoP 2014 in your calendar - and in the meantime, get your seat in the Royal Albert Hall for TEDxAlbertopolis on the 23rd of September 2013. I hope to see many of you fellow TEDx-ers there!

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Check out these other upcoming London TEDx events:

Jun 29, 2013 TEDxHackney

Jul 13, 2013 TEDxBrixton

Aug 07, 2013 TEDxBPPUniversityCollege

Sep 03, 2013 TEDxSouthwark

Sep 12, 2013 TEDxCentralSaintMartins

Oct 12, 2013 TEDxASL

Oct 19, 2013 TEDxFanshaweCollege

Nov 08, 2013 TEDxTeddington

Dec 05, 2013 TEDxFulhamWomen

Dec 07, 2013 TEDxEuston

Dec 13, 2013 TEDxLondonSouthBankU

Jan 18, 2014 TEDxEastEnd

Mar 08, 2014 TEDxCourtauldInstitute

By Gilead Amit

@gileadamit is the Licenseholder for TEDxAlbertopolis.

Lord David Puttman's contextual opening highlighted some significant points.

Number one: Politics is about choices 

Number two: The media should question if they see their role as to inflame or inform