By ALANA MITCHELSON
A Hero Round Table conference to inspire everyday courageous acts will take place in Geelong, the hometown of its creator.
Matt Langdon has had a focus on empowering children since his days working in American school camp programs.
For the past 10 years he has hosted events with guest speakers sharing stories about heroism.
He has also worked with renowned psychologist Dr Phil Zimbardo who conducted the famous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment.
Saturday’s conference at Geelong West Town Hall will start at 10.30am on Saturday at Geelong West Town Hall with speakers at 12-minute intervals until 6pm.
Attendees will then have opportunities to share their own stories of heroic acts.
They will also have options for one-on-one time with the speakers.
The speakers include psychologists, authors, social activists and entrepreneurs from across local, national and international spheres.
Geelong Grammar’s John Hendry will talk about the bystander effect, the founder of One Girl will speak on how people can be “heroes from a distance” and Dr Zimbardo will explain how to empower heroes.
Hero Town Geelong president Sylvia Gray said the event could help empower people with confidence to overcome bullying at work or school.
“I encourage those who are curious to come along. It’s an opportunity to share feel-good stories,” she said.
“While the project’s initial focus was on empowering kids, this event is for everyone of all ages.
“A girl at a previous conference told us that just five days after the event, she was presented with a situation on the highway where she saw a smashed car on the road.
“She could have offered to help someone or simply walk away and assume the problem was somebody else’s responsibility.
“She rose to the occasion and ended up performing CPR on somebody for five minutes waiting for an ambulance to arrive. She saved a man’s life.
“That’s really powerful.”
Ms Gray said more information about the event was available at herotowngeelong.com.au.
Click below to watch Mr Langdon and Dr Zimbardo present a talk at a previous Hero Round Table conference.
