UBC ‘Terry Talks’ conference
p2pnet news view | P2P:- The TED conference, “which invites leading thinkers to deliver mind-blowing lectures about technology and society, has inspired an academic copycat,” says Wired Campus.
Canada’s University of British of Columbia is the venue, but there’s a difference, and a major one.
The Terry Talks conference, as it’ll be called, will feature college students, rather than luminaries, as the speakers, and as the web site puts it, “Imagine UBC’s most fascinating and engaging students coming together for a day, giving ‘the talk of their lives,’ sharing their ideas and discussing their visions for UBC and the world. Now imagine being there, with students, alumni, faculty, administration, and members of the general public watching this unfold and partaking in the various discussions, and think of all the possibilities that this idea-share holds.”
Idea-share. Good one. 
Terry Talks will be held on November 22 as the first of an annual event where students are given a high profile platform to communicate their passions and desires to an audience of their UBC peers, says web page, going on »»»
It essentially borrows a template from a well-established conference known as the TED conference, and modifies it for delivery within the UBC setting. Here, the general intent is to bring together the University’s “most fascinating (student) thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.” Under this context, a single day conference would accommodate 8 nominated student speakers from a wide range of interests and backgrounds. The talks will be held at the Life Science Institute, where one can engage as many as 350 audience members. The talks will also be video archived for online presentation.
This would provide stimulating content, relevant to a variety of globally relevant issues, and would ultimately foster collaborative efforts and idea sharing amongst the conference attendees. In all, this will strengthen the existing networks responsible for student led initiatives, and in doing so act as a significant catalyst in creating a stronger socially responsible student community.
Like the TED conference, there is also the aim to provide the opportunity of “making a wish” with a few of the selected speakers. These wishes will be made under the pretense that audience members are, in principle, committed to helping out with one of these wishes in some way, whether it be due to expertise, contacts, spreading the word, etc.
As well, work is currently under way to also allow for booths and mingling opportunities outside of the actual speaking engagements. These opportunities will be held in an adjacent space – the West Atrium of the Life Science Institute.
If you’re a UBC student and you’d like to get into this, click here.
Wired Campus -U. of British Columbia Starts Its Own Version of TED Conference, September 2, 2008
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