For the first time, TEDx is coming to the University of King’s College. Behind the event is a dedicated team, including the King’s Student Union Financial Vice-President, Nick Harris. He was the first to initiate the process of bringing the conference to King’s.
“Honestly, I love this place,” he said about why he wanted the conference to come to King’s. “And I think the people here have some amazing things to say”.
The event, which is going to take place on March 26, 2020, will be held in the KTS Lecture Hall which can hold up to 100 people. There will also be overflow seating in the Wardroom, where the presentations will be live streamed on two screens.
The talk itself is comprised of eight speakers. Each presentation will last eight to twelve minutes. Harris describes the speakers as “a diverse group of individuals who represent people from across all the different customs, lifestyles, traditions, sexual orientations, races and genders ”, including an award-winning Indigenous journalist.
The theme of the talks is “bounce”, or “the power of rebounding”, and according to Harris all the talks are “telling very emotional, provocative, beautiful stories”.
However, getting TEDx to UKC was not all easy. An application to TEDx had to be submitted in August. Originally TEDx thought that the application was from Dalhousie, who in the past has held TEDx Conferences, but was unable to attain a license last year and has not held a conference since 2018. When it was clarified that the applicant was King’s, Harris says that TEDx responded that King’s is a “really small school”.
Harris’ response was that “a small school can still have big ideas”.
Following this statement, Harris says that King’s was able to get a license for a TEDx conference, which is viable up until next November.
However, it was also a challenge for organizers at King’s to find money for the conference in the school’s budget, including the $3000-$4000 cost for a videography company. Harris says that the money was eventually found within different parts of the school’s budget. This was made possible after conversations with various members of King’s administration from the Registrar’s office, the Bursar’s office and the Advancement office. Finding money in the budgets meant that this event is able to occur free of charge.
Despite all of the challenges, Harris appears excited for the final outcome. He says that one thing he’s looking forward to is getting “to see the end of the event, when we look at people, and see that they’re on the edge of their seat, and waiting for another speaker but then we’re done”.
“Because I think people are going to be wanting more from it”.
For those who are interested in attending the event, Harris has this advice — “Bring some tissues”.
“They’re gonna make you laugh, they’re gonna make you cry, and most importantly, they’re gonna make you feel”.
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