35 13 Association Going beyond comment more opportunities and reach for sponsors .
Finally , there ’ s also a potential ‘ Bleisiure ’ angle . Combining leisure activities with business travel is a growing trend so adding on a visit to Hardrian ’ s Wall when staging a conference in Newcastle for example gives delegates the chance to expand their horizons and visit UK attractions they may not have been to before .
Michaela Reaney , co-founder of Opportunity Global : I ’ m a TEDx organiser for the Northeast of England by night and , by day , I also run a learning and development company . We organise L & D events but my
“ Satellite events are growing in popularity whereby you might have a main conference in London and smaller events in other parts of the UK ”
Sarah Thackray , founder and director BeaconHouse Events ; Steve Keith , equity , diversity and inclusion consultant , Curious Creations ; Marina Lunn , senior project manager at TRO
main involvement with event planning is as a licence holder for TEDx Teeside .
The beauty of organising TEDx talks in this part of the country is being able to spread the ideas , inspiration and insights that come from our speakers to more diverse audiences outside of London and the South . I ’ ve found that only the privileged can afford to attend TEDx talks in London , but we ’ re able to tap into more regional communities and engage local cultures and groups . Since the pandemic , the desire for human connection has increased but so , too
has our consciousness of how we impact climate change . People are considered about how they travel and look much closer to home for engaging experiences . People also want to be part of larger communities and engage with year-round content . Attending a TEDx event in the Northeast of England and then becoming part of a global community , as a result , is incredibly powerful .
Those opportunities don ’ t always exist in the Northeast so when we staged our first event , the groundswell of local interaction and engagement was incredible . We outperformed TEDx London which was unbelievable to me but , I guess , in London you ’ re competing with every other event for attention . Another reason to stage events outside of London , in more regional , often deprived communities , is to provide greater reach and diversity for sponsors and stakeholders . The challenge is converting that interest into actual investment . The way to navigate it is to engage local business owners and ensure that your events add value and align with their values and objectives .
Those businesses that were brave enough to support our first TEDx Women talk in Middlesborough had such a positive experience and have seen plenty of opportunities off the back of getting involved . You just need to work harder on creating that connection to the local area . That
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