How to make the most of your first TEDx event? The TEDxDSCE Experience!
TEDxDSCE, a product of 102 days of planning, scheming, running around, searching for speakers, drafting websites, selling tickets, finding sponsors and putting up a good show, all for the one day. One magical day that brought 100 attendees together, with 11 amazing speakers and one overly enthusiastic host.
The byproduct of attending this amazing dream of an event was not just some goodie bags and photos that I could take home, but some life changing talks, some amazing and off-stream people who I got to network with, who I never would have even imagined to have acquainted with and most of all, a completely new outlook on life after the series of speakers had spoken their ideas that were worth spreading.
Don’t worry now, this blog post isn’t going to be just a bunch of stingy and annoyingly long paragraphs of text. I’ve tried to make this experience of reading as first-hand and exciting as it was for me actually getting to live it. And so, here we go…
Note: All the photographs you see in this post have been shot by me at the event. I hope you like them, and if you would like a high-res version of the same, please feel free to contact me.
My first experience at a TEDx Event, and what I would’ve liked to know before attending?
Like all first timers, I was caught shamelessly taking photos of my ID Card in weird and unique fashions to blurt out to the world that I was officially attending my very first TEDx event, and in my own college no less. I was lucky to have had the experience, and so close to home too, so I took the chance immediately. (well, not that immediately)
I asked around my friends circle, on who’s attending, so I would gain some company, and at first gasp at the ticket price (which was Rs. 1,650 btw), everyone nodded their head in disapproval of accompanying me, followed by a taunt on how *rich* I was to have spent money on a ticket to our own college, so lavishly.
But I knew the value of it. I knew that a ticket to TEDx wasn’t just a ticket, it was to be an experience that can’t be forgotten. My only problem was having to go solo, which I just had to overcome for this particular event. And I did.
Now, nobody told me how their TEDx experience was before, mostly because of the lack of me showing curiosity, but I would’ve loved it if I had known a few things before I did attend… and if you happen to pounce upon this article before the day of your first or n-th TEDx event, I hope this serves as a good checklist for you:
1. Research the Speakers
Find out some background on the speakers and their topics beforehand. Having a clear idea of what you’ll be hearing will allow you to understand the speaker’s material better and have more in-depth conversations with other attendees between sessions.
2. Scout out the Locations
Know the location and area of the event. Having a familiarity with the venue you’re attending is ideal, especially if it’s far way and parking or one-way streets are prevalent. This kind of simple prep work before the event will make your day smoother and less stressful.
I was blessed to have attended this event at my own University, so the location was not much of an issue for me, but having spoken with the other attendees, I had formulated this piece of advice to share.
3. Prepare to Network
Make sure to bring business cards or another easy way to share your contact information with other attendees or speakers. I cannot stress this enough. This event is as much about the speakers as it is about increasing your own social and professional circle. The breaks in our event were lengthened only to put more focus on the networking aspect of things.
4. Pack Supplies
Bring something for note taking. Some people are tech savvy and others prefer the old pen and paper. Either way, with so many ideas being shared, taking notes during the event is the best method to remember the insights you’ll gain.
I for one, stuck to jotting down points on the diary that the organizers had handed out to us, but there was this one young gentleman (yes, I know I sounded like I was 60 years old) in the front who stuck to noting down points on his smartphone, with blazing brightness to add to it, which distracted me and the other attendees a lot. Thankfully, he refrained from it later on. Maybe his conscience caught up with him :)
How was the TEDxDSCE Experience?
Now, I’d like to bring up the point again about this having been my very first TEDx event, so I have no prior experience in knowing how a TEDx event should be, but speaking to most of the attendees about their experience, and personally being looked after so well, I can say with a 90–95% confidence that this has been one of the most elegantly organized events ever, in the history of our auditorium at Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering. Every single person I spoke to couldn’t stop their praise about the variety of speakers that were chosen for the talk, or the amazing food that was served, or the luxurious auditorium they wished they had in their college years.
