TEDXREIMS SET UP BY NEOMA ALUMNI

The first TEDxReims took place on 22 November. TED conferences, famous all over the world, are becoming more and more widespread. Following on from capital cities, the provinces are now beginning to host them. At last Reims and the Champagne-Ardenne region have their own TED!
The aim of TED conferences (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is to “spread ideas.” All the conferences are made available on the website www.ted.com, translated into several languages to make them as accessible as possible. Unlike the conferences we are used to, here each “speaker” is alone on the stage for about fifteen minutes and describes an idea or a discovery based on their experience, usually in a story-telling format.
The instigator of the Reims project is Grégory Pierson, who is currently studying at NEOMA BS in Paris. In a few months he managed to train a team in Reims to lay the foundations for the event. Of course the idea is a lot older than that, and took shape during earlier discussions with other TEDx organisers in France.
“I had wanted to organise this project for a long time, and as Reims didn’t yet have its own TEDx, it seemed appropriate, or even indispensable. There is in fact already quite a lot of demand from students on the NEOMA BS Reims campus who know the concept and have already reserved their seats for 22 November. And finally, the NEOMA Alumni network was a great help to me, with a lot of positive feedback. It’s important to feel that people are behind you when you are organising an event like this.”

Charles Bai, a Rouen campus graduate (MGE 86) is also involved in the adventure: “I am originally from Normandy, and then worked for some of the most famous Champagne houses for more than 20 years. Then I set up my own communications consultancy. I also coordinate TwittinReims (https://twitter.com/twittinreims), a micro-media group presenting the latest dynamic news about Reims. I am proud of my links to both Reims and Normandy; I think I can describe myself as a ‘good blend’ of the two regions!”
We would like to thank Grégory and Charles for organising this major event, and we hope that this TEDxReims will be the first of many. NEOMA Alumni, the School’s graduate network, was indeed one of the very first partners of TEDxReims, being convinced that this is a very important project.
Find out more:
TEDxReims website: http://www.tedxreims.fr