The independently organized TED event was held Friday, June 17 in Riga, Latvia. Called TEDxRiga, the local conference gathered 22 speakers and performers from around the world — and full house at Splendid Palace.
TEDxRiga celebrated its 5th gig in 2016, stemming from their inaugural event at the National Opera in 2012. Just like each year, the conference was taking place all day, divided in 4 sessions, filled with inspiration, thought-provoking talks and ideas worth spreading.
The theme of TEDxRiga 2016 was Dare to Be, which focused on overcoming limits, daring to act and not being carried along the stream.
We can achieve greater changes by overcoming realistic or self-created limits. Without the inner fight with our complexes, fears and lack of will power, we’re simply being carried along the stream.
Egils Grasmanis at TEDxRiga
The speakers included many renowned guests like educator and visionary Austėja Landsbergienė, creativity instructor Jonathan Howard, 3D printing entrepreneur Jānis Jātnieks and most notably social activist Egils Grasmanis (pictured) whose touching talk brought tears to many in the audience and was rewarded with standing ovation, becoming the highlight of the day.
Designer Mauro Martino, who’s a leader of Cognitive Visualization Lab at IBM, a startup architect Gunita Kuļikovska, evolutionary ecologist Mikus Āboliņš-Ābols and professor of Social Psychology Ivars Austers all contributed to the diversity of TEDxRiga 2016 lineup.
During the Session 4, Team TEDxRiga and tens of volunteers were honored, recognizing their effort in putting together the fantastic event.
Online live streaming of the conference was also available, as well as the simulcast on the big screen just outside of the venue, so everybody who was interested could get their dose of TED ideas.
Recorded talks are set to become published on YouTube in the upcoming weeks.
