TEDxSydney

As some of you may know, I subscribe pretty heavily to the TED brand, so when I heard that TEDxSydney was going to be happening during my time here I was very very intrigued. When I found out that this event's new location was the SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE  I quickly reworked my budget and started working on my application.

During my response to the sole application question,  'Why you? Why are you interested in attending TEDxSydney 2013 ... and what do you think qualifies you to be in that room? 100 words please.' I relied heavily on the TEDxGuelphU name drop, my international student status and even threw in some 'next chapter' stuff in reference to TED2014. Apparently this was a winning combination and I found myself in the 2,200 person crowd on May 4th with a subsidized student ticket, booyyaaaa!

Waking up at 6am to get my business casual self to the Opera House for 7am was made totally worth it by the beautiful view I got walking from the bus (not to mention I beat the cues and was first to the coffee cart).

The person in charge of the logistics of the event did an amazing job. Dealing with the needs of 2,200 people from 7am until 8pm is a daunting task and they aced it. The hilight? THE FOOD!! Without a doubt the eatables stole the show for me, from the 5 local coffee vendors, through the crowd-farmed (YES I will get to this) lunch right through to the after-party with Young Henry's specialty brewed beer just for the event, I was blown away!

Ok so what do I mean by crowd-farmed? Exactly what you would think! Produce was be collected from growers and delivered to ARIA Catering, who turned it into a locally grown feast with only a few days of planning and execution. To complete the circle of sustainable consumption, Doug Wilson of EcoGuardians installed a GaiaRecycle organic waste dehydrator at the SOH, so that all biodegradable waste was processed on the spot. It was truly an amazing feat, the fresh-baked bread with butter churned just that morning topped with audience-jarred preserves was just the tip of the mouth-watering iceberg! Learn more here;

I have to say, the speakers did not live up to my expectations. This may be because I have worn the hat of TEDx curator before but I wasn't captivated by any of the talks like I have been before. This is not to say that they were all rubbish, you can watch them for yourself as they are all posted on tedxsydney.com and form your own judgements, I just found there to be a spark missing somehow. If I had to pick a favourite it would have been Joost Bakker (not only because he is quite good-looking) he shared some of the pretty amazing work he has done in sustainable design and architecture, he also talked about recycling people's urine, so he wins. George Khut would be a close second with his integration of art and medicine, check his talk out. 

The performers, however, were fantastic! From Tom Thum, the master beat-boxer, to John Butler the captivating singer-songwriter, I was far from disappointed. 

Overall I am very happy that I attended this event and it did get my mind racing like being in a TED environment always does.

Please enjoy these tasty video bits that were showcased at the event in between talks (great palate cleansers, sourced for the event, TEDx organizers take note);