2016 - Holmiensis 4

N u d l a r , s t u d i e r & s t å l a r
es between players, and exceptionally
well executed goals. David did exactly
that – in his book Soccermatics: Mathematical
Adventures in the Beautiful
Game he explored those topics.
Petter Johansson, on the other hand,
brought audience to the level of subjectivity.
“Choice blindness” is a situation
when during a survey the researcher
swaps some of the answers
the respondents has given previuosly
to the exact opposite ones and the respondents
then accepts them as their
own initial opinions. In other words,
people are not even capable of keeping
track of their own opinions. As a
Political Science student I came to the
conclusion that my field of study is officially
doomed, thank you very much.
Last but not least presented Johan
Lundell, a speaker who went into our
minds as the one with the weirdest
glasses imaginable, like he had stolen
those oculars from a 3D-movie
screening. “I used Augmented Reality
glasses, so I didn’t have to learn the
speech by heart,” explained Johan to
me afterwards. Those glasses, much
like famous counterpart from Google,
showed the text of the speech directly
in front of his eyes, so he could
read it off comfortably. Future is truly
here, folks, future is here. His speech,
“Beyond Words” was also seeking to
pierce known reality and transcend the
words to something easily comprehensible,
not bound to culture – symbols,
notations, blueprints. “Since words
limit knowledge transfer, I would like
to break the shackles of words, which
blueprints, maps and music notation
have done,” he stated, “notations have
always revolutionized knowledge
transfer and will continue to do so!”
The selection of speakers was not a walk
in the park either. “First we choose from
the nominations whom we would contact,”
clarified Isabelle Söder, Speaker
Coordinator. “Second, we met with
those that we were interested in. From
those that we interviewed we made
the final selection.” Moreover, the
speakers had to be guided in the most
strict sense of the word. As recalled
by Harmen Koning, also a Speaker
Coordinator: “The biggest “challenge”
was to keep all the speakers to their
deadlines. Each speaker has their own
working ethics, motivation and communication
style, to spur them on and
motivate them all in their own way
was a very challenging but fun task!”
Despite the need for strict
management, coordinators and speakers
formed a great synergy, clearly visible
to the audience. Harmen recalled
one example of the existing chemistry
between parties, “All speakers proposed
to meet at some coffeehouse for
fika, but when we approached Birgitta
Jonsson she immediately invited us
into her house. When we arrived at her
beautiful apartment in central Stockholm
we spent the first 15 minutes
on the balcony enjoying the view over
Riddarfjärden. She had prepared many
great snacks and a fridge full of craft
beers. We had a great talk and ended
up drinking some of her favorite gin.
Birgitta is definitely one of the most
surprising and warmest persons that I
have met during my time in Sweden!”
There were many instances of great satisfaction
that kept volunteers motivated.
“Seeing the audience happy at the
day of the event! Talking to the guests
and getting to hear about how much
they enjoyed the event and meeting
new people. That’s why I did it in the
first place, for the community!” said
Giulia Tuveri, Sponsor and Partnership
Coordinator. “I was so happy to
see our speakers on stage talking
about their passions,” recalled
Isabelle Söder, Speaker
Coordinator. Andrea
Kilin, Marketing, Content and Communications
Coordinator, answered: “I
have to say that it was the dedication
of my fellow TEDx organizers: when
I see others have the same enthusiasm
as myself, it gives me a lot of energy
and keeps the enthusiasm level up!”
TEDXUppsalaUniversity plans to
grow further and indeed, the event has
a rich soil to thrive upon. When asked
about future plans, Main Coordinator
Corrie Hammar mentioned: “There
will be TEDxUppsalaUniversity next
year too. The only thing I can promise
is that it won’t be a repeat of this
year’s event. Now we know how to
do this kind of awesome so next time
we’d like to try to do a different kind of
awesome.” Nevertheless, TEDxUppsalaUniversity
is looking for new members
to join their team – fresh blood
is always welcome, especially since the
event is most likely to grow bigger.
“The best way to join us is to send us an
e-mail (just e-mail us on the addresses
you find on www.TEDxUppsalaUniversity.com,
any team member will
do) and tell us about your special skills,
how many hours a week you would be
available and how much responsibility
you’d like”, said Corrie, yet reminded
any future applicants that “enthusiasm
and ability to learn are two underestimated
skills!” I fully agree
while making a mental note
to write an application.
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