Volunteers at the TEDx Arabia Conference, which was recently held at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah. Saudi Gazette October marked the second year of success for the TEDx Arabia Conference, which was held at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah this year. Some 1,200 people attended the conference and listened to 30 success stories of innovative entrepreneurs who inspired and encouraged creativity among the attendees. The overall theme of the conference was youth empowerment and the young inspirational Jeddawis stressed that every idea is great, and if one builds upon it and actually gets up and does something about it, one can accomplish a lot for oneself and the community. There was also a high spirit of interest in volunteer work, environmental protection, and increasing health awareness. TEDx conference aims to teach the Kingdom's youth leadership skills, social responsibility, and creativity. It promotes seeking higher education and exploring new technologies. At TEDx Arabia 2011, Basma Al-Suyoufi, author and poet shared her success story with the audience; how she struggled to achieve a Bachelor's Degree in Arts and Humanities and worked hard to become a writer and active member of Saudi society. Yaser Bahjat, a young man with big ideas showed a presentation on how private and governmental organizations can improve the future of transportation in the Kingdom. Saudi writer, Thamer Shaker spoke to the audience on how they can use social networking websites such as Twitter and Facebook as positive tools in serving the community. One young man, Abdul Mohsen Al-Ajami, explained how he skillfully utilized his huge collection of books that he had already read and no longer needed. He said that he put the books in an empty cardboard box and placed it in a crowded café. He noticed that customers started picking up the books and reading. A couple of weeks later, a young Saudi girl upgraded his idea. Instead of a plain brown box, she painted the box of books with attractive designs to deliver to another coffee shop. That is a perfect example of how a simple idea can be developed smartly to promote reading in the society. “We have trust in the youth and in their capabilities to positively contribute to society,” said Bandar Al-Mutlaq, Director of TEDx Arabia in an interview broadcasted on Saudi television. He added that contrary to the stereotype, Saudi youth are not just obsessed with soccer games and films. “As we saw in the TEDx Arabia conference, countless young men and women in the Kingdom are truly gifted and their ideas impressed us all. We respect and learn from the elderly and we make use of the bursting energy of the younger generations,” he said. TEDx Arabia plans to hold several conferences across the Kingdom to get more youth actively involved in pursuing their own dreams while giving back to the community at the same time. __
