Recap: TEDxVienna Inspiring Interviews in 2020

For all of us at TEDxVienna, the year we left behind was an eye-opening and challenging one. Due to the pandemic, our big event was also postponed to 2021, as are many big events around the world. Nevertheless, in the midst of what was a transformative and strange year, we managed to organize a smaller, yet inspirational event titled “TEDxVienna Salon: Adventures Within Work.”

Photo credits: Marlon Hambrusch

The event took place at the Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Technical Museum). It featured three speakers and a musical performance by Kim & Johnny. Each of the speakers was interviewed after their talks by our talented writers Leen De Marez, Marie Krebs, and Sarah Guvi. 

Here’s more about each of the interviews:

Visualize, Feel, Act – Interview with Annemarie Lombard-Puntschart at TEDxVienna 2020

Photo credits: Marlon Hambrusch

Yogi, Artist & Radio Show Host Annemarie Lombard-Puntschart talks about getting back up after experiencing a severe skydiving accident in 2003. 

“It’s beautiful to be human, but we are gradually losing our humanity. The simplest reaction to that is to feel yourself. And the simplest task therefore is, every now and then during the processes of your day, feel your feet on the ground, intentionally and fully present.” –  Annemarie Lombard-Puntschart

Are you curious about her journey and want to get more insight into Lombard-Puntschart’s adventure within her body and mind? Read her full interview here.

Interview with Florian Schönwiese: Joining Art and Business

Photo credits: Marlon Hambrusch

Violinist and Leadership Expert Florian Schönwiese, just like Annemarie Lombard Puntschart, had his first TEDx talk at TEDxVienna Adventures Within Work. 

Music and leadership may seem like they do not have a lot in common. However, according to Schönwiese, these two fields are not so different.  

“…nature is a very important source for energy, grounding and inspiration. Also, of course, all kinds of arts. I think it’s quite important to find the kind of art that helps you to develop your personality.” – Florian Schönwiese

To read more about his TEDx talk and how he combines business and classical music, check out the full interview here.

The Future of Work Organizations – Interview with Markus Reitzig at TEDxVienna 2020

Photo credits: Marlon Hambrusch

Markus Reitzig is a professor of Strategic Management at the University of Vienna. He gave an insightful talk on the future of organizational structures in the workforce.

“If you feel that there is a routine canon of things that you can learn that are not extremely difficult for machines to imitate, it is very likely that you will face problems in the short- to mid-run. At the same time though, you need to make a choice and specialize in something, so I think those two considerations should be on the minds of everyone.” – Markus Reitzig

Here you can read the full interview.

Interviews with our inspiring TEDxVienna speakers are not the only interviews we have done in 2020. Throughout the past year, the members of our TEDxVienna blog team have conducted several other eye-opening interviews with various notable people. Here they are in chronological order: 

A series of conversations 

Photo credits: Hal Gatewood

In early 2019, our former Blog Team Lead Julia started a series of interviews/conversations regarding topics like depression, anxiety, eating disorder, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, impostor syndrome, and similar topics. Conversation #8 Bipolar Disorder II and Conversation #9 Anxiety Disorder took place at the beginning of 2020. To read the previous seven conversations, click here

“The Most Important Piece of the Puzzle Was Actually the Change of My Mindset” – Interview with Stefan Wöhrer

Photo credits: Markus Spiske

Aiming to share real stories from people who have made the leap from quitting their job to creating their own by becoming a founder and/or CEO, our blogger Caroline had a chat with Stefan Wöhrer, the founder and CEO of Lean Coders in Vienna. Read the full interview here.

The Impact of Reproductive Technology on Identity: An Interview with Albert Frantz 

Photo credits: Ouriel Morgensztern

After writing an article about surrogacy I got in contact with Albert Frantz, who found out that he was the product of reproductive technology himself shortly before turning 30. That discovery took him on a quest to find his missing family, and with them his own true identity. In this full interview, we discuss the immense ethical, legal, and psychological issues that come with reproductive technology and its impacts on identity.

Urban Exploration Up Close: An Interview with Two of Vienna’s Up-and-coming Urbexers

Photo credits: @uhrbecks

The last interview for 2020 was done by our very own Marie Krebs. She had the opportunity to sit down with two members of Vienna’s Urban Exploration scene. In this inspiring and entertaining interview, Marie did her own exploration on Urban Exploring and the anonymous faces behind @uhrbecks. Read the full interview here.

We hope that you will enjoy our fair share of TEDxVienna interviews in 2020. We also wish you a great start into 2021 and look forward to sharing other inspiring interviews with you soon.

Header Image by Michal Czyz

Juxhina Malaj

Juxhina is a writer, editor, and Co-Team Lead for the TEDxVienna Online Magazine. She has a Master of Science degree in Communication Science from the University of Vienna. When not engaged in research and content marketing, she likes to oil paint, read, and loves to travel any chance she can get.

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