On October 5 2012, then 18-year-old Boyan Slat took the stage of the second ever TEDxDelft and presented his idea worth spreading: how the oceans can clean themselves.
The video of his talk went around the world and vaulted Slat into the spotlight. Since then, Slat has undertaken a massive feasibility study, with students, business leaders and researchers in the field. After prolonged silence, on June 3 2014, Slat will announce the results of his study. Back in 2012, Slat was a natural on the stage and was the clear choice for the first talk of the day. We gave him 12 minutes to tell his story and he impressed the crowd, leaving the audience with a feeling of positivity for the remainder of the event. Several weeks after the event, we uploaded the video of his talk, where it was picked up by blogs and news organizations around the world. In 2013, we re-invited Slat to speak at the third TEDxDelft about how the publicity from his TEDxDelft appearance had changed his life. Coincidentally, on that day, the video of his initial talk reached one million views on YouTube.
On October 4 2013, all Slat told the TEDxDelft audience was that the feasibility study was incomplete and it would not be ready until Spring 2014. Now the study is complete and we are awaiting the results of his study and wondering whether he has more than an idea worth spreading, an idea that will change the world.
For more information on the OceanCleanUp project and the release event, see http://www.theoceancleanup.com/
Wendy Lampen
