TEDx Cibeles: pure inspiration, ideas, stories of resilience and success, lessons learnt, but also music, fun, good vibes and plenty of networking. That was the 2015 edition of TEDxCibeles.
That’s a lot of ingredients, isn’t it? But they were all there and many more besides. The TEDx Cibeles team and just over 60 volunteers organised a superb event that I’m sure outshines many of the TED events organised around the world. They put a lot of love into it and keep looking for ways to surprise the audience.
I was dying to attend a TEDx event in person, and this year the dates finally fitted my diary, so I was in the front row so as not to miss a thing.
As usual, the speakers gave the whole event 100% in English, except during the broadcast breaks, which had some great moments of humour. But something brilliant this year was the musical opening by “Música para todos”, with the challenge of getting 16 people to play music on just 3 instruments.
This year’s motto was I’m possible: reflecting on the power of personal determination through a line-up of great impossible ideas made real. A resounding success with a full house: 850 people at the Teatro Fernando Fernán Gómez.
The Italian engineer Julian Melchiorri opened the talks by inviting the audience to explore how the world is being transformed by the connections between the digital and physical worlds.
The Spanish entrepreneur Anxo Pérez told us how he came to develop his successful language-learning method and the keys to achieving success in 88 steps. As usual, he electrified the auditorium with his self-assurance, greeting us in a dozen languages and, with piano and guitar in hand, getting us to sing and dance.
The Canadian François Brunelle shared his fascinating adventure photographing people and their lookalikes all over the world. Simply mind-blowing: We all have a double
Nicolas Huchet conveyed that the damage caused by an accident need not be a limitation, but rather a spur to innovation. Since his accident in 2002, he has been working on developing and improving a robotic hand.
All the way from California, Michael Balzer explained how 3D printing technology saved his wife, who
suffered from a tumour, and how it is used in healthcare. One of the stories that moved the audience most.
Other speakers were: Arturo Vittori, Juan Carlos Sebastiá, Eesa Khare, Ned Norton (a real star, with his gym focused on people with disabilities), Shama Rahman, Urmi Basu, Kiki King, Benjamin Van Gelder, Ricardo Benítez and Asier Arranz.
Visit the TEDxCibeles blog to learn more about each of the stories they told us.
As I mentioned, on the more playful side there was the musical team-building company Musicaparatodos, which offered two entertainment sessions led by the musician Pedro Alfaro: The Impossible Orchestra and How we sound. The event also featured the Nigerian singer Amos Osbasohan and his soul and African music groups, with the whole auditorium on its feet 😉
They treated us like royalty: at every break there was plenty to nibble and eat, and at lunchtime, depending on the colour of your wristband, you had to eat with 3 strangers to do some networking. And, as the classic finale, a Spanish-style wine reception to carry on networking with attendees, event organisers and speakers.
If you can, don’t miss the next one, even if it’s via streaming. I’ll leave you last year’s highlights, as this year’s are still being edited.
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