See our Online Event Program

Our main event for 2016, "(r)Evolutions", took us full circle around the immensely creative talents of our speakers, who included the co-founder of Beakerhead, an Olympic gymnast, a guru of the world of work, and scientists using video game technology to better understand bodies.

Watch the talks on our YouTube channel

Our main event for 2017, "Signal vs Noise", featured speakers ranging from astronauts and astronomers to inventors and poets to soldiers and young robot designers. All had one thing in common: their messages were clear signal that needed to cut through the noise of our crowded, every-day lives.

Watch the talks on our YouTube channel

Every team needs an organized core, and Marcel is our project manager extraordinaire.

In true superhero fashion, by day he runs his own consultancy, MySimplifyCoach, and by night he wrangles us into some sort of order. You'll always see his ready smile and laugh at our various community salon meetups, and he'll be the guy taking care of the details at our main events and team meetings. 

When he's not out meeting volunteers, prospective partners, and others interested in talking about TEDxCalgary, Jonathan Perkins works in the leadership, learning innovation and knowledge management fields. From November 2011 to October 2015 he was a member of the Calgary Police Commission, serving two terms.

Jonathan also is an alumnus of the Leadership Calgary class of 2003, and was a returning guide in 2004, which is where he and co-founder Rahim Sajan first connected at a book club event.

Besides being the Curator and Licencee -- which means he lives and breathes everything to do with TEDxCalgary -- Rahim also is a teacher, a former University of Calgary Senator, community organizer, entrepreneur, adventurer and self confessed bookworm. He is an educator in the local public board, where he currently works with students, teachers and industry to make learning and the real world connect. Before this sweet gig, he had other unbelievably cool jobs where he taught science, physical education, robotics, astronomy, and math. He has extensive experience working in some of the poorest communities, and some of the richest, in Alberta.

We had an amazing start to our 2018 year of events with our New Horizons Salon on May 10th.

Click on the title link to see the videos of our speakers!

How do we ensure that we tell more authentic stories in our media, especially on behalf of groups that don't normally command sustained media attention? One of the world’s most respected and recognized journalists, Zain Verjee has worked as a CNN International anchor, reporter, and interviewer. She is also the co-founder of aKoma, Africa’s premier digital storytelling platform, representing authentic African stories in the media.

In a world rife with extremism acts, how do we help change things when that next extremist might well be our neighbour and look exactly like us? A Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and the Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism. Dr. Perry has made substantial contributions to the limited scholarship on hate crime in Canada, including work on anti-Muslim violence, hate crime against LGBTQ communities, the community impacts of hate crime, and right wing extremism in Canada.

A cardiac surgeon and scientist at the University of Calgary, Dr. Fedak is committed to the innovation and translation of new surgical therapies for patients with advanced heart disease. He has pioneered several novel surgical techniques, and leads a collaborative research effort with Northwestern University to better understand risk prediction around heart disease.