So, since TEDx is a talk-based event, I’ll go about the entire array of the event speaker by speaker, so it’ll be much easier to read, and I can try to portray my opinions about each individual speaker. So, here we go:
To understand the format I’ll be writing about each speaker: the quoted, italicized text is from TEDxDSCE, and the following is my opinion on what they spoke about. I hope it helps you to experience the same kind of experience that I felt having been there.
Speaker #1: Dr. Rajah Vijaykumar — Dangerous Waters
He is a scientist, researcher and opinion leader. He is the mastermind behind one of the greatest inventions of all times Aquatron, Cytotron, Aquaria and many more. He has 32 patents in his quire and he is also the chairman of Organization De Scalene.
This talk was all about water. And no, don’t jump into Kaveri Fights just yet. This was more about how we waste water, the source of sewage and our lack of innovation in the technology to treat sewage into clean water.
For example, something he said really opened my eyes. The sewage treatments we perform now are age old techniques, that keep out certain generic wastes, but as years have evolved, the sewage we create adds in a lot more medicinal and hard-to-trace wastes which cannot be properly treated. This has led to a rise in diseases being transmitted through drinking water.
To fix this, and the reason for his fame, was an invention of his own, a sewage treatment machine he built that was the size of a 42 inch TV, but could be installed in any home at low costs. He hopes to see such technology, a bit refined and remodeled, in everyone’s households soon.
Speaker #2: Ms. Rohini Mundra — Power of Rituals
She is a MindShift coach, speaker and an entrepreneur. Having trained people across the globe, her transformation work will take you through a journey of understanding your mind and rewriting your code to an extraordinary life.
I must say, this speaker must’ve had the most vibrant smile and laugh across the entire event. That’s my extent of drooling and going gaga over the speaker, because after that, was all amazement to the amazing wonders she had done in her own life.
Her talk was completely about eliminating fear using the methods of rituals that we perform knowingly or unknowingly. We perform certain actions just before a big decision or a life changing experience, just to make sure that faith is with us and everything goes according to plan. She encourages you to explore your rituals, face your fears and eventually get rid of them.
The rest of her talk was all about how she had gone to some new country on her every birthday, in an attempt to ‘find her ritual’. One year, it was bungee jumping, the next, it was scuba-diving, then came surfing, horse riding, etc. For a moment, I didn’t know if it was her life she was talking about, or an advertisement for Club Mahindra Holidays, but a very motivational talk nonetheless, which mainly inspired me to travel a lot more.
Speaker #3: Ms. Varsha Nalin Shah — Stop Being ‘OKAY!’
She is a happiness coach. Her mission is to empower a million people to create victories every day. She is an inspiring woman who is ready to create an environment which inspires the audience to change their perceptions and take massive action towards their dreams.
Ms. Shah is a happiness coach, like the quote from TEDxDSCE says, and although I failed to see the happy smiley face in her talk, she taught us that there can be a different kind of happiness.
The only one that matters, the happiness inside of us, and she brought that out of us in perfect harmony.
She begins by telling us about her Trichotillomania, or hair pulling disorder. She tells us how it had affected her in so many ways all of us wouldn’t even dare to recover from, and despite that, she fought it all and came to speak on that stage, sharing her story.
The essence of her talk was all about ‘not being okay with being not okay’, if that makes any sense at all. Essentially, it’s all about showing off a positive vibe in even the simplest of things you do, as that positivity could lead to a lot more vibrant life.
She explains by asking all of us to start answering the question ‘How are you?’ with the phrase ‘Awesome!’ instead of the usual ‘Okay!’, and that’s something I’ve been following very religiously myself even before this talk, and I can say that it’s definitely one of the little things that can change you.
Speaker #4: Abhishek Bhaskar — Beatboxing Architect
He is a beat boxer, also the founder of Voice box and ABRA. He is a talented youngster who uses his vocal chords to redefine the sounds that are produced by drums, rhythm pads and other instruments. As the technology in the world of music took a new turn, he started producing music by beat boxing.
