This post originally appeared in the TEDxPeachtree blog on March 7, 2012. As the co-organizer of the three-year-old annual event, I had written it for the TEDxPeachtree community and I am now posting a slightly revised version of it here as a way to frame my experience at SXSW 2012 which I will share in an upcoming post.
After seven days of getting all five senses stimulated and some would say over-stimulated, I now know that to call TED a mere conference is a gross understatement. While the most public manifestation of TED is its now-famous 18-minute talks, TED isn’t just about these talks. Instead, it is a multi-sensory experience designed to break down mental walls and open minds to the possibilities that can be spurred by a human, and in some cases, robot ingenuity.
Conspiracy theorists might argue that the hosting of more than 30 talks and performances over four days AND the two days of programming for TEDx organizers at TEDActive AND the nightly ‘activities’ complete with generous libations is TED’s form of sleep deprivation — the better to condition the mind to pliability. And they might be right. But this attendee says: Bring it on!
The experience was refreshing, cathartic, transcendent.
The TED experience causes us to re-examine our position on important issues. At moments, the carefully curated program evokes in us a sense of child-like wonder. With “Full Spectrum” as its 2012 theme, the TED team took special care to bombard our senses. These images are just a sliver of my TED moments this year.
After seven days of getting all five senses stimulated and some would say over-stimulated, I now know that to call TED a mere conference is a gross understatement. While the most public manifestation of TED is its now-famous 18-minute talks, TED isn’t just about these talks. Instead, it is a multi-sensory experience designed to break down mental walls and open minds to the possibilities that can be spurred by a human, and in some cases, robot ingenuity.
Conspiracy theorists might argue that the hosting of more than 30 talks and performances over four days AND the two days of programming for TEDx organizers at TEDActive AND the nightly ‘activities’ complete with generous libations is TED’s form of sleep deprivation — the better to condition the mind to pliability. And they might be right. But this attendee says: Bring it on!
The experience was refreshing, cathartic, transcendent.
The TED experience causes us to re-examine our position on important issues. At moments, the carefully curated program evokes in us a sense of child-like wonder. With “Full Spectrum” as its 2012 theme, the TED team took special care to bombard our senses. These images are just a sliver of my TED moments this year.
Watching the simulcast in Palm Springs with 600 other TEDsters was like hanging out with 600 like-minded, highly motivated individuals who were NOT alike but who all care about our collective future and who all wanted and had the wherewithal to make things happen in their respective tribes. While not everyone agreed on every issue or idea raised in the talks, every person felt ‘safe’ within the TED experience to share his/her views, debate his/her position and still be able to share in, say, a chocolate and whiskey tasting thereafter! Some of the most discussed talks that are now available for viewing are:
- Susan Cain’s powerful case on the power of introversion.
- Bryan Stevenson on the social injustice facing America’s black youth. (>$1 M was raised by TEDsters 24 hours after the talk was given!)
My personal favorites that aren’t yet available online are:
- Al Vernacchio on how age-appropriate sexuality education can be framed in terms of eating pizza instead of playing baseball.
- Book designer extraordinaire Chip Kidd (he designed the iconic T-Rex used in the Jurassic Park movie posters) and his entertaining treatise on the beauty of books, the paper kind.
- Sherry Turkle on how technology can prevent us from making deep human connections.
- MIT professor Donald Sadoway on inventing a liquid metal battery.
- Poet Laureate Billy Collins sets his artfully simple poems to clever animation to create masterpieces that even the most literary adverse among us can love.
But as mentioned previously, TED is not just about the 18-minute talks. It’s about creating an irresistible platform that attracts deep thinkers and proactive doers. The TEDx movement is an extension of that. Through thousands of TEDx events (there is an average of three TEDx events held each day!) each community creates its own unique environment that ignites possibilities among its members. And that is exactly what TEDxPeachtree 2012 will strive for on November 2.
What is your transcendent idea worth sharing?
