Norway's first TEDx event

Through conferences and online speeches by innovative and influential people, the non profit organisation TED works to spread groundbreaking ideas in different fields. NHH students led by the MEBA Council are the first to arrange a TED related event in Norway.

06.10.2010 - Hallvard Lyssand

TED is a non profit organization devoted to disseminating what they label "ideas worth spreading."

TED started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from technology, entertainment and design, hence the acronym.

After a slow start TED has grown and branched out. It now comprises an annual conference in Long Beach, California, an annual sister conference in Oxford, UK, and a host of other events and resources. The latter include TEDTalks, speeches by a long and prominent list of contributors that count scientists, musicians, writers, artists, politicians and journalists.

Among the many who have contributed are Tim Berners-Lee, Jane Goodall, Bono, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling, Richard Branson and Bill Clinton. Their speeches and more than 700 others are available for free online, and cover a vast number of subjects including technology, entertainment, design, business, science, culture, arts and global issues.

Inspiration and new solutions

Master student Vikram Seth (Foto: Hallvard Lyssand)

Master student Vikram Seth is the coordinator of TEDxNHH.

One of TED's branches is TEDx, a program that enables schools, businesses or anyone else to set up a TED-like event that they organize and host themselves.

Saturday 23 October TEDxNHH will take place in the Aula. This is the first TEDx-event ever held in Norway, and the initiative comes from NHH's international students.

"The initial idea came from the MEBA Council", says British ENE-student and TEDxNHH co-ordinator, Vikram Seth.

"The Master in International Business students at NHH have arranged an annual conference since 2002, known as MiB Forum and later as MEBA Forum. These events have normally focused on questions concerning business and energy. But this year we decided to expand our scope beyond international master students," he continues.

"We're big fans of TED, and some of the approximately 20 students involved in the team have previous experience as TEDx arrangers. The aim of the coming NHH event is to be multi disciplinary and present new and innovative solutions in different fields. It's an attempt to inspire people to be more creative and see things in a new light," Seth explains.

The theme for TEDxNHH is "The Birth of Inspiration," and the 7 guest speakers cover a variety of subjects from arts and music to architecture and economics.

Among the speakers is NHH professor Rögnvaldur Hannesson. His contribution is titled "Norway without oil."

Other speakers include Danish architect Andreas Klok Pedersen, Turkish musician Mercan Dede, Japanese designer Suhsi Suzuki, Norwegian filmmaker Sjur Paulsen, and Catalan/British economist Edward Hugh.

"Our primary audience is NHH students, but we believe the event will be interesting and inspiring for everyone, including students from other institutions, academics and business people," says Vikram Seth.

TEDxNHH
The Birth of Inspiration
Date: Saturday 23 October
Time: 11.00-17.00
Place: NHH's Aula.