Meet the societies: TEDxWarwick

27 November 2017

In this meet the society blog, we talk to Lorenzo Ederone, second year student studying BSc Management and Vice Director of Corporate Relations at TEDxWarwick.

Last year, I arrived here at Warwick after having spent my whole life in Italy. I had decided to come to the UK for my undergraduate studies and particularly to Warwick because I wanted to experience an international education in a diverse cohort of students. I chose Warwick Business School because, besides its world-class reputation for teaching and research excellence, I had read on blog posts just like this one about how the students here were amazed at the opportunities offered by such an international environment; I was thrilled! And yet, I was not prepared for what I would find on my arrival here at WBS. Students from every corner of the world, in what is a diverse, vibrant international community that I am sure I will not be able to ever experience again in my life. I have so far met people from 93 different countries here (trust me, I’ve counted them!) and started great friendships with people who come for places that are very distant from my home back in Italy. I believe that Warwick Business School really does bridge all international gaps, from allowing people from all over the world to meet and share their ideas with each other, to having an incredible teaching environment in which everyone can succeed and excel in their studies, regardless of their pre-university background.

I remember something that particularly struck me upon arrival was finding out how active and entrepreneurial the student community is at Warwick. There are hundreds of societies, and I’ve come to the realisation that if something exists, then there must be a society at Warwick about it! But, as a TED talk lover who’s very passionate about TED’s mission of promoting ‘ideas worth spreading’, what I was particularly excited about was TEDxWarwick, the largest student-run conference in Europe and one of the most renowned university-organised TEDx events in the world. After attending TEDxWarwick 2017, my mind was blown and I felt an incredible sense of pride just by thinking about how Warwick students alone were able to independently organise such an amazing event. As soon as I had come out the doors of Warwick Arts Centre at the end of the event last March, I was speechless and determined to participate in the organisation of the next one!

Fast-forward to now, and I am Vice Director of Corporate Relations in the TEDxWarwick 2018 organising team; together with the Director, I am responsible for coordinating the team in charge of establishing partnerships and securing funding for our event. I am extremely proud of the fact that Warwick Business School is our biggest partner this year: the passionate support of WBS is fundamental in giving us the opportunity to organise the best edition of our event to date, as TEDxWarwick goes into its 10th anniversary. I think this is a brilliant example of how much WBS cares for and is directly involved with students who want to make a difference here on campus!

TEDx Warwick Corporate Relations Team

 

The skills that I’m developing whilst studying at WBS are now proving vital for me in the work that I do at TEDxWarwick. The attention to detail and analytical mindset that you develop as a WBS undergraduate is now helping me a lot in the difficult task of creating sponsorship packages that comply with all the TEDx sponsorship rules and at the same time provide good value for our prospective partners. The critical thinking skills that WBS helps you nurture are essential in a job that is so centred on negotiation such as the one I do for TEDxWarwick.

If you are reading this blog post and you are either a prospective or a current  WBS student, or even if you are a student from any other department, and would like to get involved with organising TEDxWarwick, we have something for you!

There are several ways to get involved: you can attend all our upcoming Salons and TEDxWarwick 2018! We have incredible things in store, and you can find all the details about our upcoming events on our Facebook page. You can apply to be a volunteer later in the year as we approach the main event date in March, so that you can provide vital assistance to the team in the running of such a complex event! Then, after the event, a new organising team will be formed in Term 3 and new Coordinators will be recruited, which in turn will recruit new Directors for each of the teams. You will find all the details about recruitment, the different teams that we have and what is the role of each on our website. We welcome everyone, previous experience as a Team Member in TEDxWarwick is not required to apply for a Director role! I became a Vice Director without having been part of the 2017 organising team, and from the very first moment, I felt at home in the TEDxWarwick family.

I hope that this blog post has given you a taste of what life as an undergraduate at Warwick Business School is like and sparked your interest in TEDxWarwick and all the wonderful things that our society does!