Who is this guy TED anyway?

I recently returned from TED, always one of the highlights of the year for me. It’s an opportunity to pause your life and tune into and connect with what else is going on outside of your world.

Inevitably when I return many friends ask me “What is TED” The fact is that it’s almost impossible to sum up the TED experience to someone who hasn’t attended.  You can try to describe the fascinating talks from world renown experts in almost every field and the amazing insight you personally gained, or the incredibly wide diversity and passion of the attendees, or the fact that almost no “business” gets discussed at TED but somehow lots gets done, or even the implausibly relaxed atmosphere that pervades the entire week and allows conversations and connections to be made.  But the real truth as far as I can tell is that the magic of TED is that its almost pure serendipity and THAT is almost impossible to explain.  When you mix together world class thinkers that genuinely give a damn about making things better, in an atmosphere that encourages and supports learning, collaborating and making a difference strange and wonderful stuff happens.  Those are affectionately referred to as “TED Moments”.  For some of these "Moments" you can check out the official  TED Blog,  Michael  does a nice job chronicling his TED moments, and Kate had a very sweet TED moment too.

I had a number of these moments, but perhaps t the most memorable was a seemingly improbably conversation with Bill Clinton. In addition to him being a delightfully normal guy to talk with (although the conversation topics were anything from normal) he brought home the point that it’s never too late to make a difference, admit a mistake, and right a wrong. In describing the latest health and economic initiative of the Clinton Foundation in Rwanda, and why they picked that particular country – he simply said I, my administration and this country could have and should have done more during the genocide - it was wrong and I want to do something to address the suffering that mistake caused.  Had this message been delivered as it has via mass media you could easily dismiss it for a number of reasons, but delivered 1:1 where the sincerity was palpable, it was impossible to ignore.

Chris Anderson and the folks at TED will be making the many of the talks at TED available on line. Stay tuned to the website, and check them out. If you take a moment out of your day to pause, explore what’s going in the world and to give a damn about making a difference you may have a TED moment too!

 

Comments

[Andrew J Scott]

I've followed the TED videos, when I can, with interest for a couple of years now. I'm looking forward to at some point in the future being able to go. Meanwhile, this year I was invited to DLD in Munich, which I got the feeling was much smaller but had similar aspirations. A thoroughly enjoyable event and I met some fantastic people; recommended. http://www.dld-conference.com/