Theme: Transcendency: Going Beyond The Ordinary

Transcendency (n., phi.) =
going beyond the limits of ordinary experience.

Most of the time our knowledge is based on theoretical approaches as well as experience. Recognizing ourselves on the one hand as parts of a comprehensible and transparent reality however runs on the other hand contrary to the fact that this certain reality is limited by the finiteness of a human's cognition. But exceeding those limitations and looking once behind the facades shows that there is much more to experience and realize nowadays - being open-minded, seeing the world through your own eyes, standing up for yourself and surpassing the constraints of imagination and perception.

At TEDxDIT we encourage you to exceed your limitations of awareness and realization and therefore, to experience the world through other perspectives while daring to take a glance behind the ordinary.

Deggendorf Institute of Technology
Edlmairstraße 6
Deggendorf, Bayern, 94469
Germany

Christian Zich

Professor

Professor Christian Zich studied at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich business administration and received his PhD at the University of Kassel in 1995. From 1989-1999 he worked for Siemens in various specialist and management positions. Since 1999 he is Professor of International Marketing and Sales Management at the Deggendorf Institute of Technologx. Research has been in the areas of advertising, sales talks and retail management.

David Packer

Political Activist

David Packer was born in Lower Austria and studied Business and Entrepreneurship at JKU Linz. Throughout his twenties, he successfully established a career for himself in the world of professional poker. Next, his career would lead him to become involved in several political movements, launch a startup and gain Kundalini Yoga teaching qualifications. His projects have taken him around the world, but currently he is based in Linz, where he is focusing his passion and energy on bringing consciousness into the realm of politics.

Johannes Hahn

Junior Product Manager Advanced Data Analytics

Johannes Hahn is a former student at DIT and passionate about technology. At a very young age he already assembled his own radio and experimented with a radio-controlled car. In the past he had the chance to experience various ways of using technology from simple computing to mobile networks and the Internet of Things. Being a young professional in the area of product management he combines the areas business and technology. Currently he works in the Big Data unit of a global telecommunication company.

Lisa Mallory

Game Developer/ Artist

Lisa Mallory has a Bachelor’s degree in media science and media practice. She focused on studying and analyzing the different aspects and areas of media concerning print, radio, movies, series and video games. With an eager mind and driven by the nostalgia of her childhood, she concentrated on learning more and more about both, the theoretical and practical instances of digital media. During her study, she worked as an academic assistant in the digital media department and educated students and other interested parties about video games and gave an insight behind the scenes. Currently, she is working & traveling the world for the company Daedalic Entertainment GmbH. A company who develops very own video games and also publishes projects of smaller developer teams. The company is supporting these teams financially and advising them in terms of public relations, game development and marketing. She is a representative of the company and therefore has to be informed about every product,

Lorena Puica

finance specialist, author

Lorena is a business leader, finance specialist, author and extreme athlete. She founded iamYiam in 2015 having previously worked in investment management with Morningstar and Octopus where she headed the multi-manager and small companies investment teams. She has degrees in finance, economics and investment banking, is a Chartered Financial Analyst and has a Joint Global Executive MBA from London Business School and Columbia. In 2009, she published Microfinance - The Secret to Sustainable Growth. She also serves as a guest lecturer at the Deggendorf Institute Of Technology, an Advisory Board Member at Deggendorf University and a Continuing Education Committee Member at CFA UK. She speaks Romanian, English and German fluently and has working Spanish, Italian and French.

Melanie Spreeberg

Head of Public Relations

Melanie Spreeberg works at the social start-up Kiron. She studied communication in social and economic backgrounds at the University of Arts in Berlin. In that time she also discovered her academic interest about the interplay between digitalization and society. When the refugee crisis in europe started she was supporting an innovative architecture project for sustainable refugee tents and after university she started working in the media relations at Kiron. Kiron is an innovative social start up, with the mission to remove the barriers for refugees to higher education through a unique blended learning approach.

Natalia Talkowska

Creative Entreprneur

Natalia Talkowska is the founder of Natalka Design - creative agency specialising in visual communication delivering projects globally, helping people think and do more creatively, visualising ideas and innovating how we communicate. They're experts in turning often complex messages in pitches and campaigns into simple visual narratives in an easy to understand, memorable way, to truly engage an audience and ensure your brand is more memorable and unique. She's passionate about how we can come up with better ideas more quickly, using key messages in pictures to share useful content and add ROE to the mix (Return on Engagement), which follows the always needed ROI. She also launched one of their creative ventures Doodleledo - social creative & fun events for anyone who says 'I can't draw!' running now in 20 countries to rewire our brains and let us connect naturally in a much easier way. She also started event called #resistttheusual - unscripted social evening where 3 people with great stories answer questions they never heard before, no slides, no prep just raw human conversation which helps the audience to connect much more with the speakers and find their own answers as they experience the evening. She's been called many things: Ideas Consultant, Communications Specialist, Visual Storyteller, Creative Content Strategist but what she's really after is to make us think a bit differently, communicate more easily and to learn what makes people 'tick'. Natalia has been speaking internationally a number of times either on TED (TEDxWomenWroclaw in Poland, TEDxLugano in Switzerland, TEDxNantes in France, TEDxDIT in Germany) stage, conferences or internally within companies to share her extended knowledge and expertise on creativity, visual communication and clever ways to get your story heard and noticed. Watch it if you need some inspiration and understand that we are all extraordinary we just need to find what that is about us. Natalia also is giving tips on evoking that in us and encourage self development.

Shalva Akhrakhadze

Entrepreneur / Author

Shalva Akhrakhadze is a finance professional from Tbilisi, Georgia. He is a founder and CEO of LTD Financial Laboratory, a local company with main services in financial consulting, financial management and coaching. At the same time he works as a lecturer at the top business universities of Georgia, like Caucasus School of Business, Bank of Georgia University and Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. Shalva published a book "Financial Analysis in Practice" in 2013, and recently his article (Tricky Issues of Compounding) was printed in the European Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance Research.

Sinja Anna Baumann

Student / Author

Sinja Anna Baumann is a young professional with a background in International Management. Her research in the field of meditation had led her to India, where she was inspired by great meditation teachers and started studying the nature of change. She is currently working on the outline for her first book "It's All in Your Head" which gives an insight into the fascinating depths of the human mind and provides hands-on material to overcome obstacles and live a life in freedom and happiness. ​​

Theodore Josiha Haig

International Education Consultant / Author

Theodore Josiha Haig is an American writer who has published five mystery suspense novels. He holds a doctorate in education, and a law degree with 46 years of specializing in education. He was a former superintendent of schools in the United States. Currently, he is a Consultant in International Education and has spent the past twelve years in the Middle East committed to finding the most effective approaches to enhance and improve the education system.