Announced today was the October 6th event in Auckland, TEDx. TED is an annual event where some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about. “TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. And in fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline. Attendees have called it “the ultimate brain spa” and “a four-day journey into the future.” The diverse audience — CEOs, scientists, creatives, philanthropists — is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver, Philippe Starck, Sir Ken Robinson and Bono. TED was first held in Monterey, California, in 1984. In 2001, Chris Anderson’s Sapling Foundation acquired TED from its founder, Richard Saul Wurman. In recent years, TED has expanded to include an international conference, TEDGlobal; media initiatives, including TED Talks and TED.com; and the TED Prize.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
TEDx was first hosted in Auckland in 2009 and subsequently in 2010. Previous speakers include Sir Ray Avery, pharmaceutical scientist, inventor and social entrepreneur; Wendy McGuinness, CEO McGuinness Institute; Scott Gilmour, Director at Winscribe Inc and Nextspace Ltd; and Jonathan Milne, founder of The Learning Connexion.
At the moment, the line up of speakers is still being compiled for the October event in Auckland. The speakers will most likely be New Zealanders, some currently from NZ and others in exciting roles elsewhere in the world. At the moments, tickets are still not on sale, but the date has been released. Saturday, 6 October 2012 at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre from 10am – 5:30pm.
