Dickson College is once again hosting a Robotics Conference on Thursday Nov 17 from 2:00pm until 4:00pm. This will be an opportunity for educators, professions and community members to come together to share ideas about robotics programs in schools. Last year we had about 50 attendees from schools, universities, industry and government.  There will be talks, demonstrations, overviews of various robotics equipment, competition descriptions, and time to chat with people who have been there before.

If you are working with robots in your school, would like to incorporate robotics into your teaching, or are interested in  to see what schools and universities are currently doing in this field, please attend.  It is free and there will be coffee, tea, munchies and some cool robots to see. Please reply to this email if you plan to attend, so I can get an idea of numbers.

If you’re interested in being a part of this event, please contact Andrew Moss.

We couldn’t have done it, of course, without the amazing support from all our partners. We hope they get involved again next year.

We’ll have the video available as soon as we can. It’s already in post-production. In the meantime, there are already a bunch of photos available from our Music and Pictures guy, Gavin Tapp and the rest of the official photos will be available soon.

We’ve also sent out the audience feedback survey to you all. Please fill it in, as it’ll help us make TEDxCanberra 2012 better than ever. And, if you want to give us more detail about how you felt the day went, please comment here or write your feelings down at your own places online and let us know about them. We promise to link to them.

There are already a few pieces out there:

• Jen Frahm’s 28 TEDxCanberra take-aways
• presenter, Matt Noffs’ odd experience just before presenting
• volunteer, Gavin Tapp’s thoughts on being part of the team again in 2011
• 666 ABC Canberra’s thoughts from Melanie Tait and Jim Trail
• presenter, Nick Ritar, interviewed on 666 ABC Canberra
• The Canberra Times’ coverage, with perhaps the oddest headline ever (never trust a sub-editor, apparently)
• Craig Thomler’s live blog, which also captures a significant part of the #tedxcanberra tweet stream
• Emma Magenta discusses TEDxCanberra the day before the show on 666 ABC Canberra
• Andrey Sidorov’s photos on Google+, including some pretty fancy capoeira footwork from Simon Le and Emma Magenta
• volunteer, Tom Worthington’s thoughts the day before
• a few words from our friend, Jason Schoolmeester, licensee of TEDxDarwin
• CJ Mules lets us know it’s “for science”

For now, we have some tidy-up work to do to finish off with 2011, then we take a bit of a rest before heading into organising TEDxCanberra 2012. If at any time, you think you have an idea for a presenter we might like to look at, or you want to offer a pair of hands for the volunteer crew, please do!

Thanks for being a part of the TEDxCanberra family!

So, to apply to present your 3-minute talk at TEDxCanberra 2011 send your pitch (max 250 words or 1 minute video) to hello@tedxcanberra.org by 5pm Wednesday 7 September. Shortlisted entries will be contacted by Friday 9 September and requested to attend auditions (in person or via Skype if you’re not based in Canberra) the following week.

If you’re in need of a bit of inspiration, check out Kerrie Noonan’s audience talk from TEDxSydney 2011.

JR — The 2011 TED Prize Winner

I love graffiti art, so I couldn’t go past this art talk. JR is the 2011 TED Prize Winner and a graffiti artist and photographer. He creates pervasive art that aims to raise questions. One of my favourite projects from his ‘collection’ include Face 2 Face, which aims to explore and contribute to a better understanding between Palestinians and Israelis. The project made portraits of Palestinians and Israelis doing the same job and posted them face to face in large formats, thus questioning what makes us different.
His TED wish is to create a “large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work”. Find out more at insideoutproject.net.

Carlo Ratti: Architecture that senses and responds

This is a fascinating talk that looks at the creation of environments powered by simple gestures caught through sensors. It’s a futuristic talk, exploring concepts that cross between the fields of art, architecture, science and technology.

I know we’re meant to cover only two talks in this post, but one of my all-time favourite TED talks is James Randi’s fiery takedown of psychic fraud, also mentioned by my team member Lauren Cochrane in her meet the team post. It’s a great entertaining talk looking at irrational beliefs.

Hans Rosling: Global Population Growth

I want to talk about my most favourite speaker, Hans Rosling. Hans Rosling can take a great deal of statistical data and use it to tell an impactful story about the developing and industrial world. His July 2010 talk regarding the world’s population growth to 9 billion people over the next 50 years and  raising the living standards of the poorest countries makes you stop to think about the future. I would encourage everybody to go and watch any of Hans Rosling’s talks.

Paul Nicklen: Tales of ice-bound wonderlands

Paul Nicklen is a nature photographer and produces stories for magazines such as the National Geographic.  He uses his photography to generate global awareness about wildlife in isolated and endangered environments and the impact we are causing to our world. In this talk Paul speaks about his underwater experience with a leopard seal who tried to feed him penguins.

Creating TEDxCanberra is something I’m particularly proud of, mostly because of the fantastic group of people I get to work with and the friends I’ve been able to make.

I’ve watched TED Talks online since they first appeared five years ago (this week is the anniversary, actually). I’d watch a handful each week, using them as a way to inspire and shift the way I think.

What’s your favorite TEDTalk ever?

