9:57am- Welcome to TEDx@Hewitt 2012! Here is a photo of Hewitt’s decked out front entrance, we’re all anxiously awaiting the start of the event.
10:10am- “What’s your Dream?” board being signed by attendees
10:30am- TED talk by Charlie Todd, creator of Improv Everywhere, “a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”
10:33am- Curators Caroline Hoffman ’14 and Alexandra Brown-Weissman ’14 kick off TEDx, emcee Max Reuben introduces our first speaker
10:57am- Rebecca Wallace-Segall, creator of Writopia Labs, speaks about character flaws, allowing kids to write stories to process the world, and the catharsis one feels turning pain to power through writing.
11:05am- Ajay speaks about making literacy cool, “if one story can change your life, it may as well be your own”
11:11am- Candy Chang’s TED talk about turning public space into a tool for contemplation, connection, and reflection by creating “Before I Die…” walls
11:26am- Topdollar speaks about his organization Dollarboyz, established in 2005 with the intention of “gaining the attention of the unreachable”. His Y-Not Academy gives children a progressive education which incorporates real-life job skills taught by professionals successful in their fields into core-curriculum.
11:49am- We’re reconvening from a short break and ready to hear from the speakers in the next slate!
12:00pm- 17-year-old Emma Axelrod speaks about her discomfort with inequality between the sexes in our world and her petition which, almost certainly, prompted the choosing of two female moderators for the presidential and vice presidential debates in the 2012 presidential election.
12:10pm- Neil Harbisson’s TED talk about hearing color. Using a device attached to his head, color is identified and a pitch is created so that he, as a totally colorblind man, can “see” color (he dressed in “C-major colors” for his presentation.) He proposes that we create apps for our bodies (as opposed to our smart phones!) to heighten and extend our natural senses.
12:34pm- Maggie Tobin speaks about the way uses art to bring social change. She has beautified her neighborhood and brought her Kensingtin community together thorough a series of projects and initiatives.
12:45pm- TED talk by Frank Warren about his Half a Million Secrets project: people send in their secrets anonymously and Warren publishes them on his website, http://www.postsecret.com/
12:57 pm- Kate Brodock, a woman who has her hands in a little bit of everything as the CMO of Girls in Tech, gives her formula for living a successful and fulfilled life: work hard, play hard, and love hard.
1:10pm- Scott Warren speaks about our “actual responsibility in a democracy” like our own (did you know 80 million eligible voters did not cast a ballot in the 2012 election?) based on the democracies he has seen rise and struggle in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
1:13 pm- End of slate 2: time to eat and network with the amazing speakers and audience atTEDx@Hewitt!
1:30 pm- Just interviewed Silda Wall Spitzer about the role of the environment in her work and the importance of women’s education, we’ll be hearing from her in the next slate!
2:01 pm- Watching the video clip of the CBS interview with Dr. Burgess, Alexandra Brown-Weissman ’14, and Caroline Hoffman ’14 which aired this morning all about today’s event
2:08 pm- William Kamkwamba’s TED talk is about his successful endeavor as a teenager to build a windmill using his ingenuity and local materials in his hometown in Malawi; this windmill creates enough electricity to power his home.
2:28 pm- Jamia Wilson speaks about combining her love of broadcast journalism and passion for social activism into being a feminist, her “sheroes”, and how “Ubuntu” plays into her work today.
2:34pm – Tavi Gevinson, creator of Rookie Mag, speaks in her TED talk about her desire to help teenaged girls be confident in “figuring it all out” and, as Lena Dunham says, being a bundle of contradictions.
2:52pm- As always, it’s simply a pleasure to watch Lo Anderson in her element performing her slam poetry and singing at the Hewitt Tedx events (she’s been at all three!). “Shine bright like a diamond” was her message today.
3:01pm- Adora Svitak’s TED talk is about the importance of adults learning from kids’ inhibited creativity.
3:25pm- Silda Wall Spitzer speaks about her organization Generation On, which advocates for and organizes community service opportunities for youth.
3:27pm- Many thanks to the curatorial team and speakers for an amazing day. Now, really, dream big and then do something