Announced speakers
Ken Clearwater
Ken is a born and bred Cantabrian. He has been working with the Male Survivors of Sexual Assault Trust since 1996. MSSAT is the only group of its kind in New Zealand dedicated to working with and supporting male survivors from a peer support model
Liz Breslin
A writer, editor and tutor, Liz is based in Hawea Flat, NZ. In between all of her many professions, Liz find opportunities for local voices. Her workshops give people the chance to bring their own words to life.
Patrick Dodson
Patrick Dodson is a self-taught chef, photographer, writer, designer and Airbnb entrepreneur. His diverse journey in all these fields has come about by paying close attention to his innate traits and writing a narrative of his own future which he has leaned into with wonderful and challenging results.
Tashi and Nungshi Malik
Tashi and Nungshi Malik are world record holders and social activists. Originally from India, Tashi and Nungshi are completing their studies at SIT, their mission to encourage other young girls to get involved with outdoor sports. The twins have created the NungshiTashiFoundation, which aims to promote gender parity, particularly for outdoor sports.
Peggy Oki
Surfer, Skateboarder, Artist and Activist. Peggy’s love of the outdoors inspires her to travel worldwide in search of good surf. In 2004, she founded the Origami Whales Project to raise awareness about commercial whaling. She has also developed the Whales and Dolphins Ambassador Program and led campaigns such as ‘Let’s Face It’, which petitions to save New Zealand’s critically endangered Maui’s dolphins and Hector’s dolphins.
Holly Hoogvliet
Queenstown born Holly Hoogvliet is already gathering a reputation as a top-notch musician at just 21 years old. She was playing piano by the age of four and writing songs at the age of eight. In 2007, she was identified as a talent to watch out for at the International Pacific Songwriting Awards.
Neil Gardyne
Neil has been farming in Southland since he first began his career in 1998 just outside of Gore. Since then, they have grown their business to 13,000 stock units. In 2013 Neil, Philippa and Mark were finalists in the Lincoln South island farmer of the year competition. Neil is well known globally for the introduction of Drones into Agriculture.
Allan Dixon
Allan Dixon has been experimenting with media to excite people and fulfil life goals for the majority of his life. Winner of the 2013 ‘The Best Job in the World’ campaign by Tourism Australia after competing against over half a million contestants. His unique eye for online storytelling has lead to dream jobs, partnerships and free travel.
Niki Bezzant
Niki Bezzant is a nutrition and food writer and the founding editor, now editor-in-chief, of Healthy Food Guide magazine (NZ’s top-selling food magazine). She is a weekly columnist for the Herald on Sunday, regularly blogs at healthyfood.co.nz and is a regular contributor to TV and radio.
Tony Crabb
Tony Crabb was born in Arbroath, Scotland in 1964 and emigrated to Australia shortly afterwards. Tony currently talks widely around Australia and Asia on topics including urbanisation, ageing, climate change, technology, global debt, the workforce and investment markets.
Amy Scott
Passionate about improving communication of people, families, businesses, organizations, teams, workplaces and communities everywhere – Amy Scott (former lawyer) says “It’s not rocket science – it is simply learning how not to rub people up the wrong way!” Living in beautiful Alexandra, she is proud born and bred rural Central Otago local.
WHo we are
Here at TEDxQueenstown we are driven to produce amazing talks, great food and drink and an experience you won't forget but also to remember our deeply community-based audience. We work, play and dream together. Our first event was held in 2013 and we've been steadily growing ever since. We are always looking for the ways we can bring the best possible experience to our TEDxQueenstown audience.
Recent Posts
TEDxQueenstown 2016 – That’s a wrap!
So it’s been a week since our minds were challenged in the best possible way. We laughed, we cried, we nodded in agreement, we shook our heads in heads in disbelief, we caught up with old friends and met many new. TEDxQueenstown 2016 lived up to its theme of CONNEXIONS as we explored what these[...]
What to expect at TEDxQueenstown 2016?
The day is approaching fast and we thought it would be more than useful for all you ticket holders to know more about what you can expect on the day of the event… Food and drink First and foremost, prepared to be fully catered for. We have absolutely everything covered when it comes to food[...]
What is it like volunteering for TEDxQueenstown?
Well it can be challenging and occasionally frustrating, it involves quite a few Saturday morning meetings and you will become well acquainted with your email inbox and google calendar. Volunteering for any organisation or event means that you are dedicating your time and resources without expecting anything in return. This all comes with the territory[...]
GUEST BLOG: The (TED)X Factor by Ting Zhang
When I stepped through the doors of the Queenstown Memorial Center on April 19th, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect. It was my first TEDx event, and my first time at a large organized event in Queenstown. As an avid TED Talk viewer, I was looking forward to partaking in a day of intellectual[...]
A Brief History of Queenstown
1200AD (or thereabouts) – Polynesians were the first to explore and hunt in the area. Later, Maoris set up camp at the head of the lake, near modern day Glenorchy where they found beautiful pounamu (greenstone). They named Queenstown Tāhuna, meaning shallow bay. 1860 – William Gilbert Rees and fellow explorer, Nicholas Paul Baltasar von[...]
What is TEDx?
Hello mighty readers! We’re on the road again with new ideas, team members and all that is TEDxQueenstown. Coming to our amazing town on April 17th 2016. We thought for all you newbies out there we would give you some info as to what is TEDx? Where did it come from? What’s it all about?[...]
Now Recruiting for 2016!
We are looking for new team members for our TEDxQueenstown 2016 Event to be held in April. Are you self-driven, enthusiastic and ready to commit to being part of our next fantastic event? We are particularly looking for people to fill the below roles. If you think you have the motivation and the skills we’re[...]
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Lydia lives her dream everyday. She travels to opportunities worldwide as she sees fit, spends time with friends and at important occasions. Lydia lives her dream everyday. She works globally with leaders and women, supports charities and social entrepreneurs, and spends time with family and friends all around the world. And she can do this[...]
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Dane’s passion, expertise and knowledge is in how humans can thrive under pressure. He works with Olympic and Commonwealth games medalists, touring professionals, elite athletes and coaches as well multinational companies. Dane has written for a variety of national publications and appeared on national television and radio as well as presented at World Congresses -discussing[...]
TEDxQueenstown Marcus Winter
Using a light box as a canvas Marcus Winter manipulates millions of grains of sand for a living. Winter’s extraordinary ability to tell a narrative through the seemingly simple movement of grain is enchanting. His dexterity allows him to conjure evocative images in seconds before they’re dashed aside ready for the next evocative representation. Winter[...]