TEDxKids@BC 2012 Event: Connect. Inspire. Act.
Connect. Inspire. Act.
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.“Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way.”” — Dr. Seuss
On September 17 2011, we held our inaugural TEDxKids@BC event. It was an overwhelming experience and words still cannot describe how we all felt at the end of the day! It was amazing to see at the end of day how much we had accomplished with a little thing called – passion.
As a team, we all came together, and after the last few months leading to the event have been particularly tough as we all volunteered our time on top of our jobs, school, families and other duties so many of us ended up running on 3-4 hours of sleep for weeks, needless to say we were all a but loopy – which I believe helped with the flow of creativity and overall awe of the event.
Over the course of the last 5 month post-event, we never really slowed down much. All of us had ideas whirling in our noggins for 2012 – we set the bar high and turned TEDxKids@BC into a fully youth-empowered platform with the adults providing mostly mentorship and support. We believe that putting youth in the driving seat is the best way to empower our growing community of kids that came away inspired from our event this year and can’t wait to come back together again with TWO amazing events coming up in April and October.
Let’s refresh your memory….
What is TEDxKids@BC?
TEDxKids@BC is a platform for facilitating opportunities to empower kids and support authentic learning. Some of British Columbia’s most awe-inspiring kids and youth (and some adults who are kid empowered ambassadors) will share their experiences and inspire others to follow their dreams.
Why YOU should join us?
Remarkable people with young hearts will share their captivating stories borne from genuine curiosity and bold ideas. We believe sharing great ideas is important in building a community that supports kids as they’re learning to be! We want our event to be more than just a conference — we would like it to be a day of wholesome experience for our audience. Not only do we plan sharing stories from the stage during the Story time parts of the event, we’re also hoping to bring our themes to life and offer everyone a chance to have fun during the Action time! Interaction and participation are key components.
Who Can Attend?
Kids, parents, educators, students, passion maker and change makers alike – and everyone else with passion for helping kids reach their potential are invited to join our community. We invite you to join our young speakers as their share their inspiring stories of empowered learning.
When is our 2012 events?
Like last year, our amazing staff is looking to provide kids and youth with a platform to share, their amazing stories, inspiring stories with a larger audience. Due to high demand, we will be hosting TWO events this year:
April 5th – TEDxKIDS@BC Change: April 5th 2012
October – TEDxKids@BC 2012: October 12 2012
Why become a partner?
That’s easy! A great opportunity for your organization to support the global cause towards empowering and connecting our kids! This is an incredible opportunity for you to get involved with our team as an official sponsor of one, or both, on our 2012 events. TedxKIDS@BC is looking for conference sponsors to come on board and represent our two upcoming events, TEDxKids@BC Change and TEDxKids@BC 2012. This will not only provide you with the opportunity to be a part of a global movement, but it will also give you a chance to empower our kids and community.
For more information on becoming a partner and sponsorship oppportunities check this out – http://www.tedxkidsbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/TEDxKids@BC_Sponsorship_Package_2012.pdf
Calling all Speakers:
Want to be a speaker – we are currently accepting applications for both April and the October events. To get a inspired taste of last year’s speakers (which I was one of them), take a sneak peek here – http://www.tedxkidsbc.com/speakers2011/
My favorite Post from our 2011 rolling blog…
“Try to imagine a future without kids. It hurts to even think about this, right? It’s a nightmare we better never see! How about kids without a future? Unfortunately, the world in which many kids have no future already exists — we live in it every day.
In our world, adults decide for the kids: From serving chocolate milk during school lunch to opting out from vaccines… From cutting school budgets and enforcing standardized testing to choosing energy sources and CO2 limits… From what to learn and whom to learn with to when and how to play!
What right do we have to make these decisions for them? More experience and knowledge? Maybe, but our experience and knowledge is limited to the world of NOW! We and our kids learn the world of tomorrow together — they have to catch up on history but they’re quick learners.
In our world, we like to categorize and label — Black, Hispanic, Asian, Christian, Muslim, Atheist, gay, breeder, queer… We do this with kids too — infant, toddler, preschooler, grade-/middle-/high- school student, teenager… adult!
What purpose do these labels serve? To justify the right to make decisions if your sticker says “adult”? They only help segregating into groups, leading to groups distancing from each other and starting their own cultures!
I am sorry, but the right to make decisions is earned — and we have done little to earn it so far! It is time we take the stickers off and help the younger among us engage with the older ones in making decisions.
We should get the help of the curios minds of the younger population if we’re to change our perspective on the problems of the future. We should use the creative power that the school system so diligently tries to kill and use it to seek for novel solutions to problems. We should bring walls down and build bridges instead to allow the local group cultures to enmesh into a global vision for the future.
This is what TEDxKids@BC is about. This is why I think others should start similar opportunities for the kids in their communities. Let’s build a platform where all generations partner in change!
TEDxKids@BC is not organized by a small committee working behind closed doors. Everyone on our growing team is volunteering their time and using their skills to help in any way they can. But we need the help of our community too if we’re to make this a successful event and bring it close to people across BC and wider!
If this inspires you please contact us or check us out at the below links or find us on facebook and twitter. Be part of a Re”LOVE”olution
Website: TEDxKids@BC – http://www.tedxkidsbc.com/
Contact: info@tedxkidsbc.com