Friday, 8 May 2015

#FlashbackFriday - Emeka Okafor

Are you a misfit?  Great, you’ll fit right in! 

Emeka Okafor challenges TEDxEuston to change the world.





At TEDxEuston in 2013, leading African blogger and entrepreneur Emeka Okafor urged Africans to challenge the status quo.  In his TEDxEuston talk entitled, ‘The Crazy Ones’ Emeka – creator of Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained alluded to the 1997 Apple “Think Differently” advertising campaign, and reminded us that it is often the ‘misfits’ and the crazy ones who are the people that change the world.
Emeka Okafor shared with the audience how as director of TED Global in Arusha, Tanzania in 2007, he noticed how everyone at that event had a new and unique way of thinking for Africa.  They all shared ‘the DNA of getting things done’, he said.  And he encouraged the TEDxEuston audience to do the same.
Emeka claims that the people who start tinkering are often the ones who soon develop the prototypes.  In ‘The Crazy Ones’ talk, at TEDxEuston’s Ripple Effect-themed conference, Emeka alluded to one young boy who displayed at Maker Faire Africa his own creation of taking discarded syringes and created excavator toys.  Here’s more about this young inventor’s story here:  
Emeka encourages us all to be part of the ‘problem-solving society’.  He says that there needs to be a space, an environment where like-minded innovators, doers and problem-solvers can come together and encourage one another.  

We at TEDxEuston couldn’t agree more.  So we want to encourage you to do two things:
1)           Listen to Emeka’s full talk here  
2)          Join us at TEDxEuston Salon on 13 June. More about it here and purchase a ticket here 

You’ll be sure to find like-minded creators, innovators and problem-solvers who are determined to birth solutions, develop clear visions and create new concepts which can only harness the strength and potency of Africa. In short – at TEDxEuston Salon you’ll most likely find the crazy ones, the misfits, the ones who are likely to change the world – for better!


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