Alan in Belfast: TEDxBelfastWomen - talks, music, comedy and ideas worth sharing

Thirteen speakers, two musicians and a comedian were lined up in a really diverse programme at TEDxBelfastWomen in the newly opened Skainos centre on East Belfast's Newtownards Road.

Academics, entrepreneurs, digital creatives, foodies, journalists and environmentalists all taking 8-9 minutes to express their idea worth sharing.

While the platform was dominated by X chromosomes - with the exception of Glenn Jordan (XY) from Skainos - the audience was around 10% male. Organised to tie in with the TEDxWomen event in Washington DC, the day's theme is:

The Space Between ... exploring how women are less likely to approach subjects from a black-or-white perspective as they see the grey area in between. There is a curiosity in wanting to explore what is in between extremes, to gain the big picture and find the areas where we need more understanding and perhaps compromise. Women know that this is where life happens—the places in between.

The local organisers - who picked up from the good work done by TEDxBelfast (2011 and 2012) - hoped that the Belfast speakers would share "their own fascinating stories ... about how they are influencing the growth of the communities in which they live, love and work and how they are actively part of ‘the space between’".

Videos will appear on the TEDxBelfastWomen website over the coming weeks as well as under TEDx on YouTube.

listen to ‘Quick preview of today's TEDxBelfastWomen event @belfastwomen’ on Audioboo

Before the event started I talked to one of the organisers Veronica Morris as well as speakers Jude Hill, Sue Christie and Deirdre Heenan about their expectations for the event.