TEDx Inspires at Hurst

Hurst welcomed over 200 pupils and adults to its first ever TEDx event in which renowned speakers shared some inspirational ideas shaping our world

The event, titled Putting the F into the Future, invited students from the College’s Sixth Form as well as those from Seaford, Bedales, Roedean and Burgess Hill.

The first session included Gabi Zedlmayer, a leading figure at Hewlett Packard, and Lachlan McWilliam, co-founder of the Band4Hope charity, whose topics ranged from social justice to “Generation F” to fighting breast cancer.


The lunch and afternoon breaks in the St John’s common room were buzzing with excitement. Activities included the Big Booth Boutique which invited the students to record their responses to the sessions and have their photograph taken.

The Mint House, from Hurstpierpoint village, sold books relating to the talks while some of Hurst’s talented Design and Technology students displayed their projects.

Light entertainment came in the form of some of Hurst’s most accomplished musicians; performances from the Barber Shop Quartet and the delightful ukulele duo, Doug Brion and Robert Loveless, maintained the high energy levels of the event.

During the second and third sessions, Hurst pupils Olivia McShane and Ellie Walsworth spoke beautifully and with great confidence about femininity, showing their insight and understanding.

The audience was then raised to its feet as online sensation Daria Musk was connected live from America via a Google Hangout to sing and tell her incredible story of using the internet to perform her live music.

Host, Bea Meborah-Collinson, member of the Hurst Upper Sixth, introduced each speaker with ease and kept the audience on its toes with riddles and games.

The event was a great success, as has been reflected by the hugely positive feedback the organisers received, both on the day and afterwards, from the audience.

Co-organiser of the event and Hurst Director of Communication, Heather Beeby, said, “The talks were inspirational and uplifting. All the pupils were fully engaged and with young people spreading big ideas and discussing them so avidly, the future really does look bright.”

Each speaker was filmed during the day and now the videos can be viewed on the TEDx Youtube Channel. Just search, “Putting the F into Future”.

What is TEDx?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group.

These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California almost 30 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes on a diverse mix of topics. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com.

TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The TED2014 Conference will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast in neighboring Whistler. TEDGlobal 2014 will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http:// www.facebook.com/TED

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/ registration