Theme: be small think big

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, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. 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).

TEDxVaduz includes breakfast, lunch, and a coffee-break. TEDxVaduz is an event like no other, bringing together a community of like-minded individuals driven by powerful ideas, remarkable talents, and the desire to share their inspiration - All this is happening here in Vaduz, and it’s happening on the 21st of August!

Vaduzer Saal
Giessenstrasse 7
Vaduz, Vaduz, 9490
Liechtenstein

Alexandra Waldherr

Microbiologist and Chemist

I am no CEO, no top-level researcher or manager, I am rather still learning all the time myself. But what I have learned already is how programming works and how life worked out mechanisms to be a great chemist. As an older sister, I strongly feel the need to share (unconventional) ideas and passions with the world. Like I want to cheer for my sister when following her personal thing, I also love to pass motivation and inspiration to other people as a "showcase example" that following weird passions even at a young age is totally okay. It is okay to fail, you still have beautiful stories to tell. And in my eyes, microorganisms have the craziest stories that also need to be told somewhere as well :) So there is the connection. "See the Unseen - Know the Unknown - Do the Undone". This basically sums up my daily intentions :)

Amadeus Wiesensee

Pianist, Philospher

The pianist Amadeus Wiesensee, based in Munich, gave his debut with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester at the age of 12 and has since been invited to perform at many prestigious venues and festivals including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Oxford Piano Festival, Konzerthaus Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. He studied at the University of Music in Munich, masterclasses with teachers such as Sir András Schiff, Maria João Pires and Alfred Brendel have rounded off his training. The Süddeutsche Zeitung praised his performance as “poetic and ecstatic at world-class level". In 2021, Amadeus will make his debut at the Beethovenhaus Bonn, at the Davos Festival and at Schloss Elmau with Bach's famous Goldberg variations. His second great passion alongside the piano is philosophy - a subject he simultaneously studied at the Munich School of Philosophy. He's particularly interested in exploring how music and philosophy influence each other and in communicating the importance of the arts today.

Captain Joe

Pilot

My love for aviation started at a very young age when my parents dropped me off at the airport terminal with a UM bag (unaccompanied minor) around my neck. A lovely flight attendant would then pick me up and take care of me during my flight right until my grandparents or my godfather picked me up at the arrivals gate at London Heathrow. At that time, my godfather used to work for London radar as an air traffic controller and that enabled me to witness a Boeing 747 or Concorde take-off, near the runways of Heathrow. Once the Concorde was airborne and the vibrating ground had calmed, I said to myself: "This is what I want to do for a living!" My goal is to become a motivational speaker and share the knowledge from my experience as a pilot with my audience and how they can apply procedures/checklists pilots use in the cockpit to their everyday life!

Christiani Wetter, Karin Ospelt

Karin Ospelt: Singer, Songwriter and Visual Artist /// Christiani Wetter: Actress, Screenwriter and Presenter

Together we aim to playfully explain biological processes in the human body. In this performance we focus on neurotransmitters such as "Dopamine", also known as the "happiness hormone", which is, among other things, released in the human body while a person is going on stage to speak in front of an audience. The feeling of being valued by others who listen, solely on the fact of your performance causes a dopamine flow which can give us, in the best case, a reward effect and positive emotional experiences. In this performance we are going to focus on peoples' psyche as well as their physical constitution while being on stage: What is going on in our psyche, when we speak in front of an audience, how does our body react to these "unnatural" circumstances of having to "prove" itself in front of a mass of people? We are going to explain these questions in an artistic and individualistic way with sound, visuals and speech.

Elizabeth Schädler

Breathwork facilitator

I grew up always having a curiosity for the world and it’s people. Travel helped me fulfill that curiosity and open my eyes to the bigger picture. After graduate school, I worked for twelve years in the outdoor industry. That was when I took a deep dive into yoga and learned ways that we could use our breath that could change our entire lives. This fascinated me. I knew I needed to learn more so I left my job and traveled to India to become a teacher. I spent years traveling, learning meditation and discovering a new way of being. I am now a breathwork facilitator and real estate professional in Asheville, North Carolina, helping people discover how to breathe correctly, heal and find their sanctuary inside and out.

Mario Dieringer

Founder / Author / Speaker / Funeral Celebrant

I have always been of the opinion that when the universe offers a chance, you should take it. Even doors that are only ajar always prompt me to see what's behind them. That's why I went from being a small student with a lousy school-leaving certificate to a TV journalist in Los Angeles via many detours, went in search of the Titanic for a documentary film and sailed from Chile to Antarctica in a 22-metre sailboat together with a handful of Palestinians and Israelis to make the first ascent of a mountain. With a CV like that, of course, you don't become a millionaire CEO, but live from day to day, always looking for the important answers to life from the universe and the next Euro for the rent. I would never have thought it possible that my own death and that of my life partner would provide me with the answer to my current fulfilled life and that from now on I would walk around the world with Trees of Memory.

Mauro Casellini

Cryptocurrency specialist

Mauro Casellini is experienced in the field of Blockchain here in Liechtenstein. He is a Board Member of the Crypto Country Association and the CEO of Bitcoin Suisse Liechtenstein. Born and raised in Chur (Switzerland), he has been working in Liechtenstein since 2013. His first job in Liechtenstein was at Bank Frick where he developed a big knowhow in the areas of Banking, Fintech and Payment. This combination inevitably led to the topic of blockchain, where he recognized early that this technology will be the future technology for the financial industry. In his final role, he was Head of Blockchain and PSP, where he implemented the bank's corporate strategy in the field of blockchain banking and payment services. In 2019 he joined Bitcoin Suisse, the leading blockchain financial services provider from Switzerland, where he is now responsible for the European business and driving the company towards obtaining a banking license in Liechtenstein.

Nelson Inno

Innovation Igniter

Nelson Javier Mejia is a Salvadorean innovation enthusiast with expertise in new product and service development, and an entrepreneur in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Nelson has worked in more than 15 companies of various industries. His last job was at Lufthansa Airlines, where he designed, built, and implemented multiple innovation strategies & departments for Lufthansa Group. Nelson participated as an active member of the TACIT and GAMIFY official EU projects, where he collaborated with Europe's most innovative professionals to develop new innovation methods for the European Union. After some years working in innovation, Nelson noticed the need to improve the innovative mindset inside large corporate cultures. Therefore, he decided to pursue his own project and decided to change the course of the innovation stage in Germany. In 2019, Nelson started his entrepreneurship journey and founded his first company weSpark, an agency dedicated to teaching, coaching and spreading innovation.

Soukaina Alaoui

Software Engineer

I was born in Morocco in 1992. I grew up in a small town but moved to the capital at 18. I studied Political Science, Computer Science, Business management and Color Science. Just like my studies, my hobbies were varied: painting, theatre, photography and writing. I work as a software engineer, but I am currently trying to build up my own projects. I lived in Morocco, France, Spain, Finland and Germany, and took something from each of these countries. I visited many others including Norway, Austria, Mauritius, etc. I think it’s very apparent by now that I like exploring in any possible form.

Valerio Moser

Spoken Word Poet

Last year I won a poetry slam in New York and one in Bilbao with my Swiss German poems and I've attended festivals and events in Warsaw, Maputo, Tokyo, Reykjavik in front of an audience who doesn‘t understand any Swiss-German - without translation. And I'll read some of these poems to show how you can feel a poem even if you don‘t understand the words used. I'm happy to have the chance to be part of the amazing TEDx community! Or as we would say in Swiss-German: Choge cool! If you accept the possibility of failure you will find new creative spaces!