Playa Del Carmen is Getting its 1st TEDx Event Jan 2022
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether to try working remotely in Playa Del Carmen Mexico, a close-knit community of locals, expats, and nomads there are giving you an even better reason to come in January 2022.
TedxZazilha is Playa Del Carmen’s first official Tedx community, and their inaugural event is happening Thursday January 13th, 2022 at Playa Del Carmen’s Teatro De La Ciudad Solidaridad. The event features 6 powerhouse speakers who will each share a talk about a theme on #sustainablesocieties which include the founder of Sargablock, the Founder of Bicineta, the Founder of Cointree, and others.
All talks for this event will be in English.
We had a chance to connect with the TedxZazilHa leadership team for an interview to get the scoop!
Adventurely: A lot of people reading this might not be familiar with the Zazil Ha neighborhood of Playa Del Carmen. What can you tell us about it?
Team TedxZazilha: “Zazil-Há and Gonzalo Guerrero are two neighbors at the core of Playa, still, few people know the story behind those names, and it's actually a pretty cool one.
Zazil-Há was a Mayan woman, and Gonzalo Guerrero was one of the first Spanish who arrived at the Peninsula, becoming a prisoner and slave of the natives. Yet, against all odds they fell in love, had three children, and are recognized as the couple who started the Mayan miscegenation.
But not only that, as Zazil-Há and Gonzalo started understanding each other's language, he was able to inform her about Spain's plans to conquer and possibly eradicate a lot of the local villages, so together they started a crusade across the Peninsula. While Zazil-Há spread the word about what was about to happen, Gonzalo, a skilled warrior, trained and prepared the locals in war tactics to repel the attacks. They brought together different villages and became a unified kingdom that they ruled for two generations until eventually fell under the Spanish attacks.
We aim to honor and highlight this story of bravery, community, and different cultures working together.”
The Zazhil Ha District of Playa Del Carmen Mexico.
Adventurely: Talk to us about your theme for Tedx Zazilha, “sustainable societies” - what was the team thinking process behind the theme, and why did you find it important for Zazhil Ha.
Team TedxZazilha: "Sustainable means that whatever you do is not detrimental to yourself, others, or the environment, so you can keep doing it over time. My vision since the beginning was to inspire sustainable social changes through stories of resilience, love for nature, community mindset, and technology playing a strategic role in it.”
For me, inspiration is essential because it's the fuel that turns ideas into action, and currently there’s no better format for inspiration than TED, that was my main reason to bring it to playa; we like to hear other people's stories because that gives us the drive to overcome our own challenges, otherwise, we lose hope, we give up, and that's the worst-case scenario we can face individually and collectively, because then we do nothing.”
#sustainablesocieties is the theme of talks for TedxZazilha
Adventurely: The speaker lineup looks awesome, what was the selection process like, and was there anything in common with the final selected speakers?
Team TedxZazilha: “We looked for local stories about conservation, resilience, community mindset, and technology. And by using these simple criteria, highlighting the speakers that fitted the best was more manageable once the hundreds of applications started arriving thanks to the announcement we released on local Facebook groups. There were other remarkable stories that I would love to invite for the next editions still.”
Adventurely: For our readers interested in learning about different venues in popular nomad cities, what can you share with us about the venue you guys chose
Team TedxZazilha: “We wanted the venue to convey the essence of Playa del Carmen, so initially, we were looking for a beachfront or cenote setting. But, as we identified the priorities of the event, we determined the first criteria for selection would be acoustics and comfort. In this way, it was easy for us to choose the theater, one of the best venues for events in the Riviera Maya because it has beautiful architecture, it's well equipped/designed, and it's one of those hidden jewels that few people know. It will be fantastic to show there's more in Playa than what meets the eye.”
The venue in Playa Del Carmen for TedxZazilHa
Adventurely: Last but not least, let's get to know a little more about the leadership team. We’d love to learn a little bit about your individual backgrounds.
Team TedxZazilha: The organizer's story's kinda funny because initially we were three, then two, then five, then four. This process has taught me a lot about forming groups of work and how to facilitate the different personalities and abilities to ensemble or fall apart naturally.
Currently, we're four co-organizers and nineteen volunteers from all over the world working together in the most beautiful way just because we all love Playa and TED.
My name is Monica Liceaga. I am Mexican, and I like to refer to myself as a human glue. My specialization is to build communities, and that process begins with setting a common vision and connecting our individual purposes to that. I'm also an Art Therapist, and in the process of becoming a former partner of Nest Coworking.
Other members of the core team are:
Inés Lopez (Spain) is an astounding project manager with personal development experience and who has been able to use both skills in this process with amazing results.
Giacomo Bonamico (Italy) is our production and media manager with experience in the production of TV shows.
And Tanya Spence-Kelly (UK), who is a qualified Hypnotherapist and the founder of Valor, a movement created to empower women to live their lives with courage, strength, and worthiness.”
Limited tickets are still available if you act fast to attend this amazing event! Learn more + buy tickets at www.tedxzazilha.com
About Adventurely: Adventurely is a meetup app (currently on desktop!) for millennial & genz travelers. Connect with digital nomads, solo travelers, and local adventure seekers for shared experiences and meetups when you travel to cities around the world. Join for free & reserve your unique username at www.adventurely.app!