The Team
The core volunteer team 2022
TEDxOdense is a nonprofit organization with a common interest of Ideas Worth Spreading, fueled by the energy of the volunteers:
Adam Montandon
Curator, co-license holder and Speaker Coach
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Inventor, author, innovator, and educator, Adam Montandon loves to share his knowledge and energy. He uses playfulness and interactivity to help you unlock your full creative potential. He has been working with the speakers behind the scenes, helping them to tell powerful stories in exciting ways.
“I love to find amazing hidden stories and share them with the city. It is my absolute pleasure to work with so many talented people from around the world to bring this very special event to Odense.”
Favorite TED or TEDx Talk: Rita Pierson - Every kid needs a champion
Contact info:
LinkedIn I Email I adammontandon.com I Gopublicspeaking.com
Sara Eckhardt Boesen
Head Organizer and Head of Audience Experience
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Sara has currently returned to Odense after years living abroad. Travelling to various countries, she ultimately settled in the UAE and worked on large scale events in Abu Dhabi such as the Special Olympics 2019. Even though not impressed by the danish weather, she loves being back home, and is very happy for the opportunity of being a part of TEDxOdense.
“I love Podcasts, and when I started listening many years ago, there were not as many options as there is today, so I mainly listened to TED Talks. I was so impressed and drawn by all the very diverse topics and ideas made comprehensible and captivating. I am very excited about TEDxOdense and even more people getting to know about ideas worth spreading”
Favorite ted talk:
Ian Dunbar - Dog-friendly dog training
Natalia Fernández Markus
Production Assistant
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Natalia is currently studying Service, Hospitality and Tourism Management with specialisation in Event Management at UCL in Odense. Through her studies and volunteering experience, she has really “caught the bug” for the planning and production of events. She is passionate about creating exciting experiences for people and loves nerding about the little details in the process. In her spare time, she can usually be found writing or working on a new arts and crafts project.
“I think what really drew me towards TED Talks at first was the story-telling element. But what has impacted me through all the years I have been watching them has been the amazing hopefulness and empathy that they bring out in people; that core element of ‘hey, this made me feel better, here it is so you may feel better too’. I am excited to be a part of spreading more of those stories.”
Favourite TED or TEDx talk:
The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Contact info:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nataliamarkus
Email: natalia@markus.mx
Rikke Werenskiold
Marketing Team
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Francesca Baggio
Marketing Team
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Francesca is a passionate marketer and joyful person. She works as Marketing Coordinator and she loves her job every day. In her free time, she plans journeys around the world, she reads tons of books and cuddles her dog Dobby (yes, she loves Harry Potter). She enjoys living in Odense, even when she is biking and the wind keeps blowing against her (let's see it as a metaphor about obstacles in life).
"I joined the marketing team of TEDxOdense because I love TED talks (and I tend to cry while watching them) and I get so much inspiration from them. Despite all the bad news we hear daily, TED talks allow me to keep trusting humanity, reassuring me that there are still awesome human beings in the world."
Favorite TED Talk: The Edge of Freedom by Niaz Bayati
Maria J. Andersen
Art Director / Website
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Maria J Andersen is working as a Freelance Web Designer and has a bachelor's degree In Digital Concept Development. She was born and raised in Denmark but has in recent years spent a lot of time travelling and living abroad - including studying design at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
"Like so many others, I've watched TED videos for many years. This year I got the opportunity to be a part of the TEDxOdense team and contribute with what I do best and I couldn't be more excited."
Favorite TED or TEDx Talk: Andy Puddicombe - All it takes is 10 mindful minutes
Frederik Lunding
Photographer
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Frederik has always loved technology and science, and creating stuff, which lead to him becoming a physics and technology engineering student at the University of Southern Denmark. Besides his studies, he is working on the Danish Student CubeSat Program (DISCO) with setting up a ground station for satellite control and communication with the DISCO-3 satellite, as well as control of future radio telescopes at the university. Apart from his studies, he runs his own freelance photography business, and has had his work featured in news articles on multiple occasions. An interesting fact about his work as a photographer is the fact that he is colourblind, but primarily creates coloured photos.
“Every creation/innovation stem from an idea, but what and where the idea itself stem from is always an interesting story. To me, TED and TEDx talks have always been a great source of inspiration. Being given the opportunity to let my creative skills portray the story of this year’s event, and hopefully help others be inspired is a dream come true.”
