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Answering this question even a few weeks after TEDxBrusselsChange is easy.
No. It will not.

Europe is teeming with ideas and innovative solutions. There is a pervasive spirit that constantly pushes for new ways of thinking, new ways of acting, and new ways of making an impact. The video below will give you a feel of these things as experienced at TEDxBrusselsChange.

In line with this spirit, a number of great projects tackling health-related issues have been born. One of these was very much inspired by Lode Dewulf's talk on Breaking Pregnancy Taboos, which led to my involvement in setting up a coalition: http://www.pregnancytaboos.org that aims to tackle the issue of pregnancy and medication.

With events like TEDxBrussels and TEDxBrusselsChange giving rise to initiatives that can actually make a difference, who would want the positive disruption to end?

If I told you that with one mouse click you could impact change, would you believe me? Chances are you wouldn’t.

But Julie Dixon, Deputy Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Social Impact Communication, would have you believe that you could.

Watch the full live stream video from TEDxChange 2013.

At the core of Julie’s talk at TEDxChange 2013 is the notion that in a world where everyone is interconnected by social media, personal influence is a currency that is just as valuable as money.

She asserts that by simply liking a campaign, sharing a photo or video, signing a petition, writing a blog, or supporting a crowd-funded campaign and asking people to take action, you leverage your influence and reach out to other people in your network. These people can potentially influence others; share their money, time or other resources that will enable the success of the cause.

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REMIXit offered a unique experience that enabled TEDx-sters to build on the inspiring talks they saw at TEDxBrussels and share them with the community for great prizes. TEDxBrussels is pleased to announce that, after careful deliberation, the juries have finally delivered their verdicts! You can find the list of winners in the website of REMIXit.eu

Thank you to all TEDx-sters for your contributions, sharing and votes. The REMIXit campaign was a big success thanks to you! Philip Weiss, Chief Hyperthinking, said “It was great to see the creativity and insights that simple ideas can bring to life. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes the best ideas are simply a matter of looking at the same things from a different perspective… The world needs hyperthinkers, and there is hope, because there are plenty around at TEDxBrussels.”

Thank you to TEDxBrussels, Accenture, SWIFT, ZN, Evernote and Getyoo for their support and help in making this project possible.

The REMIXit campaign represents a subtle shift in the philosophy of “sharing ideas” to doing them. It freed TEDx-sters from the constraints of being spectators and enabled them to become participants and share their ideas. Like Philippe Ruttens, Marketing and Communications Manager at Accenture BeLux, who added “Accenture is pleased to have co-launched the REMIXit contest to boost the creation and combination of ideas and innovations in Belgium,” we look forward to taking this a step further next year and seeing how much more creative and innovative people can be!

We are looking forward to seeing what REMIXit will bring to the table next year.

This year, 2 000+ TEDx-sters descended on Bozar and 20 000+ tuned-in online for another great edition of TEDxBrussels.  Just like the theme, it kicked off with a BANG!  Steve Wozniak gave the opening speech, Scala and the Kolacny Brothers graced us with their angelic voices, and, one after the other, amazing speakers shared unexpected stories!  Just brilliant.

If you’ve been following the progression of TEDxBrussels over the last 4 years, you will have noticed a subtle shift from “sharing ideas” to doing them.  This was made more visible this year’s with the REMIXit! campaign, which enabled TEDx-sters to participate in the creation of ideas… and this is only the beginning!  Next year we are planning to bring a greater variety of disciplines to TEDxBrussels by inviting philosophers and social scientists!  Plus, we are going to help TEDx-sters meet each other and network.

TEDxBrussels is becoming a more influential platform to launch ideas.  Last year, TEDx-sters witnessed the first British Paraorchestra.  Just a few months ago they supported Cold Play at the Paralympics!  This year, the talk that’s on every journalists radar is by Dr. Alan Greene on optimizing umbilical cord clamping.  It received a standing ovation from TEDx-sters, clearly winning their support and it appeared in headlines the following day.

Also, right after TEDxBrussels, members of the European Commission and industry met with TEDx speakers for TEDxEU, to see how they could incorporate these big ideas in technology, health, and education policy.  The conference led to very interesting discussions that peaked the Commission’s interests.

