Well, I have just arrived home after one of the most exhilarating afternoons ever, and just had to put pen to paper.
I have been somewhat involved with marketing TEDx Nantwich – an inaugural event of its type, not only in Nantwich, but in Cheshire – that took place this afternoon. A month or so ago, I was kindly asked by my good friend Fiona Rose to be involved. The event was Melanie Howe and Fi’s idea, and being a hoooge TED Talks fan myself, I excitedly said a big fat YES.
Below is the trio that formed the marketing team: Abigail Webb pictured on the left, myself in the middle, and Fiona Rose on the right.
What a lovely pair of gals to work with. Felt a real sense of unity as we all scurried away in the run up to the event to achieve a sell out (which we did), and also to create a buzz around it all on the day itself. I think by the time we’d finished snapping away with our phones, stealing speakers for video interviews, organising photobooths, sorting banners and tweeting until even Twitter had had enough of us (!), then TEDx Nantwich was well on its way.
Deee-lighted to say, that during the event, Twitter was going MAD around the hashtag #TEDxNantwich. My phone was pinging every other second! A sure sign that the audience were engaged, inspired and lapping it all up.
And it’s not surprising with the performance the speakers gave. Wow. 
Awe-inspiring is the only word I can think of even coming close to summing up how inspirational they were. We had eight very different speakers, with eight very different talks. Yet, through all that, some fundamental themes came through, spanning the importance of: being authentic; speaking out; seizing the moment; overcoming fear; re-imagining education; challenging society’s perceptions; storytelling; resilience; empowerment and more. Speakers included:
- Sarah Short
- Sara Knowles
- Andy Fewtrell
- Debbies Hayes
- Philippa Richford
- Jonathan Griffiths
- Catherine Sandland
- Andrew Thorp
I also loved working alongside the likes of Melanie Howe, Peter Ewan, Craig Millar and Paul Morris. All wonderful people.
Below is myself interviewing Dr. Jonathan Griffiths – Chair of NHS Vale Royal Clinical Commissioning Group – just an hour ahead of the event:
Overall, what struck me most, was how the event met with the very essence of TEDx: to inspire. (Goodness knows how many times I’ve used that word in this blog post, yet alone in the last few weeks, but it’s true). The event inspired. And whether you were involved as a speaker, a marketeer, a sponsor, a light technician, a project manager, a designer, a stage manager, a photographer, a cake maker, or indeed an audience participant, I’m sure everyone involved will agree that they went away from the event with just a little bit of something they hadn’t considered before.
Thank you TEDx Nantwich.
Wow. wow. wow.
If you’re wanting to see more pictures and videos from today’s event, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/TEDxNantwich/