Favourite TED or TEDx talk:
Why you should make useless things | Simone Giertz
Contact info:
Ioana Jongsma
Speaker Management
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Ioana is a communication professional with a cause: helping people put meaningful talks into the world. She joined TEDxOdense in 2017 with this precise purpose. Ioana now curates TEDxOdenseWomen and also runs her own speaker coaching start-up, the Speaker Coaching Diaries (https://www.speakercoachingdiaries.com/) - a development of her decade-long experience with communication and language training and her activity in TEDxOdense.
“We are all hungry for good content these days, yet what good content is seems to elude many content producers, be they copywriters, video makers, or speakers. So to be allowed to work with this material, filter it, shape it, and polish it until it is the best it can be is a dream come true. I’m extremely happy and grateful to be on a team that lives and breathes for extraordinary talks.”
Favorite TED or TEDx Talk: Kelly Mcgonigal - How to make stress your friend
Contact info:
Facebook I LinkedIn I Instagram I YouTube I Website
Hakim Harder
Speaker Management
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As a trained actor, screenwriter, producer, and former musician, Hakim is at home on the stage and in front of the camera. Hakim also has many years of experience in the financial industry and IT business. When he is not working, he trains Wing Chun Kung Fu in which he is also an instructor.
"I have loved watching TED Talks since I saw my first many years ago. I am a curious soul by nature and the amount and variety of TED Talks out there are staggering and mind-numbing. TEDx is an extremely important platform for spreading new ideas. Maybe now more than ever. So, when my opportunity came to join the TEDx speaker team I had no doubts... I am a fanboy after all."
Favorite TED Talk: Why do we sleep? - Russell Foster
Gordon Philip Mazza
Speaker Management
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Gordon worked in financial services in England for nearly 30 years but is now based in Odense. Having recently sold the company he helped found in 1998, Gordon hankers after a new entrepreneurial venture, but until he comes across the right one is enjoying the freedom to pursue voluntary activities.
“A client introduced me to TED talks some years ago, and I would dip into them when I got the time. I got tickets to TEDxOdense in 2018 and 2019 and was blown away by the energy and enthusiasm at the event. Cities like Odense need forums where inquisitive minds can be brought together. I am privileged and delighted to be able to play a small part in putting on an event that at the very least will be thought-provoking and entertaining, but has the potential to be truly life changing for some.”
Favorite TED or TEDx Talks:
Ok it’s not very original when over 60 million people have seen it, but watching the Sir Ken Robinson talk “Do schools kill creativity?” helped me to reflect on what I wanted from a school for my children and the one that led to me volunteering 3 days a week at a nursing home, Ole Kassow’s “Cycling without age”
Oscar Schofield
Logistics Team
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Oscar is a research assistant at the University of Southern Denmark in the fields of power line inspection drones, and holds a masters in Robot Technology, specialising in Unmanned Aerial Systems Design. He enjoys solving problems with practical solutions, and can often be found tinkering and repairing everything from bikes to 3D printers.
Oscar’s journey with TEDxOdense started in 2018, where his knowledge in building and designing had led to the fabrication of multiple props and projection mapping structures within the venue.
“TED has had a massive impact on my family over the last ten years when my mother was recruited to help start and organise INKTalks conference in India (in association with TED) - every year she would inspire us of the amazing people and the stories they told.
I joined the Helping Hands team after moving to Odense in 2017 and have enjoyed working with passionate, like-minded individuals all with their own amazing stories. This year I look forward to working in the Core team and taking my experiences to make this the best TEDxOdense yet!”
Favourite TED talk: Meet the dazzling flying machines of the future | Raffaello D'Andrea
Ania Gościnna-Poulsen
Logistics Team
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Anna has lived many lives it seems. In Poland where she comes from, she run her own pub and made a BA in Tourism/ Hotel Management. That path is in line with her hospitable nature. Gościnna is a Polish adjective meaning “hospitable”. After coming to Denmark and becoming a mom she had to reinvent herself – family and pub life don’t mix well together. Now a happy Mom, Self-employed Multimedia designer, Anna satisfies her enormous human connection needs by volunteering in various localevents (TEDxOdense, Odense Film Festival etc.) Anna is fascinated by people and their stories, human nature and what makes us do what we do.
