Influential TED conference coming to Amsterdam
A localized and scaled down version of the influential annual TED conference is coming to Amsterdam in November.
Ideas worth spreading
TEDxAmsterdam will take place on 20 November in the Royal Tropical Institute. The day-long event will bring together 500 opinion and business leaders from all walks of life to listen to top speakers with an 'idea worth spreading'.
Must-attend conference since 1984
The annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference was established in 1984, and has been a must-attend event on the global conference circuit ever since. In recent years, its short speeches on everything from neuroscience to game design have become something of an Internet phenomenon among surfers seeking intellectual stimulation.
Bringing the brightest thinkers
TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Under the slogan ‘Breakthrough’ TEDx Amsterdam aims to bring the brightest thinkers and the most inspiring ideas together in the areas of technology, entertainment, design, art, science and business.
First Dutch astronaut
The program is gradually taking shape, with three new speakers recently announced. Dutch astronaut Wubbo J. Ockels, now a professor of Aerospace Sustainable Engineering and Technology, will explain how ‘time’ is created by human beings and how this insight can lead to new ways to explore life in our galaxy.
Other top speakers confirmed
The Dutch Minister of European Affairs Frans Timmermans, who is in charge of designing international cultural policy, and “modern day explorer with an entrepreneurial spin and philanthropist” Jacob Gelt Dekker will also speak at the conference.
They will join confirmed speakers including former Wired magazine editor Kevin Kelly, architect Bjarke Ingels and Louise Vet, a professor of Evolutionary Ecology at Wageningen University and director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology.
Ockels: a dream TED speaker
“Wubbo Ockels is a dream TED speaker at many levels,” said TEDxAmsterdam Chairman Jim Stolze. “Firstly, he’s really smart, but is also able to articulate complex problems in an easy way. Secondly, Ockels is the first Dutch astronaut, which makes him an attractive personality both nationally and internationally. Lastly, Wubbo Ockels will tell a story that he never told before.”
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