TEDxKotor

TEDxKotor is an independently organised event licenced by the international organisation TED. TEDxKotor is scheduled for October 5th and it will take place in the Cultural Centre 'Nikola Djurkovic' in Kotor. This the first TEDx event organised in Kotor and a second in a row TEDx event on the Montenegrin coast.

The theme of this year's event is REACHING FOR THE STARS. Our mission is to encourage people to seek positive changes and to create them themselves, to connect like-minded individuals and hopefully set foundations for the great future.

TEDxKotor is a one-day conference that will welcome 10 speakers on its stage. With two coffee breaks and launch covered by TEDxKotor for all participants, we hope we'll encourage people to connect, relax, and enjoy a full day in Kotor. 

Marina Orsag will be the host at TEDx Kotor! Marina comes from Zagreb, Croatia and she's one of the most known stand-up comedians in the region. Her satirical humour criticizes and inspires intending to break away from prejudice and spread positivity. Continuing her mission to spread positivity through laughs Marina bootstrapped Studio Smijeha, the first comedy club in the region. This is her second TEDx mission, but first time as a host. In her TEDxZagreb talk in 2017, she spoke about 'Smjehotres' and why it's so important to make as many people as possible be part of your mission. Join us on October 5th and enjoy a day full of amazing stories mixed with crazy laughing.

Speakers:

1. Rainer Hoess (Das Erbe des Kommandanten) is first announced speaker at TEDxKotor. Rainer Höss, the grandson of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, former commandant of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. He has turned against his family and the Nazi ideology that they still embrace to educate audiences on the dangers of hatred. He is also a member of the Footsteps team, a group that uses history and education to ensure that the lessons of the past are not forgotten and to help build a more tolerant world today. Rainer and the rest of the Footsteps team are dedicated to challenging all forms of hatred and intolerance – particularly when others are targeted, scapegoated, and harmed because of their faith, ethnicity, race, country of origin, language, political views, gender, sexuality, or age. 
2. Vladimir Vulic is a digital transformation strategist, co-founder of Digitalizuj.Me, and Program Director of Spark.me conference. He's been recognised as 'Project Manager of the Year' by the Association of Montenegrin Managers. Vladimir has 12 years of experience teaching Strategic Management at the University of Montenegro. He was a keynote speaker in 20 countries across 4 continents, from Peru to Taiwan. Two-time TEDx speaker – TEDxZagreb and TEDxZemun, ready to deliver lucky number three – TEDxKotor on 5th of October.
3. José Woldring started her PR agency, The Media Nanny when she was 22 while studying at the university. Ten years later and The Media Nanny has become one of the biggest PR agencies in the world of entertainment, especially in EDM. José has been working closely with the biggest names in the EDM world such as Martin Garrix and David Guetta, taking care of their international magazine covers, online covers, radio, and TV appearances. Her vast knowledge of the industry and outstanding work with The Media Nanny put José on Billboard's annual list of Dance music power players of 2018. We are excited to hear José's first TEDx speech at TEDxKotor and learn what it takes to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated industry.
4. Piotr Prokopowicz is an Assistant Professor at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, a Post-Doctoral Associate at the University of Maryland’s Culture Lab, and a Co-founder at Freenovation. He’s an experienced manager, trainer, speaker, author, and leadership consultant. For over a dozen years, he's been researching and implementing cultures and systems that allow people and organizations to thrive and innovate.
   His work has been featured in Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and other media outlets. As a trainer and consultant, he has worked with more than 100 companies, including Aon, IBM, Greenpeace Poland, Bahlsen, Sabre, and Great Place to Work Europe. His experiences range from managing a gamification consulting company, providing talks at international TEDx conferences and corporate events, developing strategy for the best university in Poland, to... leading a punk rock band.
   As an internationally acclaimed speaker, he engages audiences by educating them about leadership myths, innovation, evidence-based management, and methods for building a smarter and happier workplace.
5. Jovana Stojanovic, theatre and radio director, last year founded her life/artistic project called 'Projectination' which fights against self and collective procrastination and for sustainability in arts which should contribute to taking care of environmental crises. The project started when she found herself uncomfortable next to the Now, she knew that she needs to take action rather than responsibility.
   Now she works as a freelancer in the domain of performing arts across Europe, using an artistic method as a tool to call people for (re)actions of awakeness for the benefits of the planet.
   Her direction is focused on extending her knowledge, collaborations and experience in the scientific field as she believes that both art and science are in search for the meaning of life, and they both work on spreading awareness about the external and internal milieu.
6. Freddie Pearson is a British Fitness model, former international sportsman and wellness entrepreneur from London. Freddie has built up a large Instagram following and uses his platform often to discuss mental health in young people and offer fitness advice as an escape or pursuit for others. He will be using his talk to explore his experiences within the modelling industry, the problems he has faced and the lessons he has learnt that have made him into the young man he is today.
7. Fabian Dittrich as a child, often felt like he didn’t belong. Neither in school, where he mostly kept to himself nor at home with his own family. Ever the go-between, Fabian faced the burden and the blessing of being untied and thus free to move effortlessly between worlds.
   Whether living as a homeless person, in Cologne while studying computer science, engaging in ancient rituals with shamans in the Peruvian jungle, or driving an old Mercedes from Berlin to Cape Town, Fabian always threw himself fearlessly into the unknown. For 15 years, he travelled the world, often venturing into places where only a few had gone before him, meeting people from everywhere in the world and learning their stories.
   In the last three years, Fabian worked with 300+ international clients, among them Microsoft, Intel and Virgin Atlantic. He was never sitting in an office, instead, he worked from his Land Rover Defender.
8. Jelena Markovic is an entrepreneur behind the Smart Change personal development network. Her brand is known for amateur animations and short texts which she uses to normalize things that happen to all of us, yet things we rarely talk about. Jelena believes that perfectionism kills all the fun and productivity and that kindness can be strong enough to change the world. Jelena has a Masters in communications and she is a certified coach with 5 years of experience working with clients. She is currently an undergrad student of psychology. In her TEDx talk, she will focus on the type of communication that is a crucial tool for success, contentment and mental health - communication with ourselves.
9. Jovan Jovančević - having played chess since he was 4, Jovan has witnessed the steep rise of computer chess engines. In parallel, he also developed a passion for the idea of machines seeing (not just looking) and learning. On the TEDxKotor stage, Jovan will lean on the newest developments in AI to introduce the idea of people learning from the metal. After completing engineering studies in Abu Dhabi and New York City, he now works in Madrid as a software engineer. 
10. Maja Raicevic has been active in Montenegrin civil society for 18 years. Her activism began at the Women’s Safe House, the first Montenegrin shelter for women and children - domestic violence survivors. 
    Within the activities of the Women's Rights Center, she works directly with women survivors of gender-based violence and discrimination, supporting their protection and access to justice. The organisation is also known for the awarded campaign “Neželjena” (“Unwanted”) launched together with the McCann Podgorica, and with the support of McCann Beograd team, to prevent the abuse of prenatal tests that led to selective abortions of females. Maja participated in the implementation of some of the key projects in the field of human rights monitoring in Montenegro, including institutions of closed type, such as Institute for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and women’s prison. She is also a member of the national Operational Team on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.