Speakers announced as TEDx Warrington attracts business and community support

TEDx is making its debut in Warrington next week, on 23 June at Warrington’s Pyramid Parr Hall with an impressive line-up of speakers.

As organisers enter the final stages of event preparation and speaker rehearsals, excitement has been building in the region and particularly in the local business community which has rallied to support this non-commercial event.

When tickets for the inaugural event were released mid-May, they sold out in 39 minutes; the surge in demand resulted in a momentary website crash causing the team at Beech Web Services to invoke their backup plan and switch server. The sell-out resulted in the rapid release of further tickets that day and a waitlist system was put in place to give those signed up advance notice of further tickets and future events.

You’d be forgiven for viewing the ticket rush as being akin to the hype of a large festival. The enthusiasm for the arrival of the TEDx brand into Warrington has certainly been significant and just days later led to reports of fake ticket sales* which the organisers swiftly dealt with.

TEDxWarrington licensee and Organiser, Kirsty James, commented: “We’ve been astounded by how the event has been received in the town and the unprecedented demand for tickets. We’d love to have said yes to everyone but, alas, the conditions of this town-based TEDx licence restrict attendee numbers at the live event”.

For the lucky 100 who have tickets, the programme seems set to entertain, educate and inspire based on the profiles and commentary being written by Lucy Jackman of Comma Sense Ltd on the official TEDxWarrington website and by Becs Bate of Social Media Executive on the social channels. With talks on topics as diverse as mental health, conservation, neurodiversity, wheelchair skills, music and comedy, the evening promises an enriched programme dedicated to its theme ‘Build Connection and Strengthen Communities’.

It was of paramount importance to the organising team that the speaker application process be open, impartial and fair to facilitate access by ordinary people with great ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’.

The Warrington event, unlike some TEDx events, also offered speaker candidates a dedicated support and coaching programme. Organisers purposefuly engaged the services of TEDx speaker coach and former TEDx speaker, Catherine Sandland, to lead the programme. Speakers have also had the ongoing support of core team member James Perryman, trainer at Momentus and vice president of the NW Professional Speaking Association, and Andrew Thorp, three-time TEDx speaker and storytelling coach who will also be the event host.

The final programme will be released just before the event runs live but speaker profiles now feature on the website. Speakers have revealed how hard it was to keep the secret of their selection in March but have commended the organising team on the unbelievable support during an emotional and life-changing experience. An accolade indeed for all involved.

All talks will be filmed by Paul Chadwick of local video production business Prism Studios. Talks will be submitted to TED for approval for eventual display on the official TEDx YouTube Channel.

An event of this magnitude cannot of course occur without significant support. Along with the core organising team and external support team, who have worked tirelessly and voluntarily on this event, there is an exhaustive list of event partners and sponsors, all of whom are active in the Warrington region.

From the infamous red spot carpet donated by Smart Furnishings through to the set design by The Odd Thing; the hosting of the planned reception event at San Lorenzo to the photography by Andrew Collier at Just Headshots and Jane Burkinshaw of Love your Lens; the event truly speaks volumes about collaboration, planning and organisation by organiser Kirsty, supported operationally by Gill Fletcher of Advanced VA.

Thanks must also be extended to sponsoring parties for sharing the TEDx passion and values and financially supporting this event. This extensive list so far includes: MKM Building Supplies, Rebecca Wray Coaching Consultancy, AND Digital, Joanna Williams Psychology & Wellbeing, Warrington & Co, EML, Show the Light, Adele Carr Recruitment, DATS and Warrington Worldwide as the official media partner.

For further information about the TEDxWarrington, the team, the speakers, event partners and sponsors visit www.tedxwarrington.com or email [email protected]