Students Showing Amazing Initiative

TEDx Youth Ottawa - February 2010 (Ashbury College)
Two weeks ago I attended TEDx Ottawa Youth along with my 14 year old daughter and two of her friends. The event was run by youth for youth and I was one of the few over the age of 25 in the crowd. All of the presenters were under 25, many of which are in college and university. The conference was ”A summit for young opinion leaders, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs to foster learning and inspiration, while provoking conversations that matter and creating a forum for “Ideas Worth Spreading”.
This was one of the first ever TEDx Youth conferences in the world. The original TED conferences are now hosted by the organizers in locations around the world and TEDx is an extension whereby local visionaries can host conferences following the TED guidelines in their own communities. I’m proud to say that Ottawa has hosted both a Youth conference and a TEDx in December of 2009.
The organizers of the TEDx Youth,Yusuf Malik, Adam Moscoe and David Millen (ok he’s a little over 25), did an amazing job. The speakers where strong, poignant, professional and entertaining. They touched on a huge variety of topics and a selection of entertainers dotted the agenda to keep the event engaging for the audience. Presentations ran from 8:30 to 1:00pm.
What impressed me most was the INITIATIVE that was exuding from this experience. These students all volunteered their time to conceive of, organize and participate in this event. This type of initiative not only is impressive as a whole but also serves as an amazing experience for the individuals that were involved. These youth are different. They are putting together big ideas, inspiring others and making things happen that they care about. By attending the event the over 200 students are also revealing their interest in learning and being involved in something beyond ordinary. The audience was respectful, attentive and very ’switched on’.
I’m sharing this here on our blog because I believe an event like this is an amazing experience For these these students. They are in fact developing their personal brands. Their participation in this event on all levels makes them stand out and shows to others that they have interests and initiative that others don’t. I applaud their initiative and know that many of them were affected by the experience. Thanks to Yusuf, Adam, and David and the dozens of volunteer participates that helped pull this event together! Looking forward to the next!





We’re on the verge of a new academic term which is very exciting for us. Within days we will have another 500+ users on the Winter 2010 version of WhyHire.me. More users, more schools and a lot more changes! A little daunting at times as we have worked into the wee hours but so incredibly exciting as we see our program grow and develop with the help of our users and their institutions.