TedxBergen - A look behind the curtain

The 3rd of October 2015 will be an exciting and busy day, especially for those who have put all their effort and energy into bringing the annual TEDxBergen conference to life during the last couple of months. Under the topic “The (Im)possible redefined” key speakers like Christopher Hoftun, Co-founder of the Mars Institute in Norway, or Kristian Harby, Founder of PictureAid, will shed light on how they have overcome boundaries in their respective fields and went far beyond them. But not only the invited speakers have to think outside the box to become successful. This also applies to the people who made TEDxBergen 2015 possible in the first place – the volunteers.

This year’s TEDxBergen organizing committee consists of 35 dedicated students with origins from all over the world. The team represents 20 different nationalities such as India, Germany, Norway, Russia, Japan and many more. Without these volunteers and their hard work the 3rd TEDxBergen conference would not have taken place. Since February the elected team leaders started planning the event. This involved among other things determining a key topic, looking for suitable guest speakers and finding sponsors. A handful of new volunteers have been recruited by the start of the current semester to complete the organizational committee.

The question now is what drives these highly motivated students to be involved with TEDx and what have they experienced so far. To gain a better insight we have interviewed three of them:

Carlo, Italy:

What are your responsibilities within TEDx?

I am a member of the social committee and we consist of three people. My boss Anna and myself are in charge of team building activities.

Why did you decide to join TEDxBergen?

I decided to join TEDx some weeks ago because of its basic and easy idea. Since TED was born more than 20 years ago a lot of the ideas which were shared on TED talks spread all around the world. This shows that there are many strong and powerful ideas. Therefore, if you spread them you can actually improve society. That is my main objective – to try to improve myself.

What is the best thing about being part of the TEDxBergen team?

The main thing I like about working with TEDx is that there are so many different people that can teach you something, so every day is like a discovery.

If you could invite anybody (dead or alive) to a TEDx talk who would you choose?

I would definately invite Albert Einstein. I am also very interested in the financial sector so I would love to see Warren Buffett as a guest speaker. It would be a dream come true.

After the successful event I...

…will go to sleep.

Lea, Germany:

What is your position in the organizing committee?

I am head of logistics together with Juanan. We are basically in charge of all the logistics during and before the event as well as the facilitation. We are also responsible of making the event run smoothly and that everyone knows what they have to do and where they have to be at what time etc.

What motivated you to join TEDxBergen?

The first time I saw a TED video on Youtube I immediately fell in love with the whole TED idea and I have always dreamt about being part of it. Therefore, when I discovered that Bergen was hosting a TEDx event I couldn’t not sign up. Another reason I signed up for TEDxBergen was that I really enjoy organizing events and the logistics position really appealed to me because it involves a lot of organization.

The best thing about organizing TEDx is...

The best this is that everyone is extremely devoted to making the TEDxBergen event one that you will not forget. It is like a tiny community and everyone tries as hard as they can to make it a really nice event.

If you could invite anybody to a TEDx talk who would you choose?

Malala Yousafzai, the recent Nobel Prize laureate.

After the successful event I...

…hope to have learned a lot and made a lot of new memories and friends. I hope to be able to organize more events like this in the future.

Truc, Norway:

What are your responsibilities within TEDx?

I am in the Marketing group and responsible for the design.

Why did you decide to join TEDxBergen?

I love the concept of TED and being inspired by new ideas.

Do you have a speaker you are especially looking forward to?

I look forward to all of them!

What is the best part about organizing TEDx?

It is working with likeminded people.

If you could invite anybody to a TEDx talk who would you choose?

Jesus.

What will you do after the successful event?

I will watch the talks online since I will probably be behind the curtains on the event day.: