Fairlie Hamilton will host TEDxWollongong – with the theme Lookout – next March. Photo: Kellie O’Brien; Inset: Raven Co Digital.
Wollongong is about to join the global TEDx conversation, with tickets now on sale for the debut TEDxWollongong event – bringing big ideas, bold local voices and global reach to the Illawarra next March.
Held under licence from the world-renowned TED brand, it will be titled Lookout and give 12 Illawarra voices the chance to share powerful stories and ideas as they follow in the footsteps of inspirational thinkers such as Brene Brown, Simon Sinek and Sir Ken Robinson.
TEDxWollongong will bring together speakers, thinkers and changemakers on 7 March for an afternoon of short, powerful talks designed to spark conversation, challenge perspectives and inspire action.
Event licensee and curator Fairlie Hamilton sought interest in October from speakers with a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences, with applications closed mid December.
She said it had proven that the Illawarra was the perfect home for TEDx.
“The Illawarra is full of passionate people with ideas worth spreading,” Fairlie said.
“From innovation and business to creativity and community, there’s incredible thinking happening here and TEDxWollongong is about giving those ideas a global platform.
“Within the speaker line-up, there will be a few names that people do recognise and will want to go along and hear speak.”
She said the 2026 theme, Lookout, was inspired by the Illawarra escarpment and the region’s natural vantage points.
“The theme needed to be broad enough that speakers were able to present their talk around that theme, but I wanted to choose a theme that had some scope for positivity and also a nod to our local environment,” she said.
“One of the things about our region is the escarpment and the natural beauty.
“So Lookout is a bit of a nod to the fact there are many beautiful places we can physically go to a lookout.
“It’s also about not being so introspective and instead considering our communities and those around us.”
Fairlie said she wanted speeches to invite audiences to pause, reflect and look outward towards new ideas, fresh horizons and bold possibilities.
As owner of The Presenting Coach and current ABC Illawarra drive show host, she said TEDxWollongong offered a rare opportunity to experience a global-calibre event in Wollongong.
“As a speaking coach I see how much training exists around speaking but far fewer opportunities to actually speak,” she said.
“TEDxWollongong creates a powerful platform for local voices to be heard, amplified and shared with the world.”
She said the talks that happened on TEDx stages around the world were moved into the marketing engine that is TED.
“So there’s a potential for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of viewers to see local voices on this global stage,” she said.
“That to me is why it was important.”
Fairlie said that a decade ago the University of Wollongong hosted independent events specifically for universities called TEDxU events, but Wollongong had never hosted a TEDx event.
Tickets are now on sale for TEDxWollongong on 7 March at 3 pm, inside the Bruce Gordon Theatre at Wollongong’s IPAC. Speakers to be announced soon.
