The people behind TEDxDelft | Ellen Rietveld | Coordinating beyond the stage

Side activities can make a great addition to a TEDxDelft event. For the new season it falls to Ellen Rietveld, Floor Coordinator, to ensure they run smoothly. “I coordinate the side activities for all the events. I make sure the space and facilities are available, and that people know when they are expected.” It is a position which should suit Rietveld, a freelance business assistant, like a glove.

It is the sense of teamwork and working towards a common goal that convinced Rietveld to sign up for TEDxDelft. “When I started out working for myself I still wanted to feel part of a team,” she explains. “I was very happy to find out that I could volunteer for TEDxDelft, meeting many wonderful people and achieving something together.”

Combined with her experience from TEDxDelft events, Rietveld will be well placed to coordinate the side activities for this season’s events. Working with different people to arrange the side events, one can be sure that Rietveld will ensure a smooth running operation beyond the TEDxDelft stage.

How long have you been a part of the TEDxDelft team?

This will be my third edition, starting out as room monitor and person-that-moves-photos-from-memory-cards-to-the-blog-space via volunteer coordination, to now being part of the organizing team.

Who is your favorite speaker from a previous TEDxDelft conference and why?

Dorothy Grandia at this year’s first TEDxDelft Women, ‘Authenticity is a dangerous word’. Great energy, and hell yeah, so what if it doesn’t feel authentic to act confident? Get over it!

Theoretically if you could choose any one person, historical or fictional, to give a talk at TEDxDelft, who would it be and why?

I nominate Daan Roosegaarde.

Are there any hobbies you secretly enjoy outside of work?

Traveling and planning to travel are my favorite waste of time.

If you could give a TEDx talk, what would you talk about?

If, and that’s a big if, I would ever find the nerve, it would be about language and words, Paulien-Cornelisse-style.