About

The People Behind the Stage

All volunteers. All passion.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self- organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

TEDxZurich is a day of wonder, inspiration and awe. We hope you mix and mingle with our knowledge thirsty audience and uncover exhilarating topics together that are sure to fascinate

The event is a series of short talks, ranging from approximately five to eighteen minutes length. In between speakers you will have the opportunity to enjoy performances, eat some eclectic food choices and wonder around our creatively inspired event spaces.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

Want to volunteer for TEDxZurich 2020?

Join us!

Core Team

Florian Bucher

Co-Lead

Originally planning to get a business degree after high school, Florian has spent his last two and a half years seeking out challenging enriching experiences, working a daycare center, as a sailing instructor, managing a small ice cream business, bartending, organizing parties and finally leading a Sales team for a Startup. Currently, he works as a Product Operations Specialist for Coople, while trying to biohack himself to live on 4 hours of sleep, so he can start his studies the way he has long promised his parents.

Christina Haupt

Co-Lead

Christina’s TEDx career started with organizing TEDxWooster at the College of Wooster, where she earned her BA in Studio Art and Philosophy. Returning to Switzerland, she continued her studies with a Masters of Art in, Public Spheres and Art Teaching, from the University of Luzern. But, just doing one thing has never been Christina’s style. In her free time, she practices the art of conjuring time out of thin air to satisfy the scheduling conflicts of her many diverse interests and hobbies. If she isn’t out running, climbing a wall, painting, writing poetry and blog entries, attending concerts, or reading books on philosophy, she’s probably connecting students, friends, and family with big ideas. That’s what first drew Christina to the TEDx community and has her excited about organizing TEDxZurich.

Erik Slabber

Speakers Lead

Erik was born and raised in South Africa, meaning that he regularly endures questions like “Do you speak African?”, “I have a friend from Africa, do you know him?” and “Did you ride to school on a zebra?”. He came to Zurich for his Bachelor studies and enjoyed it here so much that he stayed on for his Masters and even decided to torture himself by starting a PhD in regenerative biology. When he is not working in the lab, he reads scientific papers for fun, plans experiments and works on figures for upcoming publications... OK, so now that Erik’s boss is satisfied and has stopped reading this bio, he actually enjoys gaming, cinema, boot restoration, supporting the Springboks and pub quizzing.

Chris McCall

Curation Lead

Christopher is working as the COO for Fotokite, a robotics ETH spinoff company in Zurich. Before living in Switzerland, Christopher worked as a development engineer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and studied Engineering and Neuroscience at University of California San Diego. Outside of the office, you can find him in the mountains, on the waves, and playing on the Swiss National Lacrosse Team.

Julia Sharonova

Salon Lead

Constantly challenging the status quo and going wherever her curiosity takes her. Consulting companies in matters of predicting the future or building a startup. Scouts ideas everywhere she goes, re-plants them in other people’s minds and creates synergies between people – this is where she gets the inspiration for her short stories. Convinced bicycle rider and a strong believer that many of the things we are seeking cannot be found but can be created. Big fan of short bios.

L.A. Worrell

Marketing Communications Lead

L.A. Worrell is a Marketing Communications Designer, where he crafts content that makes audiences tick. More than a creative, he approaches design analytically. He is fascinated by its application and how it can be used to build a more intuitive, user-friendly world. A British citizen, L.A. has Greek-Cypriot, Afro-Caribbean and Irish roots. Powerful concepts are his currency; he perfects his skills by seeking out inspiration in the people he meets and the places he visits.

Ralf Soboczinski

Production Lead

Ralf engages himself in event planning and integrates modern technologies in IT, streaming, and recording. Ralf finds himself repeatedly in the curious corners of our world, where he takes his time to explore the countries and their people. Outside of business hours,Ralf drives long motorbike tours with his friends, and educates himself and others and takes passionate photos of ordinary life.