“I have been connected with TEDxOdense from its beginnings as TEDxEAL, first as a spectator and later on as a volunteer. I met many fascinating people on stage but more importantly in volunteer and guest
group. Some have influenced my life, some have become my closest
friends. I am excited to see how this years TEDxOdense will enrich my life
– see you there!”
I really love this TEDxHamburg by Cordelia Röders-Arnold “Unf*ck
Menstruation” she is very passionate and a natural speaker – you have to
see this.
Nora Garisa
Logistics Team
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I’ve been living in Denmark for already 5 years. I moved here to complete my higher education and start building a career. Right now, I’m pursuing my masters in International Business Management as a last step of my education.
Besides my studies, I’m also working on the side. Throughout my student worker years, I gained experience in event management, project management, marketing management, B2B and B2C communication, content creation, market analysis, and business analysis and strategy.
"I believe that TED talks are one of the most valuable way of entertainment. TED talks for me are about learning from others, getting motivated, and opening up our perspectives. I mean, what’s not to like about them?
The combination of my enthusiasm towards TED talks and keenness for event management is the strongest motivation for me why to volunteer at TEDx Odense. I have always hoped to have a chance to not only watch TED talks on my laptop, but to actually be able to be part of one. Well, TEDxOdense couldn’t have been a more perfect opportunity…"
There are two topics that get me hooked on: scientific educational talks and self-development talks. One of my favourite one is a motivational talk about how to be a happier person by doing a good deed every day.
Contact:
Barbara Kocsor
Logistics Team
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Barbara is doing her second bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychological studies. She is mainly interested in understanding human behavior and why people do the things they do. She believes once one understands the driving motives of the behavior, only then one can make a change and find solutions to certain problems. Her passion for TED started by secretly listening to TED Talks during her working hours. Today she still does this, but in a more advanced level, now she can even take notes meanwhile. Barbara hopes her boss is not reading this comment.
“Listening to a TED Talk you not only gain information about one topic, it rather stimulates your creativity, triggers you to think out of the box and get familiar with so-far unknown or different ideas, you otherwise would have not even thought about. “
Favorite Ted Talk: How Your Brain Falls in Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyq2Wo4eUDg
Contact info:
LinkedIn
Seda Gärtig
Logistics Team
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Seda is a marketer, with a background in industrial engineering, innovation, and business. She is passionate about sustainability, a healthy vegan lifestyle, and inspiring others to grow. Her current endeavors include being a social media manager of an online sustainability guide "The Considerate Consumer", running her recipe blog “healthyveganseda” on Instagram, as well as volunteering as a marketing content creator at Red Barnet.
“I fell in love with TED talks since the first video I watched on the internet. I remember wishing I could feel the magic in person. Luckily, we no longer need to travel miles away to do that! With TEDx events, we have the chance to live those “a-ha” moments in person, and I am beyond excited to encourage people to join in. I believe that we will leave TEDxOdense as different versions of ourselves.”
Favorite TED/TEDx talk: Don't Believe Everything You Think | Lauren Weinstein
Contact info:
LinkedIn I Email I Instagram I Twitter
Kimmie Weddell Beier
Logistics Team
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Kimmie is a mental health and welfare professional striving to enhance the life quality of each and every person she crosses on her path by mindset coaching to achieve strong interpersonal communication and lifelong, memorable experiences.
She's experienced in counseling students, citizens and public sectors in the field of how to lead the good life, thriving in diverse social environments and how to advance to become the best possible version one can be.
Kimmie joined the TEDxOdense team to be part of a unique event gathering great minds and curious audiences - and to participate in making the TEDxOdense event a wonderful evening for everyone involved!
Quote:
"I'm excited to meet the audience participating at this year's TEDxOdense and to get to know the people who are curious of broadening their minds at the 2022 TED event.
My dream is seeing lots of smiling faces as people enter the main entrance of the beautiful Møntergården sight, and to observe the exiting conversations on what the audience have experienced throughout the evening as they say their 'good night's' at the door, smiling and waving goodbye"
Favourite ted talk:
Favourite Ted talk is "How to stop screwing yourself over" TEDxSF.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp7E973zozc
Contact info:
FB is Kimmie Weddell Beier.
Linkedin is the same name (Kimmie Weddell Beier), Instagram is missweddell.
Favourite Ted talk is "How to stop screwing yourself over" TEDxSF.