Caroline Hall

CAROLINE HALL
Founder, Caroline Hall Coaching

ABOUT CAROLINE:

Caroline is thrilled to be part of the team this year, having been inspired and impressed by TedXRTW 2019. Caroline is a coach working with speakers, leaders and teams. She helps them find simple, practical and creative ways to think differently and act differently so they feel more confident and productive . Caroline’s at home in a theatre, as before becoming a coach, she was an award winning theatre director and script editor in television drama.

For fun, Caroline is a fair weather wild swimmer, member of a fabulous choir and loves dancing - whether it’s ceilidh dancing, thanks to 8 years of living and working in Scotland, or getting down to 70’s and 80’s disco classics whilst making dinner.


 

CAROLINE’S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

at the moment is “The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World” by Margaret Heffernan

CAROLINE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Caroline-Hall-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Frankie Julian

FRANKIE JULIAN
Photographer

ABOUT FRANKIE:

Frankie Julian is a commercial photographer who has worked with some of the most renowned businesses in the UK. He moved to Tunbridge Wells from the east end of London 8 years ago and has never looked back. His newly discovered love of the Kentish countryside, means that he is frequently to be found in mud up to his armpits, accompanied by his wife, five year old son and enthusiastic German Shepherd. 

FRANKIE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Frankie-Julian-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Victoria Henderson

VICTORIA HENDERSON
Artistic Director, Chiddingstone Castle Literary Festival

ABOUT VICTORIA:

Victoria is the Artistic Director for the annual Literary Festival at Chiddingstone Castle, now entering it’s fifth year. She’s an avid reader and listener to talks (live and online) and is new to TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells this year. With her passion for books and experience in programming authors and workshops she jumped at the chance to get involved to help spread the joy of spoken word and ideas. She’s a mother of four nearly grown ups and loves cooking, walking and reading.

 

VICTORIA'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

VICTORIA’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Victoria-Henderson-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Simon Arrowsmith

SIMON ARROWSMITH
Founder, The Story Coach

ABOUT SIMON:

Simon is a story and performance coach, helping individuals and brands to use to stories and storytelling to make their ideas land. He was involved as a speaker coach for the 2016 TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells Women’s event and is excited to be back for more this year. When not coaching and consulting on story he is an award-nominated theatre composer and sound designer, self-confessed synth nerd and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.


 

SIMON’S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

SIMON’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Simon-Arrowsmith-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Denise McGivney-Nolan

DENISE McGIVNEY-NOLAN

ABOUT DENISE

Irish born Denise comes from a media advertising background having worked in London and Paris. She is married to a Tunbridge Wells born journalist and has three young boys. In her spare time she’s usually seen on her bike, cycling the length and breadth of Kent. Denise has been involved in organising several fundraising events and looks forward to contributing in a similar way to TedxRoyalTunbridgeWells doing whatever comes her way and in having the opportunity to meet and hear some truly inspiring speakers.


 

DENISE'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

DENISE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Denise McGivney-Nolan-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.jpg
 

Donna Cummings

DONNA CUMMINGS

ABOUT DONNA

Donna is a chartered accountant currently working for Marie Stopes International as Regional Finance Director for East and Southern Africa. Donna enjoys visiting the region to work with the country teams to advance the mission ‘Children by choice not chance’.

When Donna is not working you will find her planning her next holiday, practicing for choir and hanging out with friends, shopping and chatting.

Donna has only just joined the TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells family this year after attending the event last year and feeling inspired to get involved.


 

DONNA'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

DONNA’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Donna-Cummings-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Thushara Kasturiratne

THUSHARA KASTURIRATNE

ABOUT THUSHARA

Thushara is a multitalented person, who likes to empower women and children. She is a trained Motivational Interviewer and has worked in multiple roles in nursing, teaching and now refers to herself as a serial volunteer. She is currently working in retail and is an active member of numerous community groups.

This is Thushara’s first year in the TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells team. She was so inspired by the TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells talks that she wanted to join our team.


 

THUSHARA'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

The reason for this is that this is a very current theme that is close to my heart. This speech opened the eyes of quite a few adults and has also motivated local students to act on climate issues.

THUSHARA’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

No brainier... lol

Thushara-Kasturiratne-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Sarah Salway

SARAH SALWAY

ABOUT SARAH

Sarah is a novelist and poet based in Tunbridge Wells. In 2019, she gave a TEDx talk on the power of words and loved it so much, she is proud to be helping with future events. You can watch her talk right here:

SARAH'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

I love Amy Cuddy’s talk, not least because I often work with students both at the LSE and the University of Kent who secretly and not so secretly don’t feel entitled to be there. When I share this talk with them, they recognise we all share the same vulnerability and there are small things we can do about it.

sarah-salway-tedxroyaltunbridgewells-committee.png
 

Stephanie Jackson

STEPHANIE JACKSON

ABOUT STEPHANIE

Stephanie is non-fiction publishing director at a major London publishing house, where her focus is on finding fresh, distinctive and engaging voices and bringing their ideas to life in book form. She attended TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells for the first time in 2019 and was so blown away that she volunteered immediately for the next. This is her first year on the committee.


 

STEPHANIE'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

STEPHANIE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Stephanie-Jackson-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Bryony Jackson

BRYONY JACKSON

ABOUT BRYONY

Bryony’s professional life has been spent as an assistant director in film and television production. An avid reader, traveller and television obsessive, Bryony can most often be found searching for new Netflix suggestions.

