TEDx at the Royal Albert Hall, the first TEDx event in London

A few years ago, I was rather hooked on TED and watched many videos on various topics by inspirational figures who wanted to share and spread their ideas to the world. Hence, when I found out about the franchise event, TEDx Albertopolis ( created in the spirit of TED’s mission and experience at the local level), the first in London, I was very excited and booked myself a ticket for the 5-hour event.

The event took place at the Royal Albert Hall and we were told that it was a sold-out event ( many were school students). The day was divided into three sessions: “Seeing things differently”, “Making things happen”, and “Shaking things up”. The speakers include Julia Lohmann, ( an artist in residence at the V & A whom I mentioned in my previous entry), Nicolas McCarthy ( the one-handed pianist), Sally Davies ( Chief Medical Officer for England), Roland Lamb ( the creator of Seaboard GRAND) and many more.

As expected, some talks were more inspiring than others, and personally ( and I believe for many others), it was the co-founder of Touretteshero, Jessica Thom‘s talk on Tourette’s Syndrome that was truly unforgettable.

The problem with these huge events is that there are bound to be long queues for everything, and this was the case here from toilets, cafes to even the top gallery… And after sitting for so many hours, my back also started to complain, so as much as I enjoyed the event ( where I also befriended the Irish lady next to me), I would probably watch the videos in a more comfortable setting next time… which is my home sweet home.