By Douglas Kruger
JERSEY, you beauty! You did it. You put on a world-class event for TEDx.
And though she was quick to demure and share the credit with her team, organiser Ope Olaleye should receive some sort of award for service to the Island.
Why? Because this thing is big. Bigger than the packed auditorium at CineWorld. TEDx goes global.
It’s no small achievement, pulling together an event that represents our island. TEDx videos are viewed on every continent, and remain on the internet forever. It all begins with a strict vetting process, then goes on to become a sort of eternal digital ambassador for our brand. Our ideas seen everywhere. And Ope knocked it out of the park. Not a hitch, glitch, or momentary mishap.
The event itself was patronised by the most wonderful cast of characters. In addition to Jersey-born speakers, we had representation from France, England, Zimbabwe, South Africa and more. Attendees rounded out the global tour, adding Portugal, Romania, India, Sri Lanka, Ghana and the Philippines to the list. And as happens with events of this nature, everyone became fast pals. There is nothing like being one of a group of speakers facing the nerves and excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime event. It’s electrifying.
Personally I couldn’t get enough of the brilliantly brassy humour of Trudi Roscouet. The Irish would call her a “character”, their highest compliment. And Chenayi Mutambasere introduced the most brilliant metaphor for AI. The award for natural grace must surely go to Carolyn Rose Ramsay, artistic director at Ballet d’Jèrri, and we heard deeply inspiring messages from Jo Ferbrache and Taiba Bajar.
And the range of topics was fascinating. Ope selected and arranged the speakers with a degree of genius, ensuring that one topic overlapped and flowed beautifully into the next.
The continuity was masterful.
Every presentation was intelligent and entertaining, and I wish I had space to compliment each speaker one by one. I invite you to enjoy their moments of brilliance once it all goes live on YouTube.
But two topics resonated with my way of thinking. I’d like to single them out for special mention. Honestly, I wish I could get the entire island to watch them.
The first was by Emily Jennings, Jersey’s Play Champion and Childhood Advocate. She drew on a wonderful combination of research and real stories to argue a counterintuitive but terrifically important point: children need risk.
You read that correctly. The research shows we’re overly coddling them. They need the freedom to range, to climb, to fall, and to test their own limits, and in many ways, we inadvertently prevent that. Are we making childhood so safe that we are in danger of impairing the development of the next generation?
She detailed and distilled the research, and it’s fascinating.
It reminded me of the book Antifragile, in which Nassim Taleb argues for the idea that we should not be growing “fragile” adults, but rather, teaching our kids to become “stronger through struggle”, so that they ultimately grow to be “antifragile”. I believe in that to the core of my being. My own parenting philosophy is similar: You are not raising a child – you are raising an adult. The goal is to make them capable, independent, resilient.
Every time I watch a frightened parent telling a four-year-old not to climb a small rock, I wish I could direct them to Emily’s work. I loved Emily’s presentation. I hope every parent in Jersey watches and discusses it.
Incidentally, she also did brilliant work on the new play area on the Parade. You should hear how much thought went into it.
The second one was the presentation by David Warr, our Cooper & Co empresario and current Deputy for St Helier South.
David spoke on the importance of becoming more agile in our use of island resources. Too much red tape, too little being done with old properties. And exactly what to do about it.
David proposed we become more accepting of “meanwhile” solutions, temporary structures and transitional usage, rather than simply allowing properties to sit vacant for decades at a time while committees dither and flounder. I loved his speech so much I wanted to marry it. I sat there mouthing “Exactly!” from start to finish.
My own talk was on how to reduce rules for increased innovation and productivity, so David’s theme was very, very close to my heart. I encourage you to watch him when it goes live. I particularly liked his timelapse videos of abandoned buildings in Jersey, sitting dormant as the skies change and the seasons go by. A poignant way of highlighting a silly problem, easily solved with a little courage. David appears to have practical solutions, and I think he deserves our ear.
All told, a roaring success. Well done to my fellow speakers. Well done to the sponsors for seeing the potential, especially the main sponsor: Evelyn Partners Channel Islands. Well done to Ope for enduring more stress than most people will ever appreciate. Well done to the tech team for a flawless event. Special mention to the MC, Gamu Mbetu, who rocked the crowd. And thank you to everyone who shared posts about it over and over on social media. Well done Jersey, for putting on one heck of a show! Ten points and top marks.
Now, folks, the clicks matter. To truly put Jersey on the map, please make a point of watching the videos when they come out. Like them, share them, comment on them. It all helps.
And next year is a go! Ope will soon begin the process of scouting for new speakers, partners and organisers. And above all, bold new ideas.
Douglas Kruger is a speaker and author who lives in St Helier. Meet him at douglaskruger.com.
