TEDxSoho is a not for profit event run entirely by volunteers.
Sam has been producing TEDx events for nearly a decade and created TEDxSoho as a celebration of all the things this corner of London is famous for and a platform for meaningful conversation with the industries and individuals who call it home.
His love of TEDx events is underpinned with the genuine belief that when you put good people together, great things can happen.
Award-winning writer, broadcaster, Olivier nominated playwright and journalist and creator of The Battersea Poltergeist (starring Toby Jones and Dafne Keen) and Uncanny.
Danny’s play 2:22 – A Ghost Story, a contemporary-set modern supernatural thriller starring Lily Allen, opened in the West End in August 2021, playing to full houses and rave reviews. It returned for a second run in December 2021, and is still running a the Gielgud Theatre
Having single handedly kept curator Sam Orams sane throughout the lockdown with his comedy and supernatural podcasts, Danny was the first and only choice for hosting TEDXSoho 2022
"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men"
George Eliot
When a problem refuses to be ignored, it's time to take steps. While no one is expected to have all the answers at the outset, or to climb the mountain in a single leap, it is widely agreed that the most crucial step of all is the first.
In this section we bring together stories from speakers who have brought positivity and change to a community they love.
10.15
South London-born singer/songwriter Gabrielle Sey describes her sound “like a round trip from London to Accra with a stop-off at a Cali Sunday Service”. She has gained praise and recognition from the likes of BBC Radio 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Worldwide FM, Fresh on the Net, Exile fm, Gal-Dem and AFROPUNK. Richly rhythmic, lyrically lead and soulfully infused, Sey draws from her Ghanaian heritage to craft a distinctive sound true to her roots.
10.30
Emmy Award-winning entrepreneur, producer, technologist, and adjunct professor obsessed with disruptive ideas and the power of digital communities.
Paul Scanlan is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Legion M, the first media company in history designed to be owned by fans.
10.45
Lukasz Konieczka has been working with young LGBT+ persons for the past sixteen years and even when he was made redundant due to austerity in 2016 it didn’t stop him as he set up an award winning Mosaic LGBT+ Young Persons’ Trust as a charity to carry on serving young LGBT+ community of London.
11.00
Serial disruptor, mother, mentor and music industry evangelist, Bee Adamic is an inspirational leader in the world of music. She is the CEO and Founder of Liberty Music PR which she launched whilst pregnant back in 2016.
She is also the Founder of MAMI - a movement that pushes for change, educates, empowers the next generation of women in music through celebrating mothers who have had children in the music business.
Refreshments are available to purchase in the cafe/bar areas.
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"
Unknown
To say that life is subjective is an understatement. Every second of your life, from the moment of your birth to your last breath, will be experienced in that small space between your ears. This lense through which we see the world and the interpretations that we make, conciously or otherwise, are fundemental to our individual experience.
In ths section we bring to the stage speakers who seek to reframe their world in persuit of new perspectives.
11.45
At the age of five, I had a deep love for dance but that was quickly cut short after we found out that I had multiple tumours. I lost my sight officially at the age of 11 where I was introduced to a whole new world of "living in the dark".
I was seven when I wrote my first song and, I guess, I didn't stop. I dove into the art of songwriting, singing, playing piano and guitar, and it went from being a heartfelt hobby to a need for it to be a lifelong career.
12.00
Janet is the author of The Chinese Wine Renaissance (published by Penguin Randomhouse and shortlisted for Louis Roederer Wine Book of the Year 2019 and overall winner of 2020 Gourmand Awards World Wine category). She has appeared on BBC and Channel 4 (a fairly regular wine pundit on Sunday Brunch.) She is an internationally acclaimed specialist on Chinese wine and culture, and the principal Chinese speaking member of the prestigious Circle of Wine Writers and Association of Wine Educators.
12.15
Paulo began work in the restaurant business at 16 years of age in New York, and later Los Angeles.
He began to build his reputation in London at The Wolseley and the iconic Scott’s in Mayfair. Paulo moved on to open Bar Boulud London under the tutelage of the inimitable Daniel Boulud, winning over 29 awards. In 2016, Paulo launched acclaimed Italian restaurant, Margot in Covent Garden, where he was director and co-proprietor.
12.30
Danny's Podcast 'Battersea Poltergiest', rocketed him to the top of the world drama podcast charts. This was shortly followed by his investigatiive podcast Uncanny in which he investigates ghost stories first hand, interviewing primary witnesses before presenting evidence to a panel of experts.
