TEDxSilkRoad
TEDxSilkRoad was a one-day conference in Istanbul, Turkey, bringing together East and West to discuss global commerce, social innovation, future trends and storytelling.
With 18 international speakers and 120 participants, it took place on 11 April 2012 at the Feriye auditorium, a historic 19th century Ottoman building on the Bosphorus shoreline, built when the Sultans relocated from Topkapı Palace to their new Bosphorus palaces.
I managed marketing, media, production and showrunning, spending one month in Istanbul coordinating the local production team and supporting the event curator.
Why Silk Road
The historic Silk Road connected East and West through commerce, innovation and cultural exchange. Travellers shared beliefs, religions and traditions through music, food and storytelling despite personal hardship and risk.
Today's Digital Silk Road transcends borders through mobile internet, fibre optic networks and growing e/m-commerce. It enables global communities via social networks, delivers education through tablet computers, and facilitates creative collaboration among millions without physical meetings.
Programme
Innovation & Borderless Creativity: Talks on Silk Road evolution, cross-border creativity and digital trust from speakers including Ferhan Cook (Curator of TEDXSilkRoad), Jessica Hand (British Consul General), Mark Norell (American Natural History Museum), Arvind Gupta (IDEO Asia), Joey Ellis (TED fellow), Karen Lancel (V2 Institute), Bora Bicer (Turkcell/Bogazici University) and Melda Goknel Bilal (Writer).
The Real Currency of the New Silk Road - Arvind Gupta
Reach Out & Empower: Exploration of technology for social innovation with presentations from Osmantan Erkir (STR), Didem Altop (Endeavor), Tulin Akin on digital farming markets, Heather Leson on civic mapping technology, Carlos Miranda Levy on Relief 2.0, and Gunduz Vassaf on the Digital Silk Route.
The Connected Future: Insights into networked society through talks by Marie-Jose Montpetit (MIT) on Social TV, Patrice Slupowski (Orange) on quantified self, Ralph Simon (Mobilium) on global mobile adoption, and a wearable technology showcase by Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz (CuteCircuit).
