Speakers

Anna Lichota‘a personal journey has taken her from communist Poland to the post of Executive Director at an investment bank in London. She has: set up, grown, restructured and liquidated businesses in 16 countries; climbed the highest peak on every continent; has written a book; is deeply involved in various charities.

Karolina Sulej – her academic research has dealt with the role of fashion in places not obviously associated with the subject and her doctoral thesis focused specifically on concentration camps. She has written in depth on fashion and gender issues and she will share a story of self-expression through fashion in the heart of Auschwitz.

Jamie Keddie – teacher, trainer, writer, presenter and relentless innovator. He founded lessonstream.org to explore the potential of online video in the classroom. Jamie tells a digital campfire classic tale which touches on issues related to our intricate relationship with the social media and takes us on a videotelling tour of YouTube culture.

Karolina Glazer – vocalist, composer, arranger and producer. Described as having a vocal range beyond some of Poland’s greatest jazz divas, and she is only just getting started. Draws inspiration from musical sources as varied as traditional ‘drum talk’ of Northern India and medieval chorales, and relishes an approach to the voice as an instrument.

Michael Schudrich has been involved in the personal stories of people of Jewish descent living in this country, first as the Rabbi of Warsaw and Łódź, and now as Chief Rabbi of Poland. He considers himself a community activist and sees the current revival of interest in Jewish culture in Poland as a very positive development in a long cycle of history.

Kuba Pogorzelski – percussionist and sociologist, wrote his Master’s thesis on West African music and has been immersed in African culture for many years, running workshops and collaborating with African artists. Founder of World Cultures Centre in Warsaw will talk about sounds which cannot be tamed and the power of traditional music.

Pepe Cabana Kojachi – an illustrator, writer, graphic designer and one of the best loved storytellers and oral historians of his native Peru. Pepe has created a method of storytelling combining Japanese kamishibai and Peruvian traditions. His performance will illustrate Michał Malinowski’s insights about the variety of shapes a tale can take.

Ola Lazar – food blogger and author of books on cooking, a champion of healthy, wholesome food and a leading proponent of ‘good eating’ in Poland. Restaurant critic running the popular crowd-sourced restaurant guide gastronauci.pl. Ola will explain, how good eating translates into good living, sharing her most precious recipes for success.

Tom Bieling – design researcher and visiting professor in Applied Sciences and Art at the German University of Cairo. The founder of the Institute for Applied Fantasies, Tom investigates the interaction of objects with our bodies in relation to design. His major project focuses on the application of design in the service of deaf and blind people.

Patryk Góralowski – Head of Windows Consumer Business at Microsoft Poland – a position which allows him to pursue his dual passions for creative marketing strategies and appropriate applications of design to serve the quickly evolving needs of customers. Inspired by things unique. Fascinated by the idea of singularity. Patryk will be assisted by Łukasz Foks.

Rafał Trzaskowski – Member of the European Parliament, one of Poland’s leading experts on European Affairs. He lectures on the EU decision-making process and theories of European integration at the University of Warsaw and is a writer and frequent commentator on subjects of European policy and international relations.

Brien Barnett – a Montana native now based in Warsaw, he has travelled to all corners of the World in the course of his work as a journalist, copywriter and editor. This has included spending 3 consecutive winters in Antarctica, documenting the life and work of the eclectic individuals who make up the scientific community of the seventh continent.

Roman Fleszar – with his wife and artistic collaborator Ewa, have exhibited their artworks all around the world, and seem to specialise in unusual commissions – from an intimate sculpture commemorating Poland’s best loved children’s book author to an extraordinary array of mediaeval frescoes inside a replica of Scottish castle built on a Chinese winery.

Krzysztof Klincewicz – a professor of Management at the University of Warsaw and has many years of experience in the high-tech industry in Poland, Finland and the UK. A prolific author and speaker on the science of management, he is also the co-ordinator of the Experts Team at the Green Technology Accelerator GreenEvo.

Barbara Kinga Majewska – voice artist and singing coach deeply engaged in art education in Poland. She studied at Hochschule für Musik Detmold and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and her own research centres on ‘voice as therapy’ and the influence of our own voice on our thought processes and well-being.

Karol Wójcicki has been drawn to observing the night’s sky since childhood and, following his astronomy studies at the University of Warsaw, has pursued his passion first at the Warsaw Planetarium and now at the Copernicus Science Centre, always aiming to popularise astronomy and bring the stars closer to the public.

Renata Mieńkowska-Norkiene – political scientist, sociologist and TV producer based in Warsaw and Vilnius. Her passion is to inspire the people of Poland and Lithuania to build public debate on openness, tolerance and voluntarism, and she has been working towards this goal by running an NGO and producing TV programmes.

Aga Kozak – film critic, food writer, popular culture journalist, art blogger and travel editor. Also, the director of the Kraków Photo Month, one of Europe’s leading photography festivals. An avid listener focused on long-term goals, Aga works as a professional coach, helping artists solve issues of self-promotion and communication.

Jakub Koźniewski – member of the multidisciplinary art and design group panGenerator. Within it Jakub explores unconventional interfaces which may be considered both as tools for artistic expression and an art form in themselves. An example of this, the Dodecaudion, will be presented on stage with help of Krzysztof Cybulski and Madie Bovska.

Edi Pyrek – traveller, author, therapist and personal coach driven to discover what other cultures may have to teach us. Edi has served as a peace negotiator in Afghanistan, coached two prime ministers, and much of his work is centred on the idea of ‘permanent education’ while his prolific output has included books, theatre plays, magazine articles and films.

Christian Dumais – writer, humorist and lecturer though his own fame is overshadowed by the hulking greatness of his invention @DRUNKHULK who seems to have an opinion on everything. Christian balances ‘serious’ writing and teaching courses in language and popular culture with a steady output of green goodness which pokes fun at life’s absurdities.

F.O.U.R.S. – jazz quartet from Krakow. Michał Salamon is a young pianist making his mark as a solo player and with the ensemble, which is also composed of saxophonist Staszek Plewniak, bass player Szymon Frankowski, Szymon Madej on drums. They describe their approach as seeking mood and emotion rather than extravagant flashiness.

This isn’t a typical conference. Rules for TEDxWarsaw speakers include a ban on “selling from the stage” (no plugging your company or organisation) and a strict enforcement of the clock (maximum 18 minutes for a talk).

A carefully prepared presentation of brief length can have astonishing impact. This format also allows us to fit in more speakers and performers into the event. There are no questions after each talk. (There are defined conversation breaks for that purpose. The aim is to electrify the audience and open their minds to new ideas worth sharing.)

Contact person:
Ralph Talmont
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