Ideas team hopes to ‘trigger change’
ORGANISERS of the town’s TEDx event hope their inspiring speakers can ‘trigger change’ in Macclesfield.
Talks from local business owners, scientists and activists were among those given at Townley Street Chapel on Saturday, May 5.
It was the second local edition of the global ideas conference.
TED is an international non-profit organisation devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ and the organisers hope that’s exactly what will happen.
Co-organiser Lynne Jones said: “Once again the people of Macclesfield came together to deliver a fantastic event and I hope that the connections made and conversations started will trigger change in our town.”
There were a total of seven talks, including one from Paul Robinshaw, owner of the new Flour Water Salt bakery on Market Place.
Organisers said he had much of the audience clutching tissues as he shared his journey of setting up an authentic bakery at the heart of a community and how that community has responded.
Also on the bill, Rachael Ainsworth, a Research Associate at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, argued passionately about how tying career advancement to publishing of data is damaging both science and scientists and urged for a collaborative transparent approach.
And youth activist Esther Bird revealed the snowball effect that has taken her from schoolgirl to ecoactivist in the space of a year and how she believes standing up for your beliefs will encourage others.
Organised entirely by volunteers, the event also included two musical performances and a chance for a discussion with the speakers after their talks. Though it was a sell out, a further 100 seats were made available at a special Webcast Lounge at Macclesfield Library and all talks will be made available online through the TEDx YouTube channel in June.
Co-organiser Jude D’Souza said last year’s success had set a “pretty daunting benchmark” for this year.
She added: “Thankfully, we found another wonderfully diverse group of individuals with intriguing but accessible stories and lessons. Our hope is that their talks were not merely interesting but also empowered our audience to consider how they too can make a difference, whether in their careers, their community or the wider world.”