Theme: Courage to Step Beyond

TEDxFolkestone is returning on June 23rd 2018 at the Quarterhouse, Folkestone, after a successful inaugural event in 2017.

The search is now on for Kent people who want to share their inspirational stories and insight as part of the 2018 event. The TEDxFolkestone conference aims to champion inspiration, innovation, collaboration and leadership across the community and Kent businesses.

The theme for the 2018 conference is ‘Courage to Step Beyond’. Potential speakers are encouraged to offer a personal interpretation of this and apply it to their own insights, experiences and stories.

With courage, people can push past the boundaries created by fear to achieve extraordinary things and discover they personally possess almost unlimited potential to achieve. With courage, we can all reach beyond our comfort zone, to develop and grow.

Ideas are needed to fuel innovation in today's fast-changing world. They can come from anywhere, and anyone. TEDxFolkestone offers an important platform to share new ideas and inspiration.

The Quarterhouse
49 Tontine St
Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1BN
United Kingdom

Ben Chai

Business Strategist and Author

Ben believes that people fail at things they hate doing. So they should take a chance and fail at something they enjoy! As a director of an IT business and a senior manager at Kodak, he focused on how to build success through a strong business mindset and an IT infrastructure that would enable business advantage and competitive edge. He now has over 30 years leadership experience and describes himself as a social technologist. Ben has taught in 70 countries, been a board member for 13 organisations, and is both a published author and an author coach.

Britt Whyatt

Blogger, Author and Consultant

Britt runs a popular and award-winning baking blog and works closely with individuals and companies helping them to create engaging online content. She specialises in mentoring for blogs relating to business. She gives talks on blogging and mental health and is a mental health advocate, having been an ambassador for Mind, Rethink and Time To Change. She has achieved a series of business awards and was UK Blog Awards Food & Drink Individual Finalist 2017. Her book Cakes, Bakes and Business: The Practical Guide To Starting Your Home Baking Enterprise was published in November 2017.

Carys Rogers

Singer-Songwriter

Carys Rogers is a 12 year old singer, song writer and Ukulele player. She enjoys writing songs about her experiences as a young girl in today’s world with themes such as friendship, not conforming with the crowd and peer pressure. As well as singing she enjoys rugby (and hopes to play for England’s Red Roses one day); sea sports, netball and riding. She’s also an avid traveller and loves cooking and eating new dishes from around the world.

Cathy Sugden

Horse Behaviour Specialist

The Horseback Heroine specialises in the unique emotional bond we form with our horses and how this leads to a whole new world of horsemanship. After a life-changing event where Cathy Sugden chased robbers on horseback thanks to her trust and understanding of her horse, Mr Smiffy, Cathy has become known as The Horseback Heroine. She now spends her time exploring that very special relationship between horses and humans, and trying to find the right path forward – one that works just as well for the horse as well as the rider.

Julie Creffield

Women's Fitness Ambassador and Blogger

Julie’s background is in project management in sport, culture and volunteering including 8 years on London 2012 inspiring people locally to get onboard. She now works to inspire women to achieve more than they ever thought possible and is founder of a global fitness brand, inspiring millions of overweight women to improve their health and happiness. She is committed to supporting anyone who wishes to overcome the "I'm not good enough" struggles that many people face and regularly speaks to entrepreneurs, corporates, government organisations, trade associations and schools & colleges.

Lucy Beresford

Writer, broadcaster, psychotherapist and documentary maker

Lucy is a writer, broadcaster, psychotherapist and documentary maker – in other words, a global storyteller. She hosts LBC Radio’s Sex & Relationships phone-in show, reviews the newspapers on Sky News, and is an Agony Aunt on ITV’s This Morning. She even blogs for Huffington Post UK Lifestyle. She was shortlisted for ‘Dating Expert of the Year 2015′ by UK Dating Awards, is on the Faculty of The School of Life and is a Fellow of the RSA. Interesting fact? Just the once, off Victoria Falls bridge in Zimbabwe, Lucy did bungee jumping. It changed her life – in a fantastic way. Now she bungee-jumps metaphorically, leaping into the unknown and having adventures. Like TEDx…?

Lucy Freeman Jo Frater

Performers

Lucy Freeman is an actress, performer and poet Jo Frater is a dancer and workshop facilitator

Roger Evernden

Business Consultant

Roger is concurrently a business consultant, an IT professional and an accomplished musician and composer. He started playing the piano when he was 8, and has been playing, composing and publishing music ever since. His interest in organisational change and leadership has led him to become an international keynote speaker and writer, with experience of working with more than 200 leading organisations in 25 countries around the world. He is author of Enterprise Architecture - the Eight Fundamental Factors & 101 Lessons From Enterprise Architecture; Developed the Information FrameWork (IFW), used by IBM in the Financial Service sector. He’s played in bands such as ‘Capital Chaps’ and ‘Watch My Lips.’ …a man of diverse skills and interests!

Rupert Gather

International Trade Ambassador

Rupert is an entrepreneur who travels the world promoting international investment and advising investors looking at the British economy. He works closely with UK Government to drive inward investment, and his wider interests include education where he is an active trustee for multi academy trusts. Rupert is an active speaker at conferences and events aimed at the 80,000 Chinese students that come to the UK every year to study. He recently launched the 'Education Bond®' giving them a chance to stay to work in Britain when they graduate, by investing in the building of UK affordable housing. He is fascinated by international relations, business, and the way people think about nationalism and globalisation.

Silas Houghton-Budd

Paramedic

Silas is a paramedic with special interests in critical care and the management of cardiac arrest. His vocational interests include communication and the facilitation of learning. He is a keen advocate for the development of the paramedic profession, and of inter-professional relations. For Silas, every patient has a story and every medical condition has an impact on not only the person affected, but their friends, their families and their lives.

Sophie Bryan

HR Professional

Sophie believes that work can bring freedom, expression, creativity and innovation, with huge benefits to the business. An experienced HR professional, she has been a finalist of the Personnel Today Award 2014 for Excellence in Learning and Development, and winner in 2015 for Excellence in Employee Engagement. She has created and delivered some interesting, innovative learning and development interventions, and is dedicated to helping to change workplace culture and helping organisations improve employee engagement. Sophie wants to make change happen in the workplace, changing the shape of leadership.

Soti Coker

Data Analyst and Infographic Specialist

Soti loves data. He has seen that the collection and use of data in our modern society is growing exponentially. Many of us have so much data, yet little time to filter and understand it. Working with data and visualising it is Soti’s passion. He analyses it by peeling back the data layers, cleaning and reformatting it to improve its quality and usability and finally, uses it to tell stories to support and increase its impact. So much of modern life is driven by data. It’s collated by algorithms and machines, and yet it’s the line between machines and humans that really interests Soti.

Steph Slack

Mental Health Ambassador

Steph believes talking saves lives. Having lost her uncle to suicide and supported close friends through suicidal ideation, her aim is to raise awareness of suicide prevention and help people to feel confident and comfortable in conversations about suicide. She runs workshops, speaks and blogs about suicide prevention, mental health and emotional resilience and has recently launched a podcast: Let's talk about the 's' word (suicide). Steph loves to create spaces where people can be honest and open about how they feel, and is particularly passionate about male suicide prevention and developing children's emotional literacy.