Expect the unexpected: who should you look out for at TOA 2017?
A century and counting… we’ve just announced the 100th speaker for TOA 2017, and our line-up now boasts some of the most innovative thinkers operating in technology today, including the co-founder of Vimeo, Google’s Head of Search Design and the CEO of Babbel, amongst other luminaries.
Our previous chat with the Content Team — who book all of TOA’s speakers — revealed their passion for new knowledge, how that passion drives TOA’s process of finding, booking and scheduling speakers. This is also one of the big things that makes TOA different to other tech festivals.
Now, Danielle, Rosie and Stefano tell us which speakers they are looking forward to the most, and whose talks they are most intrigued by. Think of it as an insider’s guide to the most exciting and most unusual talks happening this summer.
And if this whets your appetite, then get along to the gorgeous Funkhaus in Berlin and join us at TOA — you’ll be surprised by what you discover!
Danielle Lemieux, Content Manager
Excited about:
Dr. Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey has made a bold, thought-provoking, and scarily-credible claim: that science and medicine can eventually halt biological ageing.
He’s a biomedical gerontologist — which means he has (extensively) studied the mechanics of ageing from a biological perspective, and he foresees a day when we last a lot longer than we do today.
Danielle can’t wait for this one: “Aubrey believes that there are people alive TODAY who will live to be 1,000 years old. The thought is so mind-blowing/terrifying that I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Intrigued by:
Anne Kjær Riechert
For Danielle, Anne’s work is cross-disciplinary, inspiring and effective: “Anne is a fellow Berliner tackling the refugee crisis by teaching refugees to code at the ReDI School which she founded here.
“Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg both visited the school and raved about how Anne’s efforts are making a difference in the lives of Berlin’s refugee population.”
Stefano Sacchi, Content Manager
Excited about:
Jake Lodwick
Jake’s been successful so many times, his biography will leave you feeling a bit inadequate.
Stefano sums him up: “Jake co-founded Vimeo! He was also one of the initial web developers for College Humour, which I love, and has invested in super-successful startups such as Tumblr and Makerbot!
“He’s now working on another startup called Elepath — they created their first music app called Keezy, and Reggie Watts helped promote it.
“Fun fact: Reggie and Jake were roommates for three years. Can’t wait!”
Intrigued by:
Dr. Andy Yen
In a time when we’re all concerned about security, hacking and privacy, this one could be a must-see.
Stefano explains: “Andy founded Protonmail, which is an end-to-end encrypted email client inspired by the work of Edward Snowden. It focuses on privacy and encryption and was the result of hugely successful crowdfunding campaign. He started this while he was a scientist at CERN.
“Fun fact: Germany is Protonmail’s third largest market!”
Rosie Horgan, Content Manager
Rosie is excited by one huge topic in particular, and it’s one that Berlin is proudly a world leader in: the Blockchain.
Rosie explains why: “Last year, TOA had a big focus on what the blockchain is and does to help explain it in simple terms. This year, I really want to move the conversation around the blockchain forward at TOA.
“It’s such an exciting technology which is going to play a genuinely fundamental part of our lives in the immediate future — but it’s still hard to understand for non-techies. In 2017, we’re booking speakers who can describe the real-world implementations: blockchain and the law, blockchain and open data, blockchain and creativity — everything that matters to us as people.
“We already have Shermin Voshmgir — the founder of the key Blockchain community platform Blockchainhub — speaking, and we’re about to announce some key players from the decentralised world really soon!”
These suggestions are just scratching the surface of the fascinating variety of talks TOA has to offer this year. There’s also space photography, sustainable fashion, non-mainstream pornography, and art for social change to dig into and explore.
So the two things you can definitely expect at TOA are the unexpected and that when you visit, you’ll leave inspired and amazed. Book your ticket now!
Originally published at blog.toa.berlin on June 1, 2017.
