In the spirit of Ideas Worth Spreading TED has created a program called TEDx, a series of local self-organised events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.
TEDxSydney at CarriageWorks on Saturday 22 May 2010 will feature a selection of Australia's leading visionaries and storytellers showcasing their Ideas Worth Spreading LIVE to a group of thinkers ... as well as ONLINE to the world at large.
Last week was an eventful one in TEDxSydneyland. We met and have partnered with a Sydney based communications company called The Launch Group. (CEO Fleur Brown is a TEDster.) Fleur and her team will be helping out with our marketing communications, social media networking and (critically) the evaluation of potential strategic partners and event sponsors for TEDxSydney 2010.
TEDIndia also took place last week … finishing up on Saturday early evening AEDT. Congratulations go to Lakshmi Praturi, her team and all at TED for a job well done. Some of us were lucky enough to catch bits and pieces via the TED.com webcast. Also, the general public were able to tune in to the first day and the last session thanks to an arrangement with the Times of India (screen shot from last session below, along with shot of Remo watching some of the opening session with staff and CustOMERs at new REMO Store in Bondi).
TEDIndia has inspired us to consider the following in the development and planning for TEDxSydney 2010:
+ TONE
TEDIndia was vibey and “emotional” … with possibly more singing, acting and music than you’d normally see at a regular TED. Did anyone catch any of the sessions? What do people think of this tonal approach vis a vis what we want to achieve over the course of a single day with TEDxSydney?
+ AUSTRALIAN’NESS
TEDIndia felt very Indian … and I’m not just talking about the stage decoration. How “Australian” should TEDxSydney feel … and what does that mean? Modern Australia is (happily) a truly multicultural beast … and that will likely inform our choices of speakers and performers.
+ OPTIMISM
Finally, TEDIndia reminded us that TED is more about solutions than it is about problems. Optimism is an important component of the TED DNA … and our curatorial choices will also be informed by this.
