A detailed recap to fill you in on all the motivational and inspiring speakers. Read more…
(caption)Joichi Ito
A group of 20 inspirational thinkers and achievers, along with a 13 year old prodigy from the UAE, the region and several other countries came together on stage on October 10th, 2009 as part of TEDx Dubai.
TEDx Dubai, an independently organized event that focuses on technology, entertainment and design, had it’s first debut in Dubai 2 days ago; one that has had a ripple effect of rave reviews all over the Internet, and gossip scenes.
The event consisted of speeches made by the following:
Leo Laporte; “The Coming Creative Explosion.”
Leo owns and operates a Netcast network and TWiT.tv; this was his first time to present in the Middle East. He mentioned a number of interesting things such as the fact that: "New media treats the audience as intelligent real people that want to hear authentic messages”.
Dr. Naif Al Mutawa; “From Mecca to Metropolis.”
Dr. Naif is the creator of “The 99” which is the first group of superheroes born of an Islamic standard. Inspired by a mission to spread acceptance and global understanding, Dr.Naif created “The 99.” The MENA region has new super heroes now thanks to Dr. Naif Al Mutawa; the phenomenal story of “The 99” animated series was just awe-inspiring.
Joichi Ito; “Sharing Economy.”
Jochi is the CEO of Creative Commons a global non-profit organization providing the technical and legal framework for sharing content. His talk was a real eye opener to many especially when he mentioned that "venture capitalists only speak about their successes because their failures don't matter".
Mohammad Gawdat; “Is Technology Democratizing Our Perspective?”
Mohammad is the Managing Director of Emerging Markets, and will be managing Google's sales and business operations in the countries of emerging Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He stated that “We come pre-programmed that I am always right” and people agreed with him when he said that “In the last two decades we've come across the golden age of stereotyping…”
Abed Ayyad; “Biophotonics.”
Abed has an advanced degree in chemistry, and has been involved with different computer programming projects, for both academic and commercial purposes. He spoke about how biophotonics is new enough to allow new entrants to make an impact and he said that “science requires patience.”
Mohamed and Rashid Parham Al Awadhi; “The Evolution of a Shawarma”
The Wild Peeta brothers were extremely inspiring. They explored leadership roles with companies such as Philips, Master Foods, British American Tobacco, Pepsi, and Beiersdorf and today they are the founding partners behind Wild Peeta, a UAE branded quick-service restaurant with a fresh new perspective on an age-old sandwich, the Shawarma. Not to forget that they mentioned their "Goam Wild Peeta = The Wild Peeta Tribe" all of whom get “twistcouts” (twitter discounts).
Paul Bennett; “What is Your dream for Dubai?”
Paul is a creative director at the influential design and innovation company “Ideo.” His talk was stimulating and stated interesting things such as “We see design as the DO between DREAM and BE" and "Be collaborative, think prototype, think local.” Paul Bennett reckons Dubai's inimitable strength is due to the fact that it's built by professional strength dreamers.
Bruno Giussani ; “TED, the TEDPrize and the Charter for Compassion”
Bruno is the European director of the TED Conferences and the programmer of TEDGlobal. He mainly spoke about TED and how it’s not a conference, but a platform for sharing ideas.
Masarat Daud; “Educating communities in eight days”
Masarat is an Indian girl who left work life to become the founder of the ‘8-Day Academy’ which changed community literacy levels in villages in India; an eye-opening feat by an inspiring philanthropist in the making.
(caption)Dubai Abdulla Abulhoul, Khulood Al Atiyat and Dr. Naif Al Mutawa
Ernst Van Der Poll; “Tawasul”
Ernst is the founder of Tawasul, his mission is to get today's youth to connect with nature. He stressed on the fact that we all should “Find the time to connect with nature!” as well as the “Knowledge of nature is very important, but passion is essential… Passion is lifted from nature!”
Khulood Al Atiyat; “Unleash… a wandering journal”
Khulood Al Atiyat is the cultural presenter at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. She and her friends have created 1,000 journals and distributed them around schools, universities, and other venues to capture the strength of the UAE and document it in a new and creative way.
Samar S Jodha; “Capacity building for marginalized communities”
Samar is a photographer, artist, humanist and social thinker. He talked about how his art for social change and helping marginalized communities made a difference.
Dubai Abdulla Abulhoul; “How age IS just a number”
Dubai, a young Emirati girl born in 1996, has a dream; to create a place for her between Emarati filmmakers, and her dream turned into reality in 2008, when she was officially named as the Middle East's Youngest Director at the age of 11. She spoke about how “age is not a factor to be judged upon” and that "the key to anything is believing." This girl is passionate and was so inspiring when she said, “I want to be the first Arab girl to win an Oscar."
Mohmmed Saeed Harib; “From zero to hero”
Mohmmed, the creator of “FREEJ” and the Emirati that has made his mark as a pioneer in the creative industry in the Middle East, mentioned the challenges and obstacles that young Emaratis have to overcome in order to achieve their goals and dreams.
Qais Sedki ; “Life’s table of contents”
Qais, the founder and managing director of Pageflip Publishing, explained and stressed on the fact that you should “Dream as big as you can. Not only that, but also have an action plan!”, and that one should "Look around you for inspiration, look within for your passion.”
Ian Gilbert; “Why Do I Need a Teacher When I've got the Internet?”
Ian is an educational pioneer, founder of Independent Thinking Ltd and an award-winning author with appearances on TV, radio and in international press. He asked, "Is there more past than there is future?" He also stated that "we're not going to solve the problem with the same thinking we used when we created them" and he mainly highlighted on rethinking education, and the difference between thinking and knowing.
Thomas Lundgren; “HUMANology”
Thomas is a businessman on a mission to change the world. He told the audience to "Find your purpose, live your purpose, find your happiness", and reminded them that "We are what we do", as well as focus on the part where "Nothing extraordinary has ever happened without passion".
Bashar Atiyat; “Changing a distorted Image”
Bashar comes from an Arab Bedouin Mid-Eastern Origin, worked in Hollywood for the last 17 years, and established himself in Hollywood as one of the main Film Consultants and Arab Actors, to work with. He has worked on and consulted several big Hollywood budget productions and has been named as the Hollywood Bedouin. He talked about how we can change Arab stereotype in the media & Hollywood. He assured the audience that “Once you reach out to people, they will reach out to you!” as well as he teaching them how to change the distorted image of the Arab World in the West through “Educate. Joke. Reach.”
Jamil Abu-Wardeh; “The infancy of the Arabic Stand Up revolution”
Jamil is the guy who put modern Arabic Stand Up comedy on TV across the Middle East. He talked about the importance of supporting Arabic comics and how "the road to success is always under construction.” He also mentioned his famous “3 B's of don't dos for stand-up comedy: don’t be blue (vulgar), don’t talk about beliefs and bolitics." (pun intended)
The power of innovation and sharing was put together to spread persistence and optimism in this TEDx Dubai Event. As Bruno Giussan states, “TED is not a conference, but a platform for sharing ideas”. A lot of inspiration was spread through the stories shared as well as experiences talked about. One of the most inspiring, encouraging and motivation events ever held in Dubai, TEDx Dubai not only entertained but also motivated, influenced, and encouraged; secretly everyone in the audience dreamt of being a speaker on TEDx Dubai one day.
Khaleejesque would like to send a hats off salute to TEDx Dubai organizers, speakers and volunteers who all made this a memorable night.
– Heba AlSamt. Images: Antonie Robertson http://www.antonierobertson.com/
(caption)Mohamed and Rashid Parham Al Awadhi
(caption)Ernst Van Der Poll