Now, you could’ve guessed that a beat boxer at a TEDx event wouldn’t go without a performance, and an outstanding one at that, but that’s not all he got his applause for.
He is also a student of Architecture out of no choice of his own, but he managed to find inspiration and interest in design and went on to create some amazing projects which went on to win several awards.
His motto to take away, was simple. Give a 110% to anything you are given, and there is no doubt that you will flourish in whatever field you are.
Speaker #5: Smt. K. Ratna Prabha, IAS — Women Empowerment
She is the additional chief secretary to Government of Karnataka. Her main focus is on rural development and social issues. She is also the director of National Mission for Empowerment of Women under the Ministry of Women and Child Development — Government of Karnataka.
This inspirational civil servant from the early years screams positivity and equality in every direction. The work done by this IAS officer from the 80s, has brought courage and perseverance to many women entrepreneurs out there and there was even one woman in the audience who was benefitted by the programmes initiated by Smt. K. Ratna Prabha.
Speaker #6: Mr. Niranjan Mukundan — Paralympic Swimmer
He is a paralympian and popularly known as the ‘Medal Machine’. He was crowned World Champion at Stoke Mandeville, UK. He is also the prestigious Kannada Rajyotsava awardee and Ekalavya awardee. A journey of 22 years of life, 16 surgeries, 80 medals and over 100 trophies.
There’s nothing much to be said about this speaker that hasn’t already been said. He proved to be one of those amazing examples that even if God takes something away from you, he gives you something else too, which in this case, is the power to overcome your weakness.
Speaker #7: Mr. Amrut Sridhara Hiranya — The Dog Guru
He is popularly known as the ‘Dog Guru’. He is one of the few canine behaviourists and trainers in the country. He is the first Indian to be awarded ‘The Australian Dog Whisperer Cup’ for his dog behavioural training.
This speaker was the most interesting of them all, and one of the longest, but we never saw the time pass by. He is truly one of a kind, especially since a ‘dog behaviourist’ is not a career you hear about every day. His talk included everything about dogs, and the talk even featured his dogs performing live demos of how he controls them and trains them to sniff out explosives and for personal protection.
All that he did is extremely hard to put into words, now that I try to think about it, but it was one of the most vibrant performances I’ve seen to date. The way he speaks about how dogs should be treated, but we end up showing them unconditional love which eventually makes them grow up into the spoiled brat child we usually tend to avoid.
The TED floor was aflame with dogs as there were a lot more dogs that he had brought along from his kennel and each one of them, as he explains, were trained for a specific purpose. Me, being an avid dog lover, couldn’t keep my lens off of them, and tried to shoot as much of them as possible :)
Speaker #8: Mr. Pavan RC — Connect Body Language with Math
He is a kinesthetic math teacher. Breaking the stereotypes, Mr. Pavan — popularly known as the mathemagician, has started a creative revolution in the world of education. He has developed innovative techniques to present mathematics along with the use of equipments, activities and management.
I couldn’t believe my ears when the host announced his name and details and he was to be a teacher. Like the actual kind of teacher who we all used to torment in school, but wow. Once he started speaking, the crowd burst into laughter at his comedic talk and witty oratory skills.
He showcased a video of where he tries to teach a little kid about advanced math (for her age), using kinesthetics. Which is just a fancy way of saying, he mimed the answers to her through his fingers :’D But it gathered a few laughs and was a inspirational talk about fixing the education system.
Speaker #9: Mr. Shreyans Jain — Figure It Out
He is the co-founder of the Under 25 Club. A visionary who has been successful in envisioning future of many and motivated them to follow their passion. U-25 Club is a platform which reinforces individuals in exploring their talent and potential and thereby helping them to achieve their milestones.
