TEDxAUBG: ‘Demanding, yet rewarding’
TEDxAUBG is a club full of creative, passionate and hard-working individuals who concentrate their efforts on organizing a TEDx conference and other events for those who crave knowledge and are willing to explore the world around them. If you are interested to learn more about their activities, read our interview with the President of the club, Desislava Manova.
How would you describe your club in 3 words?
Demanding; yet, rewarding.
What is your club about?
TEDxAUBG is a non-profit organization, which operates under the global TED license. The idea of such events is to look for unique and experienced individuals who have ideas worth spreading. These initiatives create a global community of creative thinkers and problem solvers, people thirsty for knowledge and for exploring further. Our team’s main goal is to immerse AUBG in these innovative ideas and help spread the TED message. Everything we do, we do with passion, professionalism and creativity.
What kind of people are you looking for in your club?
We all know that clubs in AUBG take a lot of time and responsibility. We are always looking for people who are willing to dedicate the needed effort in order to make something bigger than me, or you, or any of us. Still, when interviewing people, we also search for people we see fitting in our team and working well with others. Our club is all about teamwork, communication and openness, so these three are mandatory. Then, we narrow it down to specific qualities for the respective department you would be applying for – we need people with good English and excellent research skills for Speakers; great negotiators for Sponsorship; creative people for Design; and so on. Being a wine-lover is an added bonus, but no worries – even if you are not, you will become one once you are in the club.
What kind of events do you organize?
Our team organizes an annual conference that brings 10-12 individuals from diverse areas of expertise who share their innovative ideas with our audience. We organize everything from scratch – from finding and contacting the speakers, through raising money via sponsors and partners, creating all the visuals, all the way to executing the day of the conference itself. It is definitely a hard task, but a very rewarding one as well.
Apart from working tirelessly on the conference, our team also organizes different workshops, community events and get-togethers. During the Fall 2020 semester, we decided to focus on bringing the community together by uniting different clubs on campus and collaborating with them. We organized useful skill-developing workshops with AUBG Daily and the Business club. We hosted an online game night with AUBG Olympics and The Hub AUBG that had many rewards for our winners. We provided a relaxing and motivating space for AUBGers to study in collaboration with Radio AURA and the Psychology club. Together with StartUP@Blagoevgrad, we shared the stories of two extraordinary business owners. We are immensely thankful to all clubs and people who helped us make our community stronger this semester, despite the circumstances.
What is the meaning behind your club’s name?
The full name of the club is TEDxAUBG and it is made up of three parts. The first one, ‘TED’ stands for technology, entertainment, design. The little ‘x’ stands for an independently organized event since we are not organizing a global TED event, but a local TEDx event. Lastly, ‘AUBG’ is the name given to us according to our license, and, not surprisingly, it comes from the place where the conference is organized.
To be entirely honest, it is a huge pet peeve of mine when someone calls us just TED, or, my worst enemies, ‘Tedx’ and ‘TedX.’
How has being part of this club enhanced your AUBG experience?
I would not call it enhancing my experience. I would call it creating it. Being a part of clubs not only helps you apply the theoretical knowledge from classes to real life, but it teaches you invaluable skills, like teamwork, problem-solving, innovative thinking, working towards a common goal, and being a part of something extraordinary. No matter which club you are a part of, the whole experience helps you become a well-rounded individual with practical skills that set you apart.
But most of all, it really helped me find wonderful individuals, who I now proudly call my family-away-from-home. The support, the love and the passion these people have are what makes you cherish everything even more. Looking back on my four years at TEDxAUBG, it undoubtedly has been hard. But even if I were to go back, I would do it all the same way because of my wonderful team.