TEDxUofS | The Wisdom of Play

Our Speakers

Allison Cameron

Founder of the initiative Movement Matters, special-education teacher Allison Cameron is combining her love of fitness and learning to help answer the question of how exercise can help people learn. Tracking impressive changes, both in academic performance and behaviour, among her students at City Park collegiate, the Movement Matters program has not only been extended to the rest of the school but has gained a dedicated following in parts of Canada, the United States and Mexico. Through following her passions, Allison has achieved national acclaim, helped to discover the link between fitness and academics, and is giving kids the tools they need to overcome difficulties and improve themselves through the power of exercise.

Ryan Leier – Founder of One Yoga Studios and the Yoga for Youth Initiative

Dynamic and inspirational, Ryan Leier is using his unique energy and passion for yoga to change lives and encourage others to discover the benefits of yoga beyond just its physical practice. Widely known as the go-to teacher for the band Arcade on Fire and for teaching and studying yoga worldwide, Ryan’s roots remain in Saskatoon where he is the founder of ONE Yoga Studio and the non-profit organization Yoga for Youth.

Inspired by the idea that he could use yoga as a tool to help youth, Ryan began channeling his love and knowledge of yoga into reaching kids before they are presented with issues such as addiction and health problems. With a primary focus on the inner city, this innovative program has been powerful in increasing the accessibility of yoga and helping kids to meet their physical, mental and spiritual needs. Whether using yoga to help stop the cycle of drug use or to get fit for sports, Ryan has helped kids to embrace yoga as something that has the potential to change their lives.

Khodi Dill – Spoken Word Artist and Social Justice Advocate

Local English teacher and spoken word artist Khodi Dill has featured his work across Canada, from the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Ottawa and Toronto to the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in Vancouver. As a student in anti-oppressive education in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Saskatchewan, Khodi is combining his education with his love and talent for hip-hop influenced poetry and is focusing on bringing his voice to the promotion of social justice.

Bryan McCrea – Co-Founder/CEO of 3twenty Solutions

Founded in 2009, Bryan McCrea is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of innovative Saskatoon-based company 3twenty Solutions. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, Bryan is looking beyond traditional construction methods to give new life to shipping containers by using them to build modular camps and offices for the mining, oil and gas, and industrial sectors and plays a key role in developing Saskatchewan’s young business community.

Developed through the W. Brett Wilson Centre for Entrepreneurial Excellence I3 Idea Challenge, 3twenty later appeared on the CBC’s hit TV show Dragons’ Den where they successfully slayed the dragons and gained W. Brett Wilson as an investor. Committed to building the “new Saskatchewan” through entrepreneurship, Bryan is proof that sometimes the best innovation lies in thinking inside, rather than outside, the box.

Greg Johnson – Stormchaser

As one of North America’s top professional storm-chasers and severe weather experts, Greg Johnson has built his life around the ultimate adventure and has devoted himself to pursuing his passion of capturing nature’s most beautiful and deadly displays of severe weather. A firm believer in the bucket list philosophy and the benefit of thinking differently, Greg sold his successful marketing firm to follow his dreams. Now playing for a living, Greg shows us that accomplishing monumental things in life can still be fun, as long as we keep moving and trying new things.

Darrell Lechman - Founder and Executive Director, SCYAP

Darrell Lechman, founder and executive director of Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming Inc. (SCYAP), is helping to provide an answer to the social, educational and economic needs of youth and at-risk youth. With an aim to prevent youth crime and youth unemployment, Darrell’s work at SCYAP is providing direction through art and allowing youth to re-channel their talent into positive initiatives. Having succeeded in not only creating tangible results that reflect increases in employment and education rates, Darrell has succeeded in not only creating tangible results that reflect increases in employment and education rates, but has extended his reach to beautify our communities and literally save lives.

Highlighting the brilliance and spirit of community leaders, innovators, and creatives by showcasing their ideas in a series of inspiring talks, TEDxUofS is excited to confirm the above speakers and is looking forward to adding seven more speakers to our line-up.

What is TEDx?

About TEDx, x = independently organized event

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. In 2012, we're holding our own event called TEDxUofS. At TEDxUofS, video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events (including ours) are self-organized.

Read more about TED at the bottom of the page.

Contact Info

You can email us at contact@tedxuofs.com, or click here if you're interested in volunteering.

Time, Date, and Location

When is it? 8:45am-4:45pm, March 24, 2012
Where is it? Neatby-Timlin Theatre, University of Saskatchewan with an after party at Louis open to the public after 7pm.
How many seats are there? There are 100 seats in total. Tickets are sold out however there are 10 free tickets available for people who are not be able to afford to attend (contact us for details).

TEDx U of S 2012 is Sold out but you can still attend the after party! See details below.

About our event theme: TEDxUofS invites curious minds to explore the intersect between the contrasting ideas of wisdom and play, a dynamic sphere open to adventure, wonder, and knowledge. Somewhere along the way we replace scribbling outside the lines with thinking inside the box, and forget that it is through creativity and curiosity that we are able to deepen our understanding of the world, discover new ways to interact and think within it, and create unique possibilities. Not a formula or a model, creativity depends on our willingness to reassemble the existing world into enticing possibilities, opening new avenues to discovery and innovation. Bringing together those searching for answers to questions never asked, and those willing to question the answers already given, TEDxUofS will engage and inspire while leaving open to interpretation the question of how creativity connects the seemingly unconnected.

The After Party

When is it? March 24, 2012, 7pm
Where is it? Louis' Pub, University of Saskatchewan
How many seats are there? Included in ticket price for TEDxUofS attendees and speakers; $5 at the door for non-attendees
Who is performing?

TEDxUofS is about more than just sharing creative ideas -- it is about experiencing them!

Come celebrate the spirit of ideas worth spreading at the official After Party of TEDxUofS 2012. Louis' Pub on the University of Saskatchewan campus will be transformed into a spac e featuring the best of both wisdom and play, as you share in the surprise and delight of a TED-like experience. We promise a night of art, entertainment and conversation with a headlining performance by Jeans Boots, other live-music performances and art courtesy of local artists.

You will have the opportunity to meet and engage with the conference speakers, attendees and organizers. For attendees of the conference, entry is included in the TEDxUofS ticket price; and the event is open to the public with tickets ($5) available at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis. This event is 19+ and a cash bar will be provided for your enjoyment.

Performance By Saskatoon Poetry Slam Team

Using their voices to focus on everything from social and political change to sharing the sarcastic and humorous side of life, the Saskatoon Slam Poetry team brightens the stage with poetry that reflects on life through a lens of raw beauty and, at times, painfully accurate cynicism.

Having represented Saskatoon poetry across Canada at the national level, slam poets Charles Hamilton, Nicole Almond, Ahmad Majid, Khodi Dill, and Simon Wourms are also familiar faces at the local Community stage. Part of the Tonight It’s Poetry (TIP) program, the community stage encourages emerging poets to explore their creativity on stage at Lydia’s Pub every Sunday evening.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world's leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED