TEDxChange @ Amsterdam
On September 20 the global event TEDxChange was organized by TED and the Gates Foundation. In Amsterdam, a remarkable group of individuals joined to watch the live TEDxChange Webcast from NewYork together, that featured speakers like Melinda Gates, Graça Machel and Hans Rosling. The 100 guests then listened to eight people who travelled to Amsterdam to present their work in Africa during an interactive dinner. What followed what a transformation of “ideas worth spreading” to… “ideas worth doing”!
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Consolata Ndayishimiye: “This table has already brought me more than I had expected. They were so enthusiastic! We made communication plans on the spot and even talked about investments in IT. It was great!”
Tonee Ndungu: “I know I had the smartest people in the room! I asked to be criticized and encouraged. It helps me to be sharper and even more focused on my goal. I liked all the critiques my dinner guests have provided because you know what they say. One can only be critical if you care enough.”
Bill Liao: “This odd thing happened in the first round, I didn’t even see it coming. The pulp and paper industry will support us, which is very controversial as they use big parts of the rainforest. I never could have dreamed this.”
Arjan Erkel: “What I’ve learned from this evening, besides the great ideas and resources, is that my ideas are realistic. Adding all things to the equation I believe my ideas have been confirmed.”
With a fully packed program, TEDxChange Amsterdam set out to combine the inspiring talks from New York’s main event with live business pitches by entrepreneurs. All eight challengers were very well-prepared to explain their innovative plans in a few minutes, supported by one compelling image, and then asked very precisely what they needed to get out of the crowd. Speakers relied heavily on persuasive one liners to find the best suited table guests.
Arjen Erkel
Tonee Ndungu, for example, described the remarkable Kenyan youngsters using social media without computer lessons: “they didn’t even drop out of school – they never went.” Pascal Katana takes Mother Teresa’s advice whole-heartedly and plans for the distant future: “if we fail to plan, then we are planning to fail.” And Bill Liao must have one liner as his middle name. He taught us that we all suffer from care fatigue or, actually: “we’re paralyzed.” That’s because the environmental movement so far has used fear appeals to alter our behaviour. Bill, on the other hand, pleaded for positivity, proposing we all go to other speakers’ tables.
Ilse Kerling
Producer of the evening Ilse Kerling has strong roots in the corporate world. Ilse lived in Asia for 15 years and has a background setting up companies there. She left Hong to travel and do some volunteer work. “I have been very lucky in life and feel very privileged. Now I want to give something back.” How did Ilse come to be TEDxChange Amsterdam’s producer? “Well, I met Jim through a mutual friend and we started talking about the different events he’s organizing. He had an offer from the US to join the live TEDxChange video broadcast. I figured we could do a lot more than just listen to the broadcast.”
Ilse thinks the world of development aid needs to be shaken up. The public debate needs some positivity, so she looked for a way to get people energized to help. “We’re presenting ideas worth doing, mostly people from Africa need help to grow a project or company that is already happening.” Ilse firmly believes in empowering people rather than sending aid, so people are able to solve problems themselves. There is a nice incentive to speed things up: the project that achieves most will be presented at TEDxAmsterdam on November 30!
