2012 news tedx

Challenging conventional wisdom

29 June 2012

The article at a glance

Cambridge Judge Business School played host to this year’s successful TEDxOxbridge event Around 250 participants attended the TEDxOxbridge event, which took place …

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Cambridge Judge Business School played host to this year’s successful TEDxOxbridge event

Around 250 participants attended the TEDxOxbridge event, which took place at Cambridge Judge Business School on Saturday 9 June 2012.

The event, which is organised in collaboration with Cambridge Judge Business School and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, was based on the theme ‘Unconventional Wisdom’. It urged participants to challenge conventional wisdom, question social contractions and stimulate a more disruptive approach to technology innovation and social enterprise. It also offered the opportunity to network with like-minded people from Oxford, Cambridge and beyond.

The line up of speakers included some particularly inspirational figures, such as John Bird, co-founder of The Big Issue, and one of the UK’s most successful social entrepreneurs, Geeta Dharmarajan, who has worked tirelessly to help educate illiterate and impoverished children in India, which has resulted in her being awarded the Padma Shri – India’s fourth highest civilian award.

Pamela Hartigan, Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford, which supported the event, commented:

TEDxOxbridge embraces a new way of viewing the world – disrupting current systems, flipping businesses on its head and questioning the norm. This is an ideal platform to expand your imagination on what the future can look like and how you can be part of leading us there.”

Joana Mobed, Executive Officer of the Cambridge Union, said:

My TEDx experience has been the highlight of my Cambridge experience so far, as it has taught me to think laterally and pragmatically about the social problems faced by our world today. It has also renewed my faith in our ability to provide concrete solutions to problems like social inequality, and has shaped my vision of what I will do with my future. Thank you TEDxOxbridge for an eye-opening experience.”

TED is a non-profit organisation devoted to finding ideas worth spreading and supporting these world-changing proposals with multiple initiatives. TEDx is a programme of local self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Previous TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

© Photograph copyright by Mihir Panchal