The 8 People I met at TEDxToronto

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It started back in 2010, Wilfrid Laurier University. My first ever conference. I was new to the school, scrambled to find my community, and started volunteering. Now, 7 years later, with a couple conference experiences under my belt I can safely say that TEDx is near the top of my list.

[No shade, Allied Media Conference still has the number one spot in my heart.]

Regardless, every conference feels shiny and new. This one was a little different because I went in with a goal to make a genuine connection with ONE person, and I think I surpassed it.

Meet the wonderful people I met at TEDxToronto:

  1. A man who worked in Google, is learning to drive cars at 200 km/h, likes video games, is interested in being a product manager and is interested in building his leadership skills.
  2. A woman who has travelled to many places as a fundraiser for Paralymics Canada and has already selected friends who will team up with her during a zombie apocalypse.
  3. A woman who is an engineer and gets to work with JAM! How awesome?! She also mistaked my co-worker and I as high school students, which was VERY flattering, because we introduced ourselves as people from "Supporting Our Youth" who got guest tickets.
  4. A man who finally retired at 64, after working hard for many years. He loves coffee (not the fancy kind, he thinks that is for the younger generation), and was excited to see his son-in-law, Satish Kanwar, speak at TEDxToronto
  5. A woman whom I was sitting beside and our legs were consistently touching but she assured me it was okay because we were keeping eachother warm. After being a flight attendant for many years, she retired her wings and joined her husband's family business. She recently thought of mortality due to a family member passing away and hopes to go on a safari trip with her daughter.
  6. A woman who started off with project management and shifted to change management because someone simply suggested it to her. She, along with many other PMs, are vague when I ask a question about their process - they tend to reply saying it is always different depending on the client. 
  7. A man with two kids, a wife, but surprisingly no ring (sorry if I put your business out there mister, I just noticed it - I'm sure you folks show your commitment to each other in a different way). He explained parenting as THIS. A rollercoaster ride of awful, awful, awful, spectacular, awful, awful, awful, magical. He has friends of dual-parent families but in his friend circle there are no single parent families.
  8. A man whose passion in photography originated from film. He likes the framing, storylines, lighting, and other things that go into filmmaking. Recently he had an argument with his business partner about money.