Theme: Expanding Horizons

TEDxYYC is back! While the past six years have been absolutely stellar, our seventh may just be the best one yet. As Calgary’s largest and most well-attended independently-organized TED event, we are geared up to bring the very best to our stage.

Over the last six years, TEDxYYC has welcomed an impressive list of the world’s brightest minds, representing all that is new, and inspiring in the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design. TEDxYYC 2016 will continue to build that legacy in a big way.

We believe sharing ideas about our future is absolutely essential to building a stronger community; and what better way to do that than by attending one of the most exciting, most talked about events in the city.
TEDxYYC is a catalyst for positive change, and we want you to be a part of the movement. Join us on June 24, 2016 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall for an afternoon of inspiration, intrigue, and innovation.

205 8th Avenue SE
Calgary, Alberta
Canada

Delhi 2 Dublin

Delhi 2 Dublin is one of Canada’s most buzzed-about bands. Featuring a mashup of electronic and acoustic, of East and West, Delhi 2 Dublin has been described as the “United Nations of rock ‘n’ roll”. D2D has mesmerized crowds at many of the top festivals across North America as well as live performances in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. We’re All Desi is the latest studio album from D2D, inspired by their favourite Bollywood records of the ‘70s and their love of bass music.

Rocket House Productions

Rocket House Productions created the world’s first Parkour-inspired play, MindFire, featuring a compelling story about mental health. In partnership with the Autism Asperger’s Friendship Society, Alzheimer Society of Calgary, Breathe Parkour and Calgary 2012, Rocket House navigates through a dynamic story about an old man searching through his fragmented memories for his long lost wife and a young girl whose reality is populated by superheroes of her imagination. Reality and fantasy mix through harrowing stunts in Parkour and Freerunning.

Chad Park

Chad Park is Chief Innovation Officer of The Natural Step Canada and director of the Energy Futures Lab. The Alberta-based Energy Futures Lab is a multi-interest collaboration, bringing leaders together to identify, test, and scale initiatives that tackle climate change, energy security, and sustainable development. Chad has advised dozens of businesses and communities in Canada and internationally, including the Co-operators, Nike, Rio Tinto Alcan, and the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. In 2012, he received the Clean 50 award, recognizing fifty individuals in Canada who have advanced the cause of sustainability and clean capitalism.

Julia Hardy

Julie Hardy is a technology and gaming expert based in London, UK and hosts a new radio show on video game culture on BBC Radio 1. Specializing in technology, video games, YouTube and pretty much anything to do with the online self, Julia’s work has been featured by BBC TV, Bravo and BAFTA. Julia takes a passionate stance on online issues and created a blog called “Misogyny Monday” as a platform to raise awareness of the abuse that many women encounter online.

Keith Johnstone

Keith Johnstone is the creator of Theatresports™ and several performing arts groups internationally, including Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre. Keith’s innovative ideas about improvisation, behaviour and performance present thought-provoking lessons applicable to artists, researchers, product makers and business people alike. Keith started his career in the dramatic arts as a reader of plays at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1956. He rose to become an associate director, cited as the theatre’s “most experimental absurd playwright.” He founded London's The Theatre Machine, and later co-founded Calgary’s Loose Moose Theatre Company, where he served as artistic director for two decades. In 1998, he founded The International Theatresports Institute. Keith is also a best-selling author, playwright and educator. He has held teaching posts at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, the Stattensteatre Skole in Copenhagen and is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary.

Michael Landry

Dr. Michael Landry is Detection Lead Scientist with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Hanford, Washington, and physicist with the California Institute of Technology (CalTech). An alumnus of the University of Calgary, Michael is acclaimed for his ground-breaking research in gravitational waves and his experimental pursuits with LIGO. Prior to 2000, Michael also completed his Ph.D. at the University of Manitoba in strange quark physics. Michael’s research into gravitational waves began in 2000 when he joined LIGO as a postdoctoral scholar with Caltech. Michael has worked on many aspects of the LIGO experiment, including interferometer commissioning, leading the installation of advanced detectors and data analyses. This collaborative work culminated in the first detection of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger, announced by LIGO in February 2016.

Nancy Lowery

Nancy Lowery helps individuals and organizations define their leadership power through horsemanship activities – one relationship at a time. In 2004, Nancy launched an alternative to classroom leadership learning through horsemanship with The Natural Leader – experiential programs which explore leadership, team dynamics, feedback and communication through purposeful activities with horses. From a young age, Nancy always knew she wanted to work with horses – and has pursued endeavours in education and the arts through blogging, sketching and compiling a series of workbooks on learning with horses.

Rameez Virji

Rameez Virji is best known for his patented invention of the world's first non-invasive vaccine delivery system for protein-based viruses, Formulation V720™. Rameez’s career in technology started at the early age of 13 years old, when he founded Big Tree World, a software and web design company. Recognized as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 in 2012, Rameez continues to drive towards his vision with his organization, Medicine for a Better Tomorrow, to make the vaccine pill accessible in third-world countries.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Sheila Watt-Cloutier is a leading voice in the global discussion on environmental sustainability and cultural preservation. For decades she has defended Inuit human rights against the impact of climate change in the Arctic. Sheila has also served as an elected political spokesperson, focusing on economic development and training in remote Northern communities. Sheila is widely recognized for her influential work. She has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize (2007), is the recipient of the Order of Canada (2006), as her outstanding contribution commemorated in a Canadian Stamp (2012). Sheila sums up her life's work: “I do nothing more than remind the world that the Arctic is not a barren land devoid of life, but a rich and majestic land that has supported our resilient culture for millennia. Even though small in number and living far from the corridors of power, it appears that the wisdom of the land strikes a universal chord on a planet where many are searching for sustainability.”

Stephanie Thomas

Stephanie Thomas is founder, stylist and editor-in-chief of CUR8ABLE, a disability fashion lifestyle website. With a passion for accessibility, Stephanie has followed clothing trends for people with disabilities for 24 years and works to empower people everyday with advice from her disability fashion styling system. Based in Los Angeles, with followers spanning the globe, Stephanie strives to create beautiful, powerful images that challenge and ultimately change negative perceptions of people with disabilities.

Will Gadd

Will Gadd is one of the top outdoor adventure athletes in the world, an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and dad. He has ice-climbed, paraglided, kayaked and trekked in some of the most extreme corners of the planet. A National Geographic “Adventurer of the Year”, Will has climbed icebergs in Labrador and underground ice in Sweden, was the first person to climb a frozen Niagara Falls, and recently returned from climbing the last ice on top of Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. While best known for his accomplishments as an adventure athlete, Will's is also passionate about sharing his ability to complete those adventures safely, and helping individuals see the world and themselves differently. Will has appeared in, hosted or produced more than 100 global television projects, and is well-known for his Discovery Channel documentary series Fearless Planet, where he traveled alongside regional scientists to explore the geology of the earth.