TEDxBKK 2010
Following is a speaker list for our 2010 event. The theme for our talks is Minds Wide Open.
Apirak Kosayodhin
Apirak Kosayodhin was a two-time Bangkok governor, and now serving as an advisor to The Prime Minister of Thailand. Prior to entering politics, he was a successful businessman leading multinational companies competing in SE Asia. He is working on The National Economic and Social Development Plan and is a main drive force behind Creative Economy and Social Enterprise in Thailand. Currently, he is the Chairman and Founder of Asian Knowledge Institute. His talk will cover the vision for Asia's future.
Brooke Estin
In addition to her work at Kiva.org, Brooke works with several international organizations to support various non-profits, corporations, governments, entrepreneurs, educators, international development organizations and philanthropists to develop sustainable solutions for our most pressing challenges. She currently manages a variety of projects for Kiva as well as the Bangkok based social innovation consultation provider, Change Fusion, where she is focused on using social innovation design and investment services to catalyze sustainable innovations that help solve social and/or environmental issues. When she is not behind her laptop or in the field, Brooke can be found behind her easel painting.
Bruce Poon Tip
Canadian Bruce Poon Tip is the CEO of Gap Adventures, a massively successful travel company he started in 1990 with little more than his own personal credit cards. Today Gap Adventures is the world’s largest travel adventure company, consistently recognized for its leadership and outstanding business practices and ranks among Canada’s Top 100 Employers and 50 Best Managed Companies. As for Bruce, besides receiving an award for being one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40, he was named Canada's Entrepreneur of the Year and honored as one of the country’s 100 Leaders of Tomorrow.
Chris Mitchell
Chris Mitchell is a British travel writer based in Bangkok, Thailand. He is a Field Editor for Scuba Diver AustralAsia magazine as well as a regular contributor to Asian Diver, EZ Dive and Sport Diver USA magazines. He has been diving for 10 years and lived in Thailand for the last five, thanks to his passion for exploring Thailand's oceans. Chris edits the scuba blog Divehappy.com and travel blog Travelhappy.info Recently his interests have included the Great White Shark.
Chris Smith
Shamblesguru has been in Second Life for over two years, in that time he's built a three SIM Estate named "International Schools Island", facilitated many teacher professional development events, been an organiser of a virtual college fair and is indexing (for educators) Second Life in Second Life itself. He has been fortunate to be part of a community of educators that are reliving the pioneer spirit in the 'new world'. Virtual Worlds will be a valuable part of future teaching and learning environments ... it used to be a 'gut' feeling ... but now it is a quantifiable one.
Colin Gallagher
Colin Gallagher has worked in the educational technology field since 2003 and is currently a Technology Instructor in an independent school in Hong Kong. Obsessed to the point of distraction with making education as relevant and as authentic to students as he possibly can, Colin strives to incorporate technology in to school as ubiquitously and as seamlessly as possible. It was with this train of thought he introduced iPod Touches to the current Kindergarten year in his school believing it to be the right tool for the right job at the right time.
Daniela Ruby Papi
Daniela is the director of PEPY, an educational development organization working in rural Cambodia. PEPY focuses on building the capacity of teachers and communities to increase access to quality education. PEPY is funded in part through PEPY Tours, and edu-venture tour company offering cycling trips and service learning experiences in SE Asia. PEPY's tagline highlights the dual mission of the organization: "Adventurous Living. Responsible Giving." Daniela is from New York, but has lived and worked in Asia for the past 8 years. She is based in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
James With
You might have already seen James With’s face. He’s appeared in films like “Bangkok Dangerous,” “Rambo” and “Independence Day.” Sure, that’s cool and all, but it’s James’ groundbreaking work behind the cameras that has the world’s film industry taking notice. More specifically, 3D filming. Currently, James is now working on producing the world's first 3D hip hop music video.
Julie Lavoie
Julie Lavoie is a French-Canadian artist and DJ living in Bangkok, Thailand. She is interested in the secret life of cities, and photographs them to expose their stories. You can find her blog at goeastyoungwoman.wordpress.com and photography at www.flickr.com/photos/irememberthem.
Prae Sunantaraks
Prae Sunantaraks was born nearly 3-month premature with Retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a combination of inherited retina disorders resulted in progressive peripheral vision loss and night vision difficulties. At the moment, there is no cure for RP yet. Prae believes that everybody has the power to make things better and to help others. With this belief she started Little Light Project (LLP) in 2005 - an activity based program to promote volunteering among sighted people and learning among visually impaired children of the Bangkok School for the Blind.
Ronley Teper
Ronley Teper, a performance artist turned musician, has collaborated with the who's who of the Canadian independent music scene --not to mention puppets-- to produce a body of music that listeners constantly compare to Tom Waits and Mary Margaret O' Hara. Her new EP Ronley Teper's Lipliners grew out of twenty short musical monologues that were publicly workshopped during twenty improvised shows featuring a revolving door of Canada's finest musicians who together create lush cinematic musical landscapes.
Robyn Treyvaud
Robyn Treyvaud is the founder and director of CyberSafeWorld, a website that addresses the whole spectrum of online safety issues, including cyberbullying, risks, security, ethics and addiction.Her trail-blazing efforts have provided an essential resource for schools and parents to protect and educate the world’s first generation of kids to ‘grow up digital’ in an environment where computers, the Internet, video games and mobile phones are ubiquitous. In addition to her work as director of CyberSafeWorld, Robyn is a senior ICT consultant at Australia’s Center for Strategic Education.
Zoltan Radnai
Zoltan Radnai is the Community Manager of Prezi, an incredibly cool flash-based presentation system that allows users to create ‘living presentations’. A former freelance writer, blogger and online journalism lecturer, Zoltan manages the Prezi community, builds interaction channels and communicates with users in every possible way.
Special Presentation
In December 2009, the organizing committee held an open call for talks from Ruamrudee high school students - granting the student selected a full 18 minute spot on our schedule.
TEDxBKK is proud to present Akansha Shah, as our 2010 selection from Ruamrudee International School's award winning high school section.
Akansha Shah
Akansha Shah is an 11th grade high school student studying at Ruamrudee International School in Bangkok – she is currently a junior and interested in biology of the human brain. In the future, Aki wants to acquire the skills needed for excellence in whatever field she decides to pursue. Aki believes that striving for excellence, rather than success, will lead to both happiness and success, and she wants to introduce her idea that the only way to brilliance is blending both emotional intelligence and academics in one's life.
2010 Host
We are proud to present our Host for the event:
Greg Jorgensen
Greg came to Thailand on a short trip in 2001 and somehow forgot to leave. Despite dual Canadian/Australian citizenship, he prefers staying close to the chaotic majesty of Bangkok's hidden corners and unique individuals. Past jobs include stand-up comedian, corporate trainer, film biz peon, teacher, voice-over actor, tour guide and Bodyguard #3 in an action movie you've never seen. He blogs about life in Bangkok at GregToDiffer.com
Venue Information
TEDxBKK 2010 was hold on February 13, 2010 at Ruamrudee International School's Performance Art Center.
About RIS
RIS is one of Thailand’s oldest and most experienced international schools. Our curriculum, while based on the American system is constantly appraised to stay truly global. The list of over 300 universities around the world that our graduating seniors are offered positions at is very impressive, including Harvard, Yale and Oxford!
RIS moved to its current 26-acre campus in 1992, located in a clean-air suburban area 25 kilometers from downtown Bangkok, and only 15 minutes from Suvarnabhumi International Airport.
RIS is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), USA, Thai Education Ministry and Association of Indian Universities. RIS is also a member of the East Asian Regional Council of Overseas Schools (EARCOS) and the Council of International School (CIS). It is certified to award both the traditional US high school and International Baccalaureate diplomas.
6 Ramkhamhaeng 184 Minburi, Bangkok 10510 Tel: 02 518 0320 Fax: 02 518 0334
2010 Partner
Our Sponsors
The organizers of TEDxBKK wish to thank our sponsors, in particular Ruamrudee International School, for making Thailand's first TEDx event possible. This event also couldn't have happened without the hard work and great ideas of our organizing committee. Please visit our website, www.tedxbkk.com for more information and updates on future events. And you can see more great TED talks at www.ted.com