What do you get when you put together ten months, fourteen Organizing Committee (OC) Members, over 20 Sponsors, 584 sandwiches, and too many cups of coffee to count? One big idea – TEDXSFU 2015 Connect the Dots.
TEDxSFU has been a yearly conference working to bring students and community members together to discuss unique ideas and spread knowledge since 2010. Every year, hundreds of passionate people gather to engage in a sold-out, inspiration-packed day. How does it all come together? Last year, I had the pleasure of serving on the TEDxSFU OC as a Partner Relations Coordinator. Planning such a large-scale conference was an amazing opportunity, and I am excited to share with you the behind-the-scenes from the perspective of a Beedie student.
It is challenging to plan an event that caters to business and arts & social science students alike. TEDxSFU had to have “something for everyone”. This is why the OC team has always had a variety of alumni, faculties and students of diverse concentrations working in all departments from content to marketing. As a business student, most of my personal experience in event planning has been centred on business students as the target audience. When beginning my journey with TEDxSFU, I was challenged to think outside the box. In order to create a successful event I had to focus on how to get ALL SFU students to participate and not just those I was familiar with. By working with team members from different facilities I noticed a change in my perspective.
Content department had the difficult task of designing and building a conference brand that would relate to a diverse student population. The team sat down and discussed what would be an inspiring topic that each attendee would be excited about and carry on throughout the rest of the year. As we continued to plan, everything began to come into place. This year we had speakers specializing in food, mental health, student unemployment and so much more. The amazing thing about TEDxSFU is that all these seemingly unrelated topics are able to come together.
The skills that I have learned from the Beedie community helped TEDxSFU stay on track in the short amount of time we were given. I contributed my knowledge of event coordination, networking, and pitching. Using a timeline to track deliverables for every month was key in creating landmarks until our pillar event. We also worked with excel and online platforms to keep the team. All these were tools that I had used previously for business projects as a Beedie student. However, other key aspects of TEDx like content and speaker coordination were elements that I was unfamiliar with. Learning from those departments was an eye-opening experience.
I watched something that started off as a vision become something tangible. It was a great experience to have a team comprised of students from various departments, and not just Beedie. By having unique views on a similar challenge we were able to find solutions that were not only creative, but also effective and efficient. Together, we created solutions to problems that I would have never thought of on my own. It also gave us an idea of what it may be like when we break into the workforce.
I would suggest for all Beedie students to take a chance and venture out of the Beedie community. Connect with students from different areas of study and open up to new perspectives. It will help you grow as a business man/woman. Try something that encourages collaboration between those you would not normally work with and I promise, it will be so worth it.
Tiffani Lee is a 3rd year Business Student looking to concentrate in Human Resources and MIS with a minor in Health Sciences. She wants to use her business degree to improve healthcare systems within Canada through quality control and patient experience. Passionate about engaging in the SFU community, she has participated as a member of the first Pathways street team, Young Women in Business and as an executive member of SFU’s first sorority. Tiffani is excited for the rest of her Beedie journey and looks forward to exploring the new opportunities and adventures that await.