The second of our speakers at TEDxOrenda is cartoonist & animator Sydney Padua.

Melina Sydney Padua is the creator of the 2DGoggles blog which featuring her animated account of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace & Babbage – which imagines what it would have been like had the world’s first computer programmer and the man who invented the first computer joined forces to become a crime-fighting duo. The comic is actually based on Sydney’s thorough research on the biographies and correspondence between Babbage and Lovelace.

Sydney has worked as character animator on well known films including: Clash of the Titans, The Golden Compass, The Iron Giant & Prince Caspian. This sample of Sydney’s work shows her painstaking attention to detail.

We look forward to hearing Sydney tell us about the importance of research when creating new products at TEDxOrenda.

In keeping with the festive spirit prevalent at this time of year, and by way of creating excitement for the forthcoming TEDxOrenda, we’ve decided to unveil our speakers 1 at a time on each of the next ’12 days of TEDxMas’.

So without further ado, its my honour to announce that our FIRST speaker will be none other than Tom Watson MP.

As Wikipedia states, Tom rose to prominnence in most people’s minds when he passionately “Tom Watson led a small number of MPs in speaking out firmly against the Digitial Economy Bill as the bill was being passed through parliament in April 2010 during the ‘wash-up’ period before the election. He took part in a protest against the bill outside Parliament on 24 March 2010“.  And as such he spoke for the layman as it was clear that the actually ‘gets’ the technology that he so passionately spoke about, compared to many other MPs who did not seem to fully understand the implications of this new act.  This event saw him going ‘against the whip’, which, as he Tweeted at the time, made him feel ‘utterly sick‘.

To those that follow him on Twitter, Tom is an engaging raconteur with a deep interest in the way that technology affects our everyday lives.  Any MP that includes the line ‘We know that you’re too busy fighting off your biological urges and being l33t hax0rs to Get Involved, but politics is cool, m’kay?‘ in his blog,  is certainly someone to take note of.

Tom‘s awareness of technology today is epitomised by the biography in his own blog which states: ‘One day he’ll do it [update his biography].  One day.  It can’t be worse than his Wikipedia page, after all’.

Tom is always an engaging speaker and we look forward to hearing him talk at TEDxOrenda with great anticipation.



2011 TEDxOrenda Event is now confirmed. TEDxOrenda will  take place in the APEX HALL at OLYMPIA, LONDON on WEDNESDAY 12th JANUARY from 6pm.

Tickets will be released in several batches in the period leading up to the event itself and will always be FREE. The first batch of tickets will be released on Friday 10th December at 7pm.

Tickets for TEDxOrenda are available free of charge. For more information, and to obtain your free tickets, please visit : http://tedxorenda2011.eventbrite.com/

As this event is taking place immediately after the main exhibition closes on the Wednesday evening, it is strongly suggested that you also register to attend the show as this will streamline your access to the event. Registration for the show is free and you can register here

We will announce the speakers shortly.

Maz Nadjm (@mazi)

Maz Nadjm is responsible for Sky Portal’s social media strategy and implementation. The Sky Portal has over 1 billion monthly page impressions and many millions of unique visitors. Maz works closely with each Sky site, providing on-going technology and strategy assessment within the context of the competitive landscape and Site needs.

In addition to his role at Sky, Maz has launched the Times Online commenting system. Prior to Sky, Maz co-founded Rareface and InfieldParking.com, a social networking site and growing online community of NASCAR racing fans in commercial partnership with its most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Maz is a mentor for start ups, video blogger for Sky News TechTalk, founder of www.Mazi.TV and CozyTweetup.com.

Maz will talk about ways in which communities can be given a voice, and how this should be handled.

Dougald Hine (@dougald)

Dugald works with ideas – exploring and developing them, and collaborating to put them into practice. This involves writing, speaking, bringing people together from different worlds to find common narratives, then helping to steer the ideas that come out of those conversations into reality.

In 2006, he co-founded School of Everything: a Web 2.0 startup that makes it really easy to find people near you to teach or learn with in your local area. The site won a New Statesman New Media Award and a Prime Minister’s Catalyst Award in 2008, and was an Official Honoree in the 2009 Webby Awards.

He is still involved in School of Everything, but now spends most of my time on other projects. These currently include:

Space Makers – an online and offline network, connecting people involved in creating collaborative spaces, including co-working, hack labs, arts spaces, social centres and temporary use of empty shops

The Dark Mountain Project – a new literary movement for an age of global disruption.

Dougald will talk about the importance of community involvement in making a project happen.

Alfie Dennen (@alfie)

Alfie is described in his Wikipedia entry as a creative technologist, artist, and founder of several prominent websites based around around mobile blogging.  He co-founded Moblog which received prominence when The service gained prominence in 2005 when Eliot Ward uploaded a photo to the site from one of the London Underground bombings.  The Arts Council recently announced that  that Dennen’s Bus.Tops project was Shortlisted for the London award in the Artists Taking The Lead Public Art competition. The project was awarded £500,000 to create a new work of public art in London.

Caroline Bosher (@carolinebosher)

A Special Agent on a mission to transform businesses through exceptional branding and connections.  Caroline has a passion for infiltrating high calibre networks, uncovering remarkable customer experiences, and working with her team to co-ordinate all components required to create strong brand attraction.  Working in London, Sydney and New York she ‘cross-pollinates’ ideas across industries, cultures and entrepreneurs to ensure her clients stand out from the crowd and build their tribe of raving fans.

James Proud (@jamesproud)

James is an 18-year old entrepreneur and founder of recent web startup – GigLocator.com.  An assured and confident speaker beyond his years, James has won competitions for young entrepreneurs and is very highly thought of amongst those ‘in the know’.

Lee Cox – @jackcabnory

Sara Haq