TEDxLUSAKA 2020 | PRESS RELEASE
For the past few years the TEDxLusaka team has looked forward to one day in the year where we see our wonderful speakers take to the red circle and deliver remarkable talks about their ideas that are worth spreading. It has always been a captivating day of shared ideas, making new friends, finding new voices and encountering overwhelming community support for an event organised by volunteers and sponsored by corporations and individuals who value this platform of engagement. This year, because of the COVID19 crisis, TEDxLusaka is going virtual. Debating whether we could safely and effectively host our speakers and community, we initially postponed the event; but our TEDxLusaka team had numerous discussions online via Zoom and Whatsapp to ensure that the next and first virtual TEDxLusaka event met the standards that we have always held. This means that you are guaranteed great speakers, compelling ideas and an opportunity to engage with like-minded people who want to listen to and discuss solutions that will take our communities and country forward. “The show must go on. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the TEDxLusaka team and their sponsors are committed to ideas, concepts and stories coming from some of Zambia’s makers and doers. TED is about forward thinking, technology and sharing, taking this event to a virtual platform will allow more people to take part and engage with our community. We are super excited! ” – Sandra Kasaby , TEDxLusaka co-lead organiser Our event will be held on Saturday 26th September 2020 from 14 to 17hrs CAT. For the first time ever, our community has a chance to be part of unique online experiences including break-out and Q&A sessions with speakers. This year’s online experience also enables people located in other countries to join in on the discussions and thoughts that have the potential to change Zambia. Our seven speakers have been selected and we will be introducing them in the coming days, as they finalise their presentations. Please keep an eye out for behind-the-scenes sneak peeks. The live-stream will be held via Hopin, an engaging virtual event platform, you can download the App or browser; details on this to follow. Once again, we would like to thank our sponsors — GIZ eSkills for Girls programme and ABSA Bank Zambia — for partnering with us to make this an amazing event. We would also like to thank our strategic partner BongoHive Innovation Hub for the wide range of support they offer to TEDxLusaka every year. “One of our main goals is to shape a future worth living around the world. We are therefore particularly delighted to join TEDxLusaka on the journey to bringing the virtual event this year! Together with our partner organization, the Alliance for Community Action, we are currently working on the #SpeakUpGirls project, which gives young women and girls a voice through the use of digital media. As such, it is a wonderful experience to be able leverage on our synergies with TEDxLusaka by providing participants in this project with an opportunity to access additional digital trainings by the wonderful TEDx Organizing Team, mentorship from inspiring alumni and current speakers, and extra digital platforms to give their work visibility. And on top of that, ten of the ladies will be directly contributing to the event as digital volunteers!” – The Civil Society Participation Programme implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) About TEDxLusaka TEDxLusaka conference is registered as a non-profit organization and is held under license from TED as an independently organised event. TEDxLusaka’s Vision: There are many people in Zambia walking around with inspirational ways of thinking, doing business and living life. We believe in the power of these ideas to shape creativity and ingenuity. Through such sharing we hope to make a difference in building the future Zambian society. About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. Media enquiries : mali@tedxlusaka.com