One of the very first TEDTalks I saw online was Ben Dunlap’s A Passionate Life. It’s remained, unquestionably, my favorite TEDTalk ever since. As best I can, I continue to try to live the sort of life Ben describes.

And what TEDTalk has come out since TEDxCanberra 2010 that excites you?

Since last year’s TEDxCanberra, I’ve seen talks that made me smile and laugh, that irritated me and that made me angry. But only one talk made me cry. And every time I watch it, I have the same reaction; thankfully they’re tears of empathy.

I was at TEDActive in Palm Springs when musician and composer, Eric Whitacre, spoke about a 2000-strong virtual choir. The joy on his face, and of those participating through their YouTube video contributions is incredibly special. Beyond that, this, more than anything, proves the naysayers with respect to the human value of social networks are utterly, completely and irretrievably wrong.

Beyond that, I have no musical talent whatsoever; to see all these talented people come together for something special is to see where the talent I missed got handed out.

It’s worth visiting the Virtual Choir site to see the fininshed result. I guarantee you’ll be moved.

Rachel Botsman: The case for collaborative consumption

Perhaps its just the strong Australian dollar, but it seems that its now easier to buy new things than it is to find a place for them in your home. Before I buy something, I now often ask myself some additional questions beyond just “do I need it”, and “can I afford it” — I now ask “have I got room to store it?” and “how often will I use it?”. Rachel’s talk shows some of the options that we can consider that address this issue — and moves into exploration of a post-consumer society where sharing plays a greater role in our lives. The benefits go beyond money saved, and can improve our health, environment and communities.

Anthony Atala: Printing a human kidney

I think the title speaks for itself — and while this is at least a few years away, it really appeals to me as the sort of project that deserves attention. It’s sometimes said that the present is disappointing — where are our flying cars? Where are our robot butlers? And I think we can add to these questions — where are our Star Trek style sick bays? If Anthony Atala and his team can perfect this technology we’ll be a little bit closer to the future imagined for us in 50 years of science fiction.

Madeleine Albright: On being a woman and a diplomat

Before watching this TED talk, I have to admit that I knew very little about Madeleine Albright (except that she was former US Secretary of State) and my general impression of her was as a smart, but very serious politician and diplomat. So on watching this video I was pleasantly surprised by how open, funny and passionate she is. In this Q&A session she shares a number of fantastic stories that reflect her deep professional and personal commitment to helping other women.

Nancy Duarte uncovers the common structure of great communication

Nancy Duarte is an expert in presentation design, and in this talk from TEDxEast (November 2010) she certainly practices what she preaches. This talk reveals the surprisingly simple structure that the greatest communicators and persuaders have used over thousands of years and explains the essential qualities of an excellent presentation by analyzing the speeches of Martin Luther King and Steve Jobs. Worth a watch for anyone who wants to improve their ability to communicate (whether at home or at work).

This year, we’re doing a similar thing, only in keeping with our theme of Reflections. Happenings. Predictions. each team member will reflect on one of their all-time favorite TEDTalks and show a new, happening, favorite that’s been posted since TEDxCanberra 2010.

AnnMarie Thomas: Hands-on science with squishy circuits

AnnMarie Thomas demonstrates how simple homemade play dough can be used to teach kids, big and small, about electrical properties. The ability to make lessons about electronics so tangible, accessible and fun is so fascinating — I wish I had this play and learn opportunity as a child. As an adult getting in to electronics now, I can see how using these simple tools can break down the mental barriers of “scary sciencey stuff” that young girls particularly could have.

Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling

Ron Gutman explores studies that show a dependency between peoples’ smiles in photos and their success and longevity. It reminds me that I need to smile more!

And finally, one of my favourite TED talks of all time is James Randi’s fiery takedown of psychic fraud. I briefly met Mr Randi when he visited Australia last year, and was too starstruck to do anything but giggle as he performed the coin-from-behind-the-ear trick on me. Such a brilliant man who speaks out against the scam artists of the world. This fascinating talk is a funny, insightful look into irrational beliefs.

Any feedback you have to offer makes us understand how we went a little better. And gives us something to aim for in 2011.

There are already a number of blog posts discussing the day, maybe you can draw some inspiration from them:

• Katie Bunker at Strawberries of Integrity
• Jennifer Frahm talks about Conversations of Change
• Suzanne Kiraly at Aussie Writers has a five-part series (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) on TEDxCanberra! Wow…
• Nathanael Boehm discusses his afterthoughts from a crew perspective
• Tracey Benson at MediaKult tells us herexperience and a few days later, what she’s doing now
• Gavin Tapp gives his inside view
• Michael Carden suggests this is just Part 1 of his perspective
• Clare McKenzie suggests TEDx is about “ideas worth sharing”
• Luke Hopkins says he was privileged to come (we think it’s a privilege for us you all came)
• Ryan Tracey has a go at 1-liners for each talk
• Chee Ching writes about what it was like to be a volunteer and what she learned at TEDxCanberra
• Robert van Aalst at Canberra Causerie takes a detailed look at the day
• our very own Clare Irwin tells us her thoughts
• The Rational Capital Podcast talked about us (starts at 22:35 in)
• words about a dream from our host, Stephen Collins
• something special in the recollections of the day from presenter Simon Taylor

Thanks!

Steve and the TEDxCanberra crew