An Interview with the Student Organisers of the 2021 TEDxRoyalCentralSchool event, restART
On Saturday 13 February, 2021 Central students virtually hosted the TEDx Royal Central School event, restART. The event, the fourth independently organised and student-led TEDx event at Central, was this year held online and streamed to audience members directly in their homes, bringing new ideas and unique perspectives to them wherever they were in the world.
Speakers and performers were drawn from across the staff and student body as well as from the wider community. They were asked to structure their presentations around the theme of the event, restART: during a difficult and challenging time, when we have all been unmotivated, confined in our homes and resting, we are all desperate for ideas worth spreading. We need to restart, and what better way to do that than to use the arts?
We sat down with this year’s organisers, Karim Oliver Ghazzal and Becky Coote, to discuss their involvement in the event and how they collaborated with their fellow Central students to delivere TEDxRoyalCentralSchool virtually amidst a global pandemic.
How did you get involved with this year’s TEDxRoyalCentralSchool event?
Karim: Towards the end of my 2nd year, I was feeling very unmotivated and unsettled due to my course being taken online and the impact of the global pandemic, as I’m sure many if not all of the Central community was feeling similarly. I thought about what could motivate me again and drive me through this unsettling time. I was in the TEDx Team last year so that came to mind, Becky and I had been keeping in touch and since we work well together, I proposed if she wanted to help me organize the 4th edition of TEDxRoyalCentralSchool. She thankfully accepted, and we got to work!
Becky: Karim suggested that I could be involved, and the more we discussed it the more we realised our skills complimented each other’s, and I came on board as co-organiser.
What have each of your roles been within the event?
Becky: My role title was co-organiser and Head of Admin & Finance, so my role was generally to oversee the project, as well as specific responsibilities such as ensuring we didn’t violate the TEDx rules and keeping an eye on the budget and contacting potential sponsors.
Karim: I was the Organiser and Head of Producing & Marketing. My role was to lead the whole team and make sure the event looked and felt like a TEDx event at Central-from a creative producer and marketer/graphic designer’s perspective-keeping in mind TED and Central’s ethos. As license holders, Becky and I were responsible for TEDx Royal Central School and making all the final executive decisions, with support and guidance from the rest of the team.
Who else was involved in the organising team?
Becky: We contacted a few people who we thought would be interested in being a part of the executive team, and Olivia Partridge and Darius Gervinskas came on board with specific interests in accessibility and speaker curation, so the 4 of us became the main organisers for the event. The rest of the team was mostly made up of Central students and alumni who helped support us in delivering this event.
How was this year’s theme, restART, chosen?
Karim: We wanted a theme which really reflected the current times, that would give people hope. The word restart had many meanings, it fit with TED’s ideas worth spreading motto, Central and the arts and the need to start again after the massive impact of the global pandemic. We really hope we sparked you to restART!
How were the speakers and performers selected – and do you have any presentations that stood out for you, personally?
Karim: We selected the speaker line up by asking for ideas. When we look for potential speakers, we don’t look for highly academic, already written speeches, simply ideas! If they get selected, they develop it into a talk with the help of one of our amazing speaker coaches, most of them from Central’s MA Voice Studies and MA Actor Training and Coaching course. One of the greatest things about TEDx is that anyone (and I mean anyone) can stand on TED’s red circular carpet and give a TED talk-even you reading this. The TED stage is for anyone with an idea worth spreading regardless of things like class, age and qualifications. We receive a high amount of applications so selection is tough. Our curation team, when looking for potential talks and performances, has 3 main things they look for: ideas that are worth spreading, ideas that our community would want to hear and new ideas that have not been shared on the TEDxRCSSD and TED stage before.
Becky: I have to say that I loved every single talk and performance that was presented at restART. I thought each one was fascinating and had an important message to be put out into the world. However, I have to say that one that stood out was Paula Garfield’s talk about the importance of BSL (British Sign Language). It’s something I strongly believe in and to have a talk in BSL this year was really exciting!
Karim: Yes, as Becky said they were all great and I am so happy of this year’s line-up and proud of what the speakers and performers have achieved during these testing times.
This year’s event took place virtually, due to the impact of the global Coronavirus pandemic. What challenges and opportunities were presented as a result of moving this year’s TEDxRoyalCentralSchool event online?
Becky: I am rubbish with technology, and organising an online event presented many challenges. All our advertising and discussions had to take place online, and there was less we could offer sponsors in order to fund our event, and all our money had to come from sponsors. The event has run three years prior in person, so we had to rethink everything to adapt for an online event. However, this presented us with an opportunity to make the event extra accessible, for example, with an online event anyone can just switch off or ‘leave’ at any time, and make as much noise as they want. We also managed to have the whole event captioned and translated by a BSL interpreter, in addition to all performers and speakers involved being able to pre-record their talks rather than doing it live from memory. Having the event online has taught me loads of skills that I can incorporate into my practice in future.
What advice would you offer for anyone who is thinking of holding an event like this online?
Becky: My first advice would be: do it! There were many times where I felt like this event just wasn’t going to happen, but it did and I did it! My next advice would be to plan loads of extra time into the timeline, because various markers can get pushed back really easily, especially when the online world comprises of technical issues and sometimes barriers in communication. I would also say make sure you have plenty of people to support you, especially people with a wide variety of expertise.
Karim: Good luck, you’ll need it! It is not an easy task to organize a TEDx event and it can be overwhelming at times, but it’s a thrilling and unique experience and it stands out on your CV-especially as it’s online during a global pandemic-so, I second what Becky said, DO IT. The biggest advice I can give you is find an executive team which you work with well and that are dedicated, don’t just pick your friends.
Organising an event of this scale and global impact can seem really daunting and confusing at first so please get in touch with me before hand, even if you don’t know me, and we can have a chat about it.
What are you each working on next?
Becky: I’m currently working on a play exploring ways of presenting lived experiences of trauma on stage, when trauma is beyond words and comprehension. I will also be a resident writer with the inclusive theatre company ‘Razed Roof’ as soon as some in-person rehearsals can take place! I’m also applying to lots of jobs, as I hope to continue working as a professional performing arts teacher alongside theatre work when I graduate in a few months.
Karim: My dissertation (really need to get on that and (hopefully) graduate!) which seems to be leaning on digital storytelling, audience engagement and potentially VR (virtual reality). After that, I have no clue! I have a passion for telling stories, in whatever avenue: either creating, directing, writing, acting in or producing them. Not sure how I will do that which is terrifying but I’m excited for the future!
To find out more about restART, please visit the TEDxRoyalCentralSchool website. The event will be available on YouTube soon; please follow the team on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube for updates.
