TEDx Railway Village will take place on Friday 19 June, starting at 9.30am, with just 100 in-person tickets available.
The event is part of the wider TEDx programme run by TED, which began as a conference in 1984 and has licensed independently organised events since 2009. According to TED, more than 4,000 TEDx events are now held annually under free licences granted to local organisers.
Organisers Debbie Bryan and Rob Jandy sat down exclusively with Swindon 24 and discussed that the Swindon event is about creating a serious platform for ideas, rather than staging a business showcase.
Debbie said the idea was sparked by her own experience of speaking at a TEDx event in Canada.
“So it’s a really exciting format. I actually myself did a TEDx in Canada two years ago,” she said.
“Once I’d done that, I was very much speaking to lots of people who wanted to do a local TEDx. We don’t have anything in Swindon like that.”
Rob said he had been hearing compelling personal stories locally, but with no obvious outlet.
“I’ve been hearing so many stories from individuals, and people have never really had that platform.” he said.
Because it is the town’s first event, the licence restricts in-person attendance to 100 tickets.
The event will be held at the Town Hall at Swindon Dance in the town centre. Rob said the venue was chosen for its location, acoustics and technology, and that they are working with Swindon Dance and Create Studios to keep as much of the event local as possible, including catering and suppliers.
Each speaker will have 12 minutes on stage, in line with TEDx format rules.
“We were surprised at how many people said yes,” Rob said.
He added that each talk “has to be guided, steered, making sure it’s spot on”.
Debbie said some people had misunderstood the purpose of the event.
“One of the things to bear in mind, is that it’s not a business promotion, which is really refreshing, but also quite difficult when you’re coaching people who are entrepreneurs that have that embedded in them.”
She said the programme will cover a broad range of themes.
“We have conversations about heritage. We have conversations about stress, laughter, yoga. We’ve got conversations about communication with people who have gone out on aid missions,” she said.
Rob believes the town already has the ideas, but not the visibility.
“We’re already having that conversation, but it’s not being broadcast,” he said.
“So what Swindon does is actually being undermined in some ways, and this is an opportunity for people to shine, to actually show what is possible and what can be achieved.”
He said the audience can expect to see familiar faces in a different light.
“There’ll be people there that probably you will know these individuals from a different side of their lives, and they’ll do a talk which will be totally different to what you would expect from them. People are multifaceted, and this is an opportunity for them to actually share that.”
The event will be streamed live online, with talks professionally edited afterwards for upload through TED’s official channels.
“The idea is to do this TEDx, to then obviously have the licence for next year and the year after and the year after, and to grow it.”
She acknowledged the scale of the task.
“It’s an elephant. We took on an elephant rather than taking on a rabbit” she said.
Debbie also confirmed that more than 120 potential speakers could not be accommodated this year, and that the team is still seeking sponsors.
“This time, once we get the bigger licence, there’s no restriction, and we can make this into more of a festival over a couple of days.”
Rob believes the first event could mark the start of something lasting.
“This is the start of something very special,” he said.
“It’s a case of highlighting, showcasing what Swindon is actually all about, and the wonderful diversity of people that we have, the skills, and how people are passionate about Swindon, actually in a positive way.”
Tickets cost from £35, with only 100 available for in-person attendance. The event will also be streamed online.