Hanna Brahme

Partnerships Lead

With a passion for bold ideas and utopian visions, Hanna enjoys partnering with like-minded people and companies to try and move the needle. Before this Swedish engineer joined ETH to support spin-off companies, she lived and worked in six countries for organizations like ABB, MAN and the United Nations. Hanna is equally enthusiastic about astroparticles, gallery openings and mountaineering and will be happy to reveal her best tips on breeding geraniums.

Clemens Merk

Location Lead

Due to his passion and curiosity for his vocation, Clemens decided to leave his home country of Germany many years ago. He went on to enrich his experience in the food and beverage industry in Scotland where he developed a love for peaty whiskey. His journey then took him to the Netherlands, and after that, wanting some sun, he moved to Dubai. Now he is to be found continuing the next chapter of his adventure in Switzerland. If he is not surrounded by his passion, food and beverages, you might find him lost in a puzzle or creating music with the trombone.

Willow Rose Gahm

Participants Lead

Born and raised in California. Willow Rose Gahm has spent much time abroad working in China, Switzerland, England, and Italy. Her passion lies in helping people through Biofeedback. She is a Biofeedback technician and specialist as well as an English teacher. She loves travel, swing dance, is continually gaining new information about natural and integrative medicine as well as psychology and coaching. Loves to open her horizons and good dark chocolate.

Tanya König

Host TEDxZurichSalon

Asking questions and telling stories is what Tanya König does for a living. She is a Digital Producer and TV-Journalist at CNNMoney Switzerland and responsible for the lifestyle format “Out & About.” Before she has also worked for Ringier and SRF. She satiesfied her intellectual prowess by studying Journalism at Ringier Journalism School and Sinology, Film and Political Science at the University of Zurich. During that time she has also spend one year studying in Beijing. Find her on Twitter @tanyayuan.

Urs Bucher

Host and Advisor

Urs was born in Switzerland in 1964 and started IT back in 1984 (the dark age of punch cards, yes). He has worked in Microsoft, Namics and KPMG over his career. In 2018 he ran Amazee Labs, a Drupal web agency in Zurich, Austin and Capetown. In spring 2018 he joined Farner Consulting, Switzerland’s leading communication company as a senior consultant in the digital team. Being part of the birth of TEDxZurich back in 2009, he has stayed with the gang ever since. In addition, he organized a corporate TEDx event in 2012 and attended quite a number of globally organized gatherings in the meantime. A proud father and husband, who values meeting friends, good food and wine.

Sara Leidinger

Audience Experience Lead

A volunteer at heart and passionate Yoga practitioner. With a deep interest in personal development and being fascinated by the power of the mind, Sara believes that sharing ideas worth spreading can make the world a more connected place. The momentum of our 2017 event with the theme “opening doors” was a kickstart and eye-opener for Sara who then just flipped her career path to 180° – from a corporate global sales environment to a year full of volunteering and studies of holistic healing arts. This kind of momentum is what drives her in creating experiences that last.

Estella di Silvestro

Finance Lead

Curious about the world and the people around her, Estella tries to find the right balance between what she studied – Accounting & Finance – and what really excites and warms her heart. She likes to do a lot of things and she likes to do them well. That competitive spirit comes from more than ten years of swimming as a competitive athlete. Her flair for fine food finds its roots in her culture and upbringing, her love for the mountains and for backpacking started -and never stopped growing, since coming to Switzerland. She strongly believes that all these passions, along with reading all types of books, travelling and dedicating herself to building long term friendships are what complement crunching numbers to ensure an open mind and a richness in generating ideas. Worth sharing.

Doris Dario

Volunteers Lead

Doris is originally from the ski slopes of South Tyrol in Northern Italy but left her beloved Dolomites early to study, live and work all over the world. Her passion for the real language within its culture and region got her a masters’ degree in translation and interpreting and has her speaking four major European languages fluently. She has a strong background in transcreation and localisation, high cultural sensitivity and large project, account and talent management experience in the exciting world of marketing. Doris is best described as a creative mind with a human approach and a passion for intercultural communication. Her love for travelling and exploring the world through all senses has taken her to over 70 countries and when she isn’t abroad you can find her snowboarding down some Swiss mountain with her kids.