Entertainment

TEDx Clapham: Founder hoping to engage and challenge audience

The founder of Tedx Clapham believes this year’s event will be better than ever thanks to innovative new features aimed at maximising the audience experience.

Tedx Clapham 2018 is themed around ‘Growth’ and will see talks from Olympic medallist Leon Taylor, adventurer-turned-plastics campaigner Dhruv Boruah and Richard Ballard, creator of the UK’s first subterranean urban farm, among many others.

Now in its third year, organiser Alex Merry wants to ensure the event, taking place at Clapham Grand on Sunday June 17, can reach a wider audience than ever before, including an innovative way of increasing audience particpation.

He said: “This year we are giving the audience the opportunity to share their ideas on stage, They get a 30-second open mic slot in the middle of the event to share their ideas.

“I’ve not attended a Tedx event that’s done it, but I thought it would be a pretty cool idea. What I know for a fact is we have some pretty amazing people come and watching the event so why not give them a voice?

“It’s about taking it a step further and making the event even more immersive for the audience. You never know who you’ll get up there but that’s part of the fun of it.”

Alex hopes the event will build upon the successes of previous talks in 2015 and 2016.

He said: “This year is about making it more accessible to everybody. We have got slightly less speakers but the quality of speakers and the time and the preparation they’ve had has been to a completely different level.

“I think this event has the opportunity to take it to a completely different level.

After a fallow year in 2017, Alex believes the break means the event can come back bigger than ever, with increased capacity.

“Ted saw the success our event had been having and we ended up getting invited to New York,” he said.

“We had some training and that has allowed us to grow the event, which means we can have a bigger impact in the community and we can invite more people along to see the talks.”

He also feels the Clapham Grand is the ideal venue for the event.

He said: “Having it at the Clapham Grand gives us scope to grow it.

“The Clapham grand is an incredible venue to hold it at. I love the juxtaposition between having it at an infamous nightlife venue and bringing in some real thought leaders to do a talk there.”

What: Tedx Clapham
When: Sunday June 17
Where: Clapham Grand, Sw11 1TT
Tickets

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