Recapping the 9th Edition of TEDxIE Madrid 2023: Exploring the Power of Connecting the Dots

On May 31st, the 9th TEDxIE Madrid conference took place at IE University in partnership with Campus Life and IE Foundation, uniting speakers and attendees under this year's theme of “Connecting the Dots.”

The speakers' list consisted of individuals from diverse backgrounds and stories, as the application was open to anyone, not just the IE community. The auditorium stage hosted remarkable individuals such as Yelyzaveta Pidopryhora, an IE Master's student and social innovation enthusiast; Harvey Seifter, one of the world's leading authorities on organizational creativity; Wanjiku Thiong'o, an IE student and social impact enthusiast; Claudia Warias, a certified mind coach; Wintson Reid, CEO of software technology company Alvin; and Romie Carillo, Head of Operations at Yoloop.

“The key lies not in the number of dots you have, but in your ability to connect them creatively,” said Pidopryhora, a Master in Customer Experience and Innovation at IE Business School, during her speech about creating her own enterprise in Kyiv amidst full-scale war. 

Credits: Inés Arcones

The theme of Connecting the Dots originated from the idea of finding patterns and insights across seemingly unrelated domains, a valuable skill that can lead to breakthrough ideas and solutions.

The conference was organized entirely by 40 IE students hailing from various programs, under the leadership of Doris Menard, IE Global Online MBA alumna. Her passion for TED and its ideas started long ago, leading her to obtain a license for hosting TEDx conferences.

“I have been a strong advocate for promoting TED and TEDx in the Madrid market. I combined my creativity and empathy to create an impact in the world and people's lives,” says Menard.

Since 2020, TEDxIE Madrid events have been hugely successful and were awarded the Best IE Event Certificate in 2022. This year's conference was no exception, with the maximum number of guests allowed by the license - 100 attendees, mainly consisting of graduate and undergraduate students, as well as residents of the Community of Madrid. This sell-out success is the result of five months of hard teamwork leading up to the event.

“The key to the success of our TEDxIE Madrid conference lies in building the perfect team. For me, a cohesive and passionate team is essential for organizing an exceptional event,” shares Menard.

Credits: Inés Arcones

The team also included Masters of Ceremony, Tancrède Thoma and Esther-Gail Fraser, IE Bachelor students, who were chosen to maintain the attendees' interest and attention.

“Leading an audience through a long conference is a bit intimidating, but I would say that they seemed to enjoy it, so I left the event quite satisfied with the outcome,” shared Thoma, a student of Bachelor's in Communication & Digital Media at IE Business School.