The people behind TEDxDelft | Caryn ‘t Hart de Wijkerslooth | Finding the ideas

The speakers are what make TEDx a unique platform.  For TEDxDelft, Head Curator Caryn ’t Hart de Wijkerslooth, communications lecturer at TU Delft, is the one in charge of finding those with ideas worth spreading. “I am ultimately responsible for all of the creative decisions for TEDxDelft regarding theme, speakers, entertainment, and line-up,” she explains.

Selecting the right speakers is something ’t Hart is well placed to do. For her work she would often show TEDx movies during her lectures, and from then on she was hooked. “Not only did my students like it a lot, I also fell in love with it more and more.” After visiting a local TEDx event and speaking with Rob Speekenbrink, TEDxDelft licensee, about her ideas on the event, she soon became a member of the organization.

Finding the right speakers for this season’s main event and salons should therefore be no problem for ’t Hart. Together with two co-curators, she will ensure that the upcoming events will be a worthwhile experience for its visitors.

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

Almost four years now.

You operated as curator at the TEDxDelft 2015 conference. Who was your favorite speaker?

They were all great in their own way! As a curator you can’t have a favorite.

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

Lettie Hempstock from Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean At The End Of The Lane. She’s an eleven-year-old girl who’s been eleven for a really long time. Lettie can make an entire ocean of knowledge fit into a bucket of water.

Are there any hobbies you secretly enjoy outside of work?

I love taking pictures. I tend to see a lot of beauty in this world and I want to grasp that and share it.

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

Nah. I wouldn’t.