As soon as this sound is heard, panic sets in. Over headset, Maria Sabater ’13 instructs everyone to remain calm: “It happens,” she assures us.
It happens again, but this time it rings out a piercing screech, louder than the previous one. Members of the audience wince in a state of momentary pain as the speaker apologizes for the inconvenience. And with that, I zoom onto the stage, pull the speaker aside, and fix his or her microphone, leaving the event to continue on.
This hypothetical scenario was played out in reality numerous times last Saturday at TEDxYouth@Hewitt, during which the fate of technology was left up to the chance and skill of Hewitt students, as it always is at TEDx events and Middle and Upper School productions.
So why do we techies even go through the trouble of running technology at these events in the first place? Well, technology for TEDxYouthDay comes with the knowledge that one is working as a part of something greater than just one single soundboard, one spotlight machine, one individual, or even one community.
TEDxYouthDay 2012 was home to 100 TEDx events designed especially for youth, hosted on November 17th and 18th in 42 different countries in honor of Universal Children’s Day. Most TEDxYouth hosts livestreamed all aspects of their events, including speeches, videos of TED speeches from other conferences, and break-out activities. This made for quite a unique at-home experience for those who could not attend a TEDxYouth event in person or those who wanted to get a glimpse of events miles away from their own homes. The livestream team entered Hewitt at 7:30 am on November 17, equipped with various audio and video apparatuses and ready to document every moment of TEDxYouth@Hewitt, live.
A map of last year’s widespread TEDxYouthDay events:
View TEDxYouthDay events in a larger map.
With this technology, students and children from all over the world were able to see what we were talking about as we were talking about it. Kids from Jordan and Thailand, for example, could see our (New Yorkers’) dreams and our different approaches to action and change-making.
Technology, especially now that it is heavily associated with social media, is often criticized for diminishing person-to-person communication, creating relationships that lack depth and authenticity. However, in this case, technology allows us all, no matter where we live or what we look like, to connect our voices, our ideas, and our messages in order to ignite change all over the world. Creating this truly unique connection is what drives others and me to help run technology for TEDx.
Sofia Stafford ’13, who acted as a mentor for this year’s TEDxYouth@Hewitt curatorial team, values this connection: “Technology can be a very powerful tool to connect people from all over the world and to spark global change. It has really leveled the playing field for many parts of the world in terms of access to resources and information.”‘
Maria Sabater ’13 knows a thing or two about Hewitt technology. She has been ‘teching’ for drama productions since 2005, and she has been in charge of technology for Hewitt’s annual TEDx event since it began three years ago.
On the importance and scope of the work she does with technology, Maria stated,
“Every time we set up those consoles and go online, we send a message to the entire world; we are making sure that our voices are heard. The Internet hosts the TED community, which spans across the globe. The purpose of the microphones and lights is not merely to satisfy Hewitt’s needs, but is instead to inform other parts of the world of what we are doing and what we can all join together to do. We create the connection that allows this to happen.”
Evidently, students helping out with technology for TEDx aren’t really behind the scenes. In fact, we provide the means for joining with the rest of the world in attempts to make a difference. In an interview I held with Scott Warren, a speaker who taught about how we as individuals can come together to act collectively, he commented on the critical role technology can play in worldwide events: “This type of technology gives youth from all over the same opportunity to truly see that their voices do matter and that they can make a difference.”