Welcome to 2020! The year of innovation, creation, and revelation. Are you ready? 

After a long-awaited break, we’re proud to announce the TEDxUTAustin Speaker Conference Theme for 2020:

Ironically, in a world that’s constantly evolving and morphing into something new, it’s easy for us to fall into stagnation. It’s easy to not want to disturb the status quo, to maintain the same routines day after day, year after year.

But ask yourself: do you want to always be the same person that you were yesterday?

Break Through is the opportunity to shatter what you think you know, who you think you are, and where you think you're going. It is the answer to life’s questions and the solution to its biggest problems. 

Willful Wandering

It all begins with Willful Wandering. This is the period where we go through the maze, unsure of when it will end. During this phase, we are forced into rights and lefts following leads that may or may not lead to the right solution, but we keep trying.

Building an Exit

Slowly, we begin to build an exit. Using knowledge and tools, we start to try and find our way out. Those who pave the path to the exit are also leading the way for others in the future.

Freedom To Move

Finally, we reach the Break Through. There are no longer any limits, and we are free to move in any direction possible. We now look at everything we can do with this new freedom.

What it Means to Us

“Break Through is about a moment of progress. One where we move past the issues of today and build a new and better future. Break encapsulates the destruction of the systems and processes that are holding us back from our full potential. THROUGH is about using the cutting edge innovations of modern time to build new solutions to the world's biggest problems. That “ah ha!” moment when the path to a better world becomes clear and we have an understanding of tools at our disposal to make it happen. It’s like wandering through a maze, turning left and right aimlessly. When you finally find the exit, you can move in any direction you want, the maze you were trapped for so long, doesn't matter in the slightest.“ -Zane (Creative Director)

“Break Throughs are all around us. They are the tipping points of our knowledge. We stand atop the summit of our mind full of ever-shifting peaks of understanding. Break Throughs are as simple as one inhale that’s just a little bit deeper than you ever thought it could be.” -Elif (VP Membership)

“A boldness to push what discoveries to the new status quo into society, whether it be new technology, policy, laws, or ways of thinking and shaping culture. It is about the human’s innate desire to change the world one inhabits and celebrating when that change does happen.” -Joyson (Logistics Director)

“The idea of “Break Through” has a sense of forcefulness indicative of the initiative and power with which those innovations can be driven forward. With that, I think the way we, as individuals, are empowered in an age of information overload and constant change is its own breakthrough.” - Erica (VP Partnerships)

“Stop.

Take a look at what we aren’t doing completely right. 

Take a look at what makes us work today. 

Take a look at what’s going to disrupt tomorrow.

Go.”

“We need moments of jarring reflection and analysis to make sure we are in touch with the real reasons we do things and how we do them. TEDxUTAustin 2020 is your wake up call.”

-Abhishek (President)

Now that you’ve heard it from us, let the definition sink in, run through your veins, fuel your creativity and get ready for the best one yet: our revolutionary 2020 conference. 

What does Break Through mean to you? 

Until next time we connect,

-TEDxUTAustin