About Us
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxDunLaoghaire, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organised.
About TEDx Dún Laoghaire
TEDx DúnLaoghaire 2020 was our first Virtual Summit and although we missed the magic of the live ‘in person’ experience, our 2020 speakers delivered talks that will inspire, they are timely and we’re proud of them all.
Our 2020 theme of ‘Exploring Wisdom’ was sufficiently abstract to allow for great speaker and topic diversity and you can see them all when you subscribe to our TEDx Dun Laoghaire YouTube Channel. Then you can help us too, by sharing them across the globe.
From the start, TEDx DunLaoghaire has had great support and an amazing, hard-working team of volunteers who work tirelessly to bring it all together. We rely on abundant good will and sponsorship. Our resources are limited which means we automate where we can and it is not possible to respond to requests for information on our speaker call out and ticket sales. Please sign up for email updates and follow us on social media, that’s the best way to know what’s happening. Thank you for understanding that mails sent directly to members of the organising team cannot be accommodated.
TEDx Dun Laoghaire is a self organised, not for profit event run by hard working volunteers. Our selection panel has a tough job evaluating submissions, making sure not only do we put on a great event, but we also give each speaker, particularly our younger speakers a great TEDx journey as we support them with collaborative and 1:1 speaker coaching. Each speaker gives a “live” talk on the night, knowing that their talk, once uploaded to TEDx, will have the potential to spread their unique perspective in their chosen area of interest and expertise to the wider TEDx global community. You’ll see how some talks really inspire and “spread!”.
Our vision is simple: to promote inclusion
At TEDx Dun Laoghaire, we believe inclusion is ‘everybody’s responsibility’ and work where we can to have a diverse range of speakers. In 2019 Joanne Chester not only gave her TEDxTalk in Dun Laoghaire, she also delivered a motivational talk at our Youth Event and led by Co Organiser Catherine Dunphy led a mini choir in World in Unison, if you look closely you’ll see Daniel O’Donnell in there too, along with other TEDx Dun Laoghaire speakers whose TEDx journey with us was about more than just giving a talk, it was and continues to be about connection in many different ways.
Let our talks inform, inspire and cultivate a more open minded community, a community which can grow and become ever more sustainable and inclusive; a community in which more people, not just in business, but in life itself, thrive.
Inclusion is Everybody’s Responsibility!
Our strategy is simple too: to inspire, one talk at a time.
We do this through collaborative coaching which selected speakers commit to. So not only do our speakers deliver better talks than they would alone, the work they go on to do in the world is enriched because of their personal growth as a direct result of their TEDx Dun Laoghaire speaker journey.
On the day itself, the experience of speaking on the RED DOT (graphic?!) is one they will never forget. The intimacy of The Studio theatre, being part of a live event, which we do not live stream is magical. An event carefully planned to create an equally fulfilling experience for the audience. Afterwards, their official talks will go on to inform, inspire and cultivate more open minded communities, which can grow and become ever more sustainable and inclusive. Communities in which more people thrive.
TEDx Dun Laoghaire - a little back history, enough we hope to inspire you to get involved wherever you feel drawn to, maybe as a Speaker, Event Partner, Volunteer or a key Team Member!
2018 our founder Janie Lazar invites Sue Adams for coffee and TEDx Dun Laoghaire becomes a reality. Little did they realise how much TEDx would become part of their lives but a high point in the local area. Within minutes TEDx Dun Laoghaire is launched including a session for young speakers in the morning. After all, why not make good use of the 125 capacity in The Studio theatre, the LexIcon had kindly sponsored. Going all out, our fearless organisers invited Kevan Chandler as the first international guest speaker.
2019 - in keeping with our ethos of inclusion, Joanne Chester becomes the first Deaf Irish TEDx speaker and so began our appreciation of ISL – Irish Sign Language with interpreters at our events and to enable Joanne’s participation in our collaborative coaching program. Everyone in the audience that night including Joanne’s parents gained a deeper appreciation of what it is to be Deaf and through the power of Joanne telling her story, Joanne found her ‘voice’ and with ISL, Ireland’s 3rd official language we ‘heard’ her and significantly so too did her parents, as they saw how much Joanne had achieved.
So 2019 TEDxYouth@DunLaoghaire is launched giving young speakers licence to share their experiences on a global platform. Thanks to sponsorship from our local Enterprise Board in Dun Laoghaire, all our speakers benefit from 1:1 and collaborative coaching to support them in their speaker journeys.
2020 .. the world changed. And TED/TEDxOrganisers rethink how to keep the talks going whilst retaining some of the magic of the in person theatre experience. #TEDxDL goes virtual using professionally pre-recorded talks thanks to videographers Staunton Media ensuring our high production was maintained. Let’s be honest though, we did miss the buzz of the live theatre. BUT #TEDxDL was, we believe, the only one in Ireland to happen in a year we shall never forget!.
2021– We were back in the theatre!! However, with a limited audience. Still we recaptured the magic and our speakers were extraordinary. Ever more special and precious because of all we and the rest of the world had been through with the Covid-19 pandemic.