The wonder of diversity and its power to connect us all

What is unique about each of us (some might say 'different') is central to how we grow something new: new friendships, new networks and, of course, new ideas.

That's why I am at least as excited about who I haven't yet met as I am about the extraordinary group of people that TEDxAdelaide is bringing together on Thursday with 'Zoom Out'.

Of course, it isn't unique to muse about connection on a social network, though what I think gives diversity such power to inspire is that we're exploring new territory. When we get together with people that aren't like us, we can create surprising new relationships and breakthrough concepts. This is a theme I see repeated strongly in the talks of this year's group of speakers for #TEDxAdelaide, an independently licensed, volunteer-run outpost of the TED network devoted to 'ideas worth spreading'.

An idea is at its strongest when owned and shared by a community

We curate our event here in Adelaide with diversity as a guiding principle. This goes well beyond gender, age, ableness, sexual orientation or ethnicity. While you will see we have an intriguing variety of people and ideas on our stage, it is the wonderful growth of diversity in our community - in the auditorium and here online - that proves the meaning is in the multiplicity, not in any one person, invention or social group.

So let me whet your appetite with some of the wonderful ideas worth spreading for Zoom Out on Thursday. The speakers are in the order they will appear not long after our doors open at 1:30pm and the talk titles give some indication of what you can expect from our most diverse event yet. The only thing these people have in common with one another is the city of Adelaide.

Meet our 15 speakers and their diverse ideas...

Joseph Campbell | Five steps to becoming an advocate

Joseph migrated from the United States to Adelaide, a simple process that involved a bit of paperwork. Ten years as an expat from Chile to Malawi to Adelaide has him now wondering about our place in the world as advocates.

Jacinta Koolmatrie | The myth of Aboriginal stories being myths

Jacinta is an Adnyamathanha and Ngarrindjeri person who grew up in Port Augusta. Her dream is to work with her Adnyamathanha community to incorporate their perspectives of yura malka (rock art) into her research. She has some extraordinary stories to tell us about that.

Andrew Barker | Free food for all: give what you can, take what you need

Andrew became concerned by the struggles of many families to eat wholesome food and founded Grow Free, a community network that doesn’t just want food to be nutritious, but free. This network is living up to its name and growing - exponentially!

Greg Ingleton | Cool airports: innovation for a warming world

Greg is an environmental scientist working with SA Water. He has discovered some inventive things at the intersection of carbon trading, airports, agriculture and water recycling. His idea is about how this unusual brew has the potential to change the way we think about air travel and its place in a warming world.

Part of Greg's role is to identify and develop opportunities to use water, particularly wastewater, in ways that provide social, environmental and economic benefits.

Audrey Mason-Hyde | Toilets, bowties, gender and me

At 12 years old, Audrey is already an accomplished actor with film and TV credits to her name. With a fierce intellect and a unique sense of style, Audrey has plenty to say about our gendered world.

Dominic McAfee | Restoring the reefs we never knew we lost

Dominic is a scientist at Adelaide University working on mitigating climate change whilst improving the resilience of marine ecosystems and local economies through a very inventive collaboration.

Shalom Almond | Prisoners and Pups: A second chance?

Shalom is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose works include films about girls living on the streets in Vietnam, Kayan women in Thailand who wear brass neck-rings, and her own pregnancy. Her talk explores her latest project that looks at unconditional love in the most unlikely location.

Sarah K Reece | Emotionally safer sex

Sarah is a creator and humanitarian; a survivor of homelessness, domestic violence and trauma. Sarah draws on personal experience of tragedy, joy, passion, and the complexity of human relationships to create art that connects people. 

Sarah is known for work within the mental health community, partnering with government agencies, NGOs, and volunteer organisations. What Sarah has to share about sex and relationships will inform and inspire.

Annie Harvey | From silence to LOL

Annie helps adults and adolescents embrace change and cut through the noise to find quietness, laughter and focus within an extraordinarily short period of time.

Her focus is on clearing away the ‘noise’ that can obscure our purpose.

Alan Noble | Plastics: the last straw

Alan is the engineering director at Google Australia and New Zealand where he has overseen the growth to over 600 engineers. As an entrepreneur, Alan has founded a number of tech ventures and most recently is the founder of the Australian Ocean Lab.

His TEDxAdelaide talk will share his idea on moonshots and citizen science in a very Zoomed Out way.

Heather Smith | Bigger isn't better (when it comes to energy)

Energy is a hot topic at the moment and Heather has spent a considerable amount of time on how we use this vital resource. In 2016 she travelled to the USA, UK, Denmark, Germany and Japan to investigate the role of community energy in provoking change in each country’s energy transition.

Heather will share her insights as she poses the questions of economics and scale in the renewable energy sector.

Brad Chilcott | Do you expect a return on your compassion?

Brad is the founder of Welcome to Australia, a pastor and progressive thinker. His ‘work’ has seen him engaging with many different cultures both locally and around the world and has seen the rise of activism where it can provide invaluable support to struggling communities.

Louka Parry | Words can change the world. 

Louka has taught at one of South Australia’s most remote communities and was promoted to Principal at the age of 27. He was named South Australian Inspirational Public Secondary Teacher of the Year, completed two masters degrees, studied at Harvard and has visited every continent.

Louka also learned to speak four new languages, including Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjnatjara, and plans to learn many more. He believes learning a language changes us, and the world around us, for the better.

Tarik Sammour | Is healthcare a right or a luxury?

Surgeon Tarik chose to settle in Adelaide because he saw its potential as a leader in healthcare delivery and innovation. With an ageing population and spiralling healthcare costs, he has some ideas to solve problems that are relevant to us all.

Flavia Tata Nardini | The giant leap of faith. How exploration changes worlds.

Flavia Tata Nardini's space career has zoomed from micropropulsion systems, to nano satellites, from European Space Agency to primary school classes across Australia.

Her next step is to encircle the globe with a ubiquitous, free global connectivity platform linking billions of connected devices and kickstarting a new industrial revolution.

We connect best when we're experiencing something new... together

We are in the final days before our event and it's an emotional time. It is a great challenge and a great deal of fun, especially on the day. Truly it's a life-changing experience for many (certainly our team and our speakers).

Even three years in with TEDxAdelaide - 44 TED Talks in all - I know I will be looking out from the famous red dot over a sea of friendly (and sometimes) frowning faces - a diversity in concentration through connection that demonstrates just how much it matters that we do this.

Now the rest is up to you!

So I have just introduced you to our speakers. I'll be MC for the day and will have a lot more to share. We have great performers and other entertainment and interactive activities, so please clear your afternoon for Thursday, buy a ticket, invite friends and LinkedIn connections to come along and I will see you very soon at the Adelaide Town Hall.

P.S. If you want to engage with me outside of our conference on Thursday, please do pop me a note here or jump onto Twitter and say hullo.