Evidently, TEDxBrussels is evolving into a significant platform with a pro-active community – you are probably part of it.

If however, you were unable to watch this year’s inspiring talks, here are my highlights to get you started.

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If you’ve been to TEDxBrussels before, you will know how electrifying the atmosphere is, filled with energy, inspiration and creativity.  The only problem, you don’t have an outlet for all these ideas that fill your imagination as the speakers impart their knowledge.

To address this issue, the social media team came up with a pilot idea for TEDxBrussels with the cooperation of Accenture, and supported by Swift, ZN and Evernote.  As you know, Accenture is great at “innovation by combination”, building and merging ideas together to create and implement new concepts.  Now, integrate this concept through social media, and you have TEDxBrussels’ REMIXit!

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 When the glory and bliss of your dreams are being manifested into your reality it almost feels unbelievable, doesn’t it? It is the case for Charles Hazlewood and his British Paraorchestra.

Many of us , in fact hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the closing ceremony of the Paralympics2012 in London earlier this fall. The climax of the ceremony saw a newly formed orchestra of 17 disabled musicians playing along Coldplay and Rihanna. The moment touched the global community undoubtedly, but for the few of us who witnessed the full journey of it, it was even more inspiring.

The story goes back one year, when Charles Hazlewood brought 4 musicians with disabilities to perform for the first time in front of a public, at TEDxBrussels2011. The group beautifully improvised and interpreted the traditional British tune – “Green sleeves” and left the audience speechless. That was the moment when we all got to hear their daring vision: “Every country should have a paraorchestra of all shapes and all sizes. No question about that. So here is our paraorchestra. Where’s yours?”.  

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TEDxBrussels 2012 – Monday, November 12th 2012 at Bozar 9AM – 7PM

This year, the theme of TEDxBrussels is Bits, Atoms, Neurons and Genes (or BANG BANG as we’re calling it). BANG BANG represents the combination between an evolving mesh of ideas and practices, and a rich mixture of citizens, scientists and culture. The annual event covers subjects such as innovative technology, development, sustainability and the environment – so there’s something for everyone.

TEDxBrussels brings world-class speakers to the heart of Europe to perform in front of a very lively audience.  To coincide with this phenomenon, over 1800 “TEDsters” migrate to Brussels every year, answering some deep seeded need to push the frontiers of knowledge. If you haven’t experienced the mind-boggling phenomena, we encourage you to try it – you won’t be the same.

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Before leaving for the mass migration that takes place every summer in Brussels, Place Flagey (the up and coming new creative hub of Brussels and incidentally where the ZN offices are located) was the scene of something unexpected. The European Commission organised an event to celebrate its educational exchange programme called Marie-Curie.

In a rather inspired move, they connected the usual format of a big get together with the increasingly successful TED format, joining hands with some members of the TEDxBrussels team to give it the famous 18 minutes touch!

I had the opportunity to attend the event and get my own 18 minutes on stage, on the subject of Hyperthinking and how shifting paradigm and creative thinking are the key tools to building a successful career in the 21st century.

Check out my presentation in this video:

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and the story continues…

At ZN, we want to participate as individuals and as a company in this digital revolution.  We want to drive change and share our experience. It is part of our DNA.  We want to help you or your company to make the most of these changes, not only as evangelist but also as your guide and partner.  Many organisations are currently in the process of changing the way they communicate and are having difficulty adapting.  Change is frequently forced upon them and they resist rather than embrace it. Our job is to switch this around. Read more

At last month’s TEDxBrussels, John Bohannon shared a brilliant thought with the audience.  Why use PowerPoint to make presentations when we can instead use dance to convey difficult scientific concepts, or any other story for that matter?  This refreshing and inspiring idea shows the value of crossing disciplines and generating new ways to understand complex questions. Steve Jobs was famous for his unique understanding of design and technology.  According to his biographer, Walter Isaascson, Jobs saw himself at the crossroads of the scientific and liberal arts world.  This ability to constantly shift from one mindset to another enabled him to imagine and produce revolutionary devices such as the ipod, iphone and the ipad. Read more