What a great week this has been for everyone at team TEDx Pilani! The conference was immensely well appreciated by everyone here at BITS, Pilani. Now we are working on releasing brilliant videos of the event and the speakers’ talks. Here is a quick recap of TEDx Pilani.
In the morning session, Dr. K.N. Ganeshaiah started with a talk relating Lord Hanuman to the first botanist and discussed the real existence of the Sanjeevani herb. Harish Sivaramakrishnan, with infectious enthusiasm and entertaining style explained the importance of user-experience in software design. Kartick Satyanarayanan spoke about how wildlife SOS in India had worked in an ingenious way to convert poachers into protectors. Vishal Talreja, the co-founder of Dream-a-Dream provided startling facts and figures about the unprivileged children in India and how his foundation had worked to rehabilitate these children.
The event resumed in the afternoon with the talk of Cleo Paskal, the author of ‘Global Warring’. She shared mind-boggling insights into the geopolitical and energy related repercussions of environmental change. Nitin Gokhale gave some serious thought to the threats posed to national security today. Rahul Roushan, the genius behind Faking News and the most awaited talk on campus spoke about a novel concept of revamping the TRP system. His anecdotes and spontaneity had the whole audience rolling with laughter. Nakul Shenoy, the mind-reader and former magician fulfilled the anticipation with a couple of tricks which left everyone utterly amazed and brought to an end an amazing TEDx conference.
The event also screened three TED talks. Each of them was well appreciated and Harsha Bhogle’s TED Talk drew the maximum applause.
At the end the curator, Aniket Tekawade, thanked all present and everyone else who had played his or her part in making TEDx Pilani this big! It was a great experience indeed for all present.
The event set new benchmarks for the TEDx conferences. It was a one of its kind event which not only complied with all the rules required for organizing a TEDx conference but also introduced new innovations like the fellowship program and videos introducing the speakers (presented by CDS Solutions)
TEDxPilani was the first TEDx event in India to offer live webcast all over the world which mustered peak viewership of over 300. The stage setup depicted a traditional Rajasthani household with an open fire-place, char pai and hukka set. Another highlight before the event was when the topic #TEDxPilani became a trending topic on twitter India alongside #IPL, #China, etc. (according to ookull.com).
You can see the pictures from the event here.