In this short Q&A, curator Sam Orams will talk to Danny about his love of ghost stories and why, in a age of science and technology, they remain at the heart of popular culture.
Refreshments are available to purchase in the cafe/bar areas and in the many surrounding cafes and restaurants
"I believe the greatest privilege in this world is to use your freedom of speech for those who have no voice."
Ricky Gervais
When your situation or status prevents access to the life you long to lead, it's time to speak out. But what if your voice isn't heard, what then?
In this section we bring to the stage speakers who have dedicate their lives and careers to amplifying underrepresented voices.
14:00
London-based musician, David Ellis released his debut single ‘Eyes To The Sky’ to critical acclaim and was swiftly selected as BBC introducings Record of the Week.
As former lead guitarist for Razorlight, Ellis has over a decade of experience touring the world with some of the biggest names in the music industry.As well as directing musical performaces David will be performing and releasing new material exclusively at TEDxSoho
14:15
Prof Katy Shaw is university director of cultural partnerships at Northumbria University and Director of Creative Communities and is the author of five monographs, three edited collections and more than 20 journal articles on these subjects. Most recently, she is the author of the Case for Culture: the APPG Northern Culture inquiry report into post-covid cultural recovery and is researcher in residence on the Michael Sheen, Mirror, New Statesman and Joseph Rowntree project, A Writing Chance.
14:30
Michael has proved himself equally accomplished on both stage and screen. His many award-winning performances include Caligula and Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Theatre, and Hamlet at the Young Vic. He created, co-directed, and performed in the groundbreaking three-day live event The Passion in Port Talbot for National Theatre Wales.
Away from the Screen, Sheen is a dedicated cultural philanthropist, helping people from disadvantage backgrounds to gain a foot hold in the creative industry.
14:45
Aindrea Emelife is an art historian, writer, independent curator, author and presenter from London. Aindrea trained as an art historian at the prestigious Courtauld Institute of Art and has quickly gone on to become a ground-breaking new voice in an art world otherwise steeped in tradition.
Aindrea debuted her first column for the Financial Times aged 20 years old, and has been published widely and internationally, including articles in The Guardian, Vanity Fair, The Telegraph, BBC, GQ, Frieze, The Independent, BBC and ArtNet.
Refreshments are available in the cafe/bar areas.
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going"
Billy Ocean
Life is no rehearsal, it's happening, so make it count. If you get knocked down, get back up. If you make a mistake, apologise. Don't hold grudges. You don't get a second chance at now, because next time it will all be different.
In this section we bring to the stage stories from those who have dared to be different, to lead a life less ordinary, to change and be changed in persuit of something better.
15.30
Singer, songwriter and musician, Tom Odell was propelled straight to the forefront of the mainstream when his
debut EP, Songs From Another Love, was released in 2012, leading him to win a BRITs Critics’ Choice Award in 2013 and a place in BBC’s coveted Sound Of list. Later that year, his platinum-selling debut album Long Way Down was released to critical acclaim and went straight to #1 on the UK Albums Chart.
A string of critical successes followed leading us to 2022 and the anticiptaed release ofhis new, independently release album.
15.45
Karl Lokko is a former gang leader turned activist, poet, influencer, public speaker adventurer and CEO of Black Seed. Having grown up on a gang-ridden estate in South London, and witnessed the murder of his close friends, a church outreach group helped him turn his back on street violence. Since then he has managed to harness his life experiences which has propelled and uniquely situated him as an activist/influencer within the U.K and globally and among other things, advisor to Prince Harry.
16.00
Dr Camilla Pang is a scientist specialising in computational biology who is crazy about proteins and is an active researcher in cancer evolution. She has also written an award winning book called 'Explaining Humans' which won the Royal Society Insight Science book prize in 2020 making her the youngest ever person and the first person of colour. Her second book 'Perfectly Weird' is her debut children's book (March 2022), making her an advocate and voice for the neurodiverse community.
16.15
AFTA Breakthrough Brit and 2021 BIFA nominee Ray Panthaki is finally being recognised as one of the industry’s most diverse hybrids. The British actor/producer/writer/director is beginning to make waves across the industry in all of the above disciplines; consistently pushing artistic boundaries and choosing to do things against the norm.
Having worked with filmmakers such as Danny Boyle, Wash Westmoreland, Gavin Hood, and Ed Zwick as an actor; not much is known about Ray’s involvement behind the scenes in many ground-breaking films.
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