Andrew presented the on “The Evolution of Social” at the TEDx London Business School event in London at the Royal Geographical Society on April 25th.
While this was Andrew’s first TEDx talk, he has been presenting professionally since 1999. You can see a number of Andrew’s previous presentations on the video page, and his other TEDx talks on the TEDx page.
This TEDx has been a signature event for the London Business School since 2011 and has featured an amazing line-up of speakers.
Created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” the TEDx program is designed to give communities, organisations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.
More on Andrew’s talk below.
“The Magic of Social”
How did this one tweet in January 2011 lead Andrew to present on stage at TEDx LBS?
The idea behind the talk
Humans are inherently social. One of the first coffee houses opened in Oxford in the early 1650s, and hundreds of similar establishments sprang up in London and other cities in the following years.
People went to coffeehouses not just to drink coffee, but to read and discuss the latest pamphlets and news sheets and to catch up on rumour and gossip. Fast forward to 2014 and not much has changed. Humans still like to meet, exchange ideas, rumour and gossip.
The magic of social in 2014 is that now we can do this anywhere and anytime. In the 1650’s coffeehouses were also used as post offices, where patrons would visit their favourite coffeehouses several times a day to check for new mail, catch up on the news and talk to other coffee drinkers, both friends and strangers. Today we check our “post boxes” on an hourly or even more frequent basis.
Today’s social network brings these old coffeehouses to life, in an online and virtual way.
Some coffeehouses specialised in the discussion of particular topics, like science, politics, literature or shipping. As customers moved from one to the other, information circulated with them. The magic of social in 2014 is that it now spans borders cultures and even timezones.
In this TEDx Talk, Andrew provided a range of personal experiences and explained how social has evolved since 1650 and in 2014 has become magic to many.
He looked at how one tweet can be turned into a fulfilling career as if by magic.
He also looked at the power of social in connecting people around the world for good, and how individuals can use the magic of social to make their own lives as well as those of their community much better, comparing this to “social” media of the 1650s.
He also outlined what magic is in store for social in the future.