TEDxSydney will return to the Sydney Opera House on Thursday May 21 with an expanded public event program, including a free live site on the Opera House forecourt and the launch of a TEDxSydney Donors program.

With an overall theme of ‘learning’, the 2015 event will have a strong youth focus, using the weekday timing to engage students in the event, from primary school to university.

TEDxSydney licensee Remo Giuffré said staging the event on a weekday opens up significant opportunities for greater community involvement.

“The momentum TEDxSydney has experienced over the past five years has been quite awesome – our content from last year’s event alone has amassed more than 10 million views in just over five months. To put that statistic in context, with that audience we could empty and refill the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House every single day of the year for 12 years.

“For next year’s event, we are looking to integrate more closely than ever with the living conversations of our city and our community, workplaces and schools. We are working on a whole of House strategy for our venues, including a fantastic open live site on the Opera House forecourt, which anyone will be able to attend.

“The 2015 event occurs in the middle of the Sydney Writer’s Festival and the day before the launch of VIVID, putting extra focus on Sydney as a source for ideas and inspiration,” Giuffré said.

TEDxSydney head of editorial & curation, Edwina Throsby said the learning theme will extend to the stage.

“One of the great things about TEDxSydney is that it is for all people of all ages. Just because you’ve finished school or Uni doesn’t mean that you stop learning, or stop being curious.  Our stage for 2015 will celebrate lifelong learning, and recognise that teachers can be found in unexpected places,” she said.

In 2015, TEDxSydney will open up a Donors program for the TEDxSydney Concert Hall attending members who would like to engage more deeply with the TEDxSydney team, its speakers and its community.

Key statistics from the 2014 event:

• 2,700 live attendees within the Concert Hall and The Studio at the Sydney Opera House;
• 7,000 people attended a TEDxSydney satellite event somewhere in the world;
• 35,000 tuned in to one or more of the four live streams;
• Thus far there have been XX millions of views of the videos online or on the TEDxSydney app, from the archival live stream;
• After only two years, TEDxSydney has become the biggest venue-wide event on the Sydney Opera House calendar;
• The TEDxSydney app was downloaded in 31 countries.

The University of Sydney will return as principal partner in 2015 with St George Bank signing up as a three-year principal partner.

Dr Michael Spence, vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Sydney said the university is delighted to partner with TEDxSydney for the fourth year in a row.

“Leadership is a core value shared by the University of Sydney and TEDxSydney. As the principal partner, we look forward to another year of creating and engaging in ideas that will have an impact on our society. This year’s focus on education is an opportunity to celebrate the powerful impact it can have on all our lives, regardless of our backgrounds,” said Spence.

Martine Jager, general manager of marketing, customer experience and mortgage broking at St.George Bank, said: “We are thrilled to come on board as principle sponsors for TEDxSydney and open more doors to supporting innovation and creativity for our customers and our community. At St.George, we always strive to help people start something and turn their dreams into reality – listening and learning about our customers is at the heart of everything we do. We are delighted to be part of the awesome experience that will be TEDxSydney.”