TEDx returns to Jerusalem

Sold-out event brings leaders in multiple disciplines to the capital to present their ideas.

By GAVRIEL FISKE
David Broza (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
David Broza
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Next week in Jerusalem, local leaders in various fields will individually attempt to distill and explain their most crucial ideas into presentations of up to 18 minutes each, which will then be uploaded to the Internet for the world to see.
A tall order for even the most seasoned presenter, but such concise speeches are the name of the game at the second TEDx Jerusalem conference, scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus campus.
The original TED conferences (TED is an acronym for technology, entertainment and design) began to gather international popularity in the 1990s. They often feature iconic and international cultural, business and political leaders, while the non-profit TEDx conferences, which are organized independently and operate under a sort of open-source agreement, focus on local issues. The TEDx Jerusalem conference is no exception.
“I am always searching for a way to bring the parts of Israeli society together,” and TEDx offers a chance of facilitate that, organizer Beto Maya tells The Jerusalem Post. Maya, who immigrated from Mexico over 20 years ago and works at the Women’s International Zionist Organization, modestly says that he is “the originator” who thought of bringing TEDx to Jerusalem, although dozens of volunteers now work on the project.
Since TEDx is independently organized, it is “the responsibility of local people to provide the content,” which gives the opportunity for locals to meet those “whom they would never meet... if it is ultra-Orthodox and secular, feminists and traditionalists, Arabs and Jews, this is the central point,” Maya says.
The organizers chose just 16 speakers out of hundreds of applicants, and, although the speakers come from all over Israel, “about half are speaking on a subject in connection to Jerusalem,” he explains. The speakers, who include movers and shakers in Israeli society such as musician David Broza and chef/TV personality Assaf Granit, were selected in part to provide a diverse and balanced program, both in terms of the speakers’ backgrounds and in their subject matter.
The first TEDx Jerusalem event was held in 2012, but now, after this second time, the organizers hope to make it an annual event, and, according to Maya, the response from the public has been tremendous. “The hall holds 880 places but it is already sold out, with a waiting list of 150,” he says. The event, which runs for a full day, costs NIS 250, and the fact that there is such a demand on a regular workday “says something about the model and the speakers,” Maya notes.
The TEDx conferences are non-profit, and the entrance fee, along with donations from several sponsor organizations, goes to covering expenses. If the organizers do create an annual event, TEDx Jerusalem will join the ranks of several other TEDx conferences that happen around the country.
Next week’s list of speakers includes, in addition to the aforementioned Broza and Granit, social activist Esty Shushan, to address haredi women representation in the Knesset; Hebrew University professor Oded Shoseyov, to speak on nanotechnology; Rabea Ziuod, a student and VP at hot start-up Voiceitt, who will speak on technology and the Arab sector; veteran journalist Henrique Cymerman, to address media in the Middle East; Ali Abu Awad, a leader in teaching nonviolent resistance tactics in the West Bank; and others with similarly interesting subjects.
Although the event is sold out, and, given the lengthy waiting list, promises to be very difficult to attend if one does not already have a ticket, true to form the entire TEDx Jerusalem conference is to be broadcast live over the Internet, and the individual presentations are to be uploaded for general viewing on YouTube. More information about TEDx Jerusalem can be found at www.tedxjerusalem.com.