TEDxOttawa was an all day event filled with amazing speakers and attendees from all walks of life.

We weaved several themes together: The power of children, music and art, the environment, journeys and technology.

Ottawa, Ontario
Canada

Robert Mittelman

How do you know what really happens to your money when you lend on Kiva.org? Are these loans really changing lives? Are people really connecting? Maybe more than you think. Robert Mittelman is a local social entrepreneur and PhD candidate at Carleton University. As one of the first Canadians accepted to the program, he’ll be sharing for the first time his story of his experience as a Kiva Fellow, behind the scenes, on the ground, and in the field with Kiva.org.

William Jans

William Jans’ Live shows about absurd travels started in 1990 as a passion outside of his professional photographic career… now they have been dubbed a “West Coast Phenomenon” and have garnered rave reviews from media and attendees alike. The shows are considered “Virtually Interactive” and feature costumes, photos, videos, stories and the unexpected. Be ready to be entertained!

Mark Levison

One of the toughest questions we often ask ourselves is how to learn. Think about it, we spend many of young year focused entirely on learning. For most of us, this continues our entire lives as we grow, develop skills and continue to explore the world. Mark Levison has been studying “how we learn” out of pure personal passion but also as an Agile software coach as part of the Agile Consortium. He has presented on this topic many times before and is sought after on this topic. We don’t want to steal his thunder and will leave it at that. Suffice it to say, expect to learn!

Nick Desbarats

Nick Desbarats had an epiphany a few years ago having realized something was broken with the way people make decisions on line. Whether you’re trying to buy something, book a trip, or even donate to charity effective tools online just weren’t there. So he dove into research, read dozens of books on the topic, and realized what he come up with truly hadn’t been done before … and he and his team at ChoiceBot built it. Watch his talk and find out what all the fuss is about. The implications are greater than you might think.

Tracey Clark

When it comes to sustainability, treating farmers fairly is crucial. There is a growing “fair trade” movement and Tracey Clark has been at the forefront of this movement as Managing Director of Bridgehead, a local Ottawa success story. Tracey spent six months in Bangladesh on an Aga Khan Fellowship (assisting the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee with a silk-reeling project) and even spent time picking tea leaves while there. Before that she traveled to Nicaragua as an Oxfam volunteer and learned to pick coffee cherries. She has been looking at “fair trade” hands on from every perspective. Check out her TEDxOttawa “idea worth spreading” talk … it will be a powerful message and may even be surprising.

Kip Voytek and Cindy Chastain

Kip Voytek has been a union organizer, speechwriter, computer game designer, and creative director in various agencies. He is currently SVP, Communications Planning at RAPP. He can otherwise be found at kipbot.com, on twitter @kipbot and flickr: kipbot. Cindy Chastain has been a cinematographer, filmmaker, screenwriter, teacher, writer and designer in a variety of contexts. She is currently Creative Director, Experience Design at RAPP and is in the process of researching about book about how narrative techniques can be applied to the craft of design. She too, can be found on twitter @cchastain. Kip and Cindy are coming in from NYC just to be with us! With this very varied background, what will their “idea worth spreading” be? You’ll have to see the presentation to find out.

Melissa Love and Elise Jackson

Melissa Love and Elise Jackson are two amazing Colonel By High School grade twelve students. They belong to FROGG (Friends Reaching Out for Greener Growth), an environmental group Melissa co-leads . They are both very passionate about the environment and are actively involved in many initiatives such as working on Colonel By’s sustainability. In addition, they both took part in the Powershift Conference on climate change for youth and Elise took part in the Students on Ice Arctic 2009 Expedition. You’ll be inspired to act after their “Canary in the Coalmine” presentation.

Ray Zahab

Ray Zahab is an extreme runner and world adventurer who ran over 7000km across the entire Sahara … running an average 70k a day for 111 days in extreme weather. On January 7, 2009 Ray and two other Canadians, broke the world speed record from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole. In the process, Ray became the first person to trek to the South Pole on this traditional 1130 km route solely on foot. What inspired him to do this, especially considering he was a pack a day smoker just a few years ago? Check out his presentation and find out how this is connected to young people and http://impossible2possible.com which he founded in 2008.

Ryan Stec

Ryan Stec is the artistic director of Artengine, an artist-run center in Ottawa. Ryan was part of the team responsible for one the highlights of the Nuit Blanche in Toronto in early October, 2009. The team created a light show on the CN tower synchronized to music broadcast through community radio station CIUT 89.5 FM in Toronto. Ryan is also the curator of many interesting project such as Night Ride. Ryan’s presentation is bound to open your eyes, ears and mind.

Jowi Taylor

Jowi Taylor is an award winning radio broadcaster for CBC Radio and the creator of the Six String Nation – Voyager guitar. The idea for the guitar was sparked by the Quebec referendum. Jowi sought to pull the nation back together by creating a guitar from materials sent in from many different parts of Canada. The guitar was launched at Canada day July 1, 2006 and has been on tour ever since.

Danny Brown

Danny Brown has been providing business branding and social media consultancy services to the consumer and commercial markets, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 businesses, for more than 15 years and is the Social Media Strategist for Maritz Canada. He is also founder of the 12for12k Challenge, a unique charity project using social media to change the lives of millions in 2009. The concept is simple: 12 months of the year, 12 charities (different charity each month), $12,000 per charity.

Najeeb Mirza

Najeeb Mirza is a documentary filmmaker with years of experience in international development. Born in Pakistan, Mirza moved with his family to Canada when he was a young boy, and grew up in Edmonton. After completing a double major in economics and fine arts and a Master's degree in international rural development planning, his new career and his love for travel would take him around the world. His work with the Canadian International Development Agency as senior project officer for Central Asia led him to the position of Head of Aid at the Canadian Embassy in Kazakhstan, managing CIDA programs in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. While there he fell in love with Central Asia, a region rich with history, culture and natural beauty, though little known in the West.

Najeeb Mirza

Najeeb Mirza is a documentary filmmaker with years of experience in international development. Born in Pakistan, Mirza moved with his family to Canada when he was a young boy, and grew up in Edmonton. After completing a double major in economics and fine arts and a Master's degree in international rural development planning, his new career and his love for travel would take him around the world. His work with the Canadian International Development Agency as senior project officer for Central Asia led him to the position of Head of Aid at the Canadian Embassy in Kazakhstan, managing CIDA programs in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. While there he fell in love with Central Asia, a region rich with history, culture and natural beauty, though little known in the West.