After attending the 2019 event as an audience member she was inspired to get involved and be part of the continuing growth of TedxRoyalTunbridgeWells, and is very excited to be part of the inaugural Salon Events Team.


 

BRYONY'S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

BRYONY’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

George-Blizzard--on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

George Blizzard

GEORGE BLIZZARD
Co-Founder, The PR Network

ABOUT GEORGE

George is a mum of 3 girls and an outspoken advocate for flexible working and job shares. George co-founded The PR Network 14 years ago offering an agile, virtual alternative to the traditional agency allowing over 2000 people worldwide to work flexibly and remotely for brands like Toyota, Snap, Zipcar, Vodafone. When not talking on the phone (her number one hobby), George can be found walking her badly behaved dogs on the Common. As a nervous public speaker herself, George has so much respect for anyone who can do TED talks and has been attending TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells since the beginning.


 

GEORGE'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

GEORGE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

George-Blizzard--on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Anne Wagstaff

ANNE WAGSTAFF

ABOUT ANNE

Anne is a potter working from her studio in Tunbridge Wells absorbed equally by the endless possibilities of clay and by the vast selection of podcasts to listen to whilst making. Anne joined the committee this year having been wowed by the energy in the Assembly Halls for TEDxRTW in 2019. When not taming clay, Anne is to be found taming her garden.

 

ANNE’S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

ANNE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Anne-Wagstaff-on-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-committee.png
 

Julia Fontaine

JULIA FONTAINE
Youth & School Outreach

ABOUT JULIA

Julia has spent twenty years working  in marketing and advertising. Specialising in business development. She balances that with managing three children and escaping to Knole Park to run. 

She spends her commute watch TED Talks and is thrilled to have the chance to get behind the scenes.

She has supported the event this year taking responsibility for schools marketing outreach. It is really important to her to engage the young community in the philosophy of idea generation and sharing that Ted represents.
 

JULIA'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

Julia-Fontaine-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png
 

Chloe Kingham

CHLOE KINGHAM
Event Photographer, Chloe Kingham Photo & Events

ABOUT CHLOE

Chloe is a photographer and event director in the freelance world. Often combining both skills to organise, produce and capture inspiring events and photos. Chloe loves igniting her creative organisation to bring TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells to life. This will be Chloe's third TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells. She loves volunteering with this fabulous team and can't wait to make the 2020 show spectacular.


 

CHLOE'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

CHLOE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALKS:

Chloe-Kingham-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png
 

Simon Pearsall

SIMON PEARSALL
Cartoonist, Pearsall Cartoons

ABOUT SIMON

Simon is an award winning cartoonist who has supplied cartoons across the corporate and business world, for presentations, in-house media, advertising and animatics (animations). He has worked for Private Eye since 2000 and his regular strip First Drafts has been running on it’s literary page since 2002. He quite likes heights and has a pet mosquito called Tom.
 

SIMON’S FAVOURITE TED TALK:

Simon-Pearsall-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png

Nathan Friend

NATHAN FRIEND
Youth Representative

ABOUT NATHAN

Nathan is a local student and, as our Youth Representative, brings a fresh perspective to TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells. He does little bits here and there, and will be a big help behind the scenes on the day of the event. Fun fact: Nathan has two different coloured eyes!

In his spare time, Nathan runs various sports tournaments, primarily for local schools, as well as being a backstage member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain.
 

NATHAN'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

NATHAN’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

Why Working Out Isn't Working Out by Darryl Edwards - A really insightful talk, especially for myself as a former swimmer, as to how we can make exercise more fun for ourselves.

Nathan-Friend-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png

Lizzie Bentley-Bowers

LIZZIE BENTLEY-BOWERS
Founder, The Causeway

ABOUT LIZZIE:

Lizzie came to the first TEDxRTW and loved it so much she never left! Lizzie works as a professional leadership coach, and is a proud governor of Oakley School. She loves camping with her family, geeking out on a fossil hunt, books, books and more books, and she dreams of owning and restoring vintage Airstream and Bluebird caravans!

This year, Lizzie is helping TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells to expand to Salon, Youth and Women’s events as well as our main event at Assembly Hall theatre on the 1st of February. Her aim is to help people in the community start conversations, share inspiring ideas and come together at events throughout the year.

 

LIZZIE'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

Choosing a favourite TEDx RTW talk is too hard, but here are a couple of Lizzie's favourites from around the world.

LIZZIE’S FAVOURITE TEDxROYALTUNBRIDGEWELLS TALK:

This is too hard! It’s like saying choose your favourite child!

I’m going to choose Simon Harmer - I think gratitude is pretty important and no-one illustrated the power of gratitude more than someone who can take so many positives from losing both legs, his arms and a testicle! He spoke at our second event, when we were still learning so much, and as well as being a joy to work with he made me realise the potential we have to inspire others through TEDx.

Lizzie-Bentley-Bowers-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png

Mike Marshall

MIKE MARSHALL
Technical Solutionist

ABOUT MIKE:

Mike has been with TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells from the beginning and by day is a Technical Solutionist. He's also our license holder and knows all the official TEDx rules. He's the guy who keeps us in line and is the spark that ignites all the magic that keeps TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells running behind the scenes.

MIKE'S FAVOURITE TED TALKS:

Mike-Marshall-TEDxRoyalTunbridgeWells-Committee.png