TEDxUNC works though technical difficulties

Despite some technical difficulties at the TEDxUNC convention on Saturday, speakers shared how their ideas could change the world.

“All the speakers were fantastic, but I feel bad that there was technical difficulties knowing how much time and effort was put into this event,” senior Kerris Gordon said. 

UNC has been holding TEDx conventions since 2012 without many issues, but this year, the projector had technical problems throughout the show. The speakers’ clickers malfunctioned, and the projector even displayed a video backwards.

“It was a little bit of a shuffle at the beginning,” said Megan Cassella, director of the speakers and performers committee. “We were just having trouble getting the slides projected. So the speakers could see the slides but the audience couldn’t.”

One speaker on the agenda, David Gardner, co-founder of The Motley Fool, could not come to the event because he was sick. A video of another talk was played instead. Cassella said she hopes Gardner will speak at next year’s convention. 

Cassella said that the TEDx team can learn from this year’s TEDx, but the convention wasn’t entirely a loss.

“I think we really accomplished finding a group of strong, diverse speakers,” she said. “Despite the craziness that went on, the speakers really carried the show.”  

The speakers ranged from inventors to storytellers. All connected to the event's theme of “assembly required.” Some speakers followed the theme literally, while others focused on issues that figuratively needed assembly.

Speakers like inventors Chase Lewis and Kavita Shukla have built products that they hope will improve people’s lives all over the world. Lewis, 15, invented a lightweight device that can be used to carry water, children and the sick across long distances in rural Africa. 

Shukla, inventor of FreshPaper, spent her high school career testing rotting fruit in her garage to perfect an organic paper that keeps fruits and vegetables fresh longer. 

“I was excited my idea might help people like my grandmother in her village (in India),” she said. 

Other speakers interpreted “assembly required” as a reference to mobilizing people.

Venroy July, a UNC alum who became an attorney and a professional boxer, said assembly is required to solve racial tensions and gain different perspectives. 

“Our challenge is to force ourselves to be uncomfortable — to have these conversations to get a perspective,” he said. 

Amber Koonce, a UNC alum, founded BeautyGap, an organization that collects black and brown dolls and gives them to girls of color all over the world. 

“When I went to Africa, I noticed that the dolls the little girls had had porcelain white skin, blonde hair and blue eyes,” Koonce said. “I realized that the dolls that are the most accessible or affordable were donated by western countries, and they were all white.” 

Koonce said if girls of color owned dolls that looked more like them, they would feel more confident and self-assured. 

Senior Catherine Keller said she liked Koonce’s idea.

“I love seeing someone so close to our age turning a small dream into a reality,” she said. 

But some assembly is required to make Koonce’s dream come true.

“There’s no problem so great we can’t contribute to the solution,” Koonce said. “So many people in America are pressed in the soil of oppression. We need to help them up.”  

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