Now, this is just one of the speakers that not just me, but most of the attendees of the event that at least I interacted with, did not seem to connect with on any level whatsoever.
I’ve heard a lot about this individual before, and surely, to those who are Under 25, the U-25 club is pretty well known to most of us. But despite his status, I found his talk to be tasteless and lacking content.
Nothing much to say there… maybe it was just his bad day :)
Speaker #10: Mr. Pawan Kumar — Art of Quitting
He is a film director, actor and screen writer in Kannada Film Industry. His directorial debut ‘Lifeu Ishtene’, ‘Lucia’, and ‘U-Turn’ in recent times has made a tremendous impact on the industry. He was one of the first directors to have adopted the concept of ‘Crowdfunding’ in Kannada Film Industry.
Without a doubt, I can confess that, this is the man I got the ticket for in the first place for this event. As soon as I got to know that Mr. Pawan Kumar was a speaker at TEDxDSCE, I jumped on my chances to get in.
Pawan Kumar is a living legend, in my eyes at least, with the kind of work he has done to transform the Kannada Film Industry into what it is today. The quality of films churning out in recent times is only because of the standard that he set with Lucia and every movie he made thereafter.
Before his talk, at lunch, I got to speak to him and express my gratitude to him and couldn’t stop praising him for all the work he had done for the KFI. But one thing that I noticed was that, he was a very reserved person. He barely spoke 10 sentences while he was out there, he had his lunch alone and just had this uninviting yet enlightened face. One comment I had got from my friend, which I then thought to be true, was that: the most creative people are very silent and to themselves and usually just keep thinking about their next creative step in their direction, which does make sense now.
In his talk, he speaks about ‘The Art of Quitting’ and takes us through his life story of how he quit college, his mentor, his home, his theatre and his second mentor, the great Yograj Bhat. One who has voluntarily/forcibly quit so many times in life, would definitely be beaten down by the society, and just was he, but he fought against it all.
His talk mainly focused on getting out of your comfort zone and taking risks, to ensure that you take the path that not everyone would usually take, in order to become successful in whatever you want to do. The steps he took to get to the stage where he is, was an inspirational story to all. I’m already thinking about quitting college myself :D
Speaker #11: Mr. Deepak Justin — One in a Million
He is a motivational speaker and founder of DJ’s Toastmasters Club. A man who has turned his passion for public speaking into his profession as a motivation speaker. He was the second runner in the semi-finals of ‘Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking’. His mission is to empower budding entrepreneurs.
This was the last speaker on the set list, and granted, we were pretty much beat from all the talks, the exercises, the networking and the food. Ah, the food. But when TEDxDSCE says that they saved the best for last, they weren’t kidding. Deepak Justin is one of those people who when you talk to, you instantly get this sense of gratification and happiness. A rush of inspiration to the head, as Coldplay would put it.
Deepak Justin took us on his journey from being diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia to finding courage in faith to get him through his tough times, and eventually making the most of a bad situation and living life to the fullest. His take away from the talk was as simple as this: when affliction strikes, learn how to strike back. Don’t sit in the sidelines when your weaknesses take over, but instead overcome them and turn them into your strengths.
Conclusion
The speakers were an absolute delight, the organization was top-notch, and I guess the only thing I should’ve known better was to network a bit more courageously and being less afraid to meet new people.
TEDx events are as much about learning as they are about meeting and connecting with new people in the area. These events truly drive you to look at problems with a fresh perspective and innovation, or to collaborate in new ways with your peers.
In my one-day experience, I met several new people and have had insightful, meaningful conversations. I learned so much about areas I don’t have a lot of experience in and never knew would interest me. I’m looking forward to my next TEDx event and the new connections I’ll be able to make with other innovators. Knowing what I know now, I expect the next event to be even more incredible, and I hope you’ll be there too!
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It would mean a whole lot to me if you do! :)
Thank you so much for making it this far in the article… you are truly one of a kind.
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Signing off,
Amruth Pillai
