Have you ever wondered where great ideas come from, or whether there are some great ideas out there that you just haven’t heard yet ? Well, the annual Technology Entertainment and Design (TED) conference is a hot-bed for those ideas. And this year it’s being held from February 4 through February 8 in Palm Springs.
TED started in 1984. Back then its goal was to bring together leading thinkers and doers from the diverse fields of technology, entertainment and design so they can share their best ideas. Since then TED expanded its scope to include world leaders, scientists, musicians and more. And these thinkers, doers and leaders have agreed to share their best ideas with you for free. You’ll find videos from people you’ll recognize like Al Gore who spoke last March on the pace of climate change. Here’s a talk by Tony Robbins on why we do what we do and how we can do it better. Bill Gates just gave a talk on philanthropy and education that hasn’t been posted yet. But you’ll also find videos with fascinating ideas from people who you may not know.
The theme for the 2009 conference is “The Great Unveiling.” Ethan Zuckerman from Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society is live blogging from the floor of the conference.
Enjoy!
Great call on TED — one of the most content-rich sites out there (and a personal favorite). When you have a few minutes, you might also like Big Think (bigthink.com).
Enjoy!
-Al
Casey — TED.com is a wonderfully content rich site, one of my favorite. Another to check out when you have time is Big Think (bigthink.com)
Best,
Al
Another interesting and useful conference for those interested in innovation is SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX next month. It’s where techies go to play. I went last year and got a lot of it, both in terms of practical ideas and inspiration. I wrote about the experience on my blog:
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The Bill gates video may be fun to watch given this -
“Bill Gates set a conference abuzz when he opened a jar of mosquitoes onstage to make a point about malaria prevention.
“There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience,” the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft said at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference Wednesday in Long Beach.
Audience members including technology leaders laughed nervously as the insects swarmed across the auditorium. Gates assured them that the bugs were not carrying malaria.”