Inspiration: The TED Conference 2009
Feb 7th, 2009 by Mike
Hey, I have a golden nugget for you – I hope it will get the inspirational and creative juices flowing!
I was excited to discover the TED Conference 2009 is here! It’s in Long Beach, California right now – but don’t think about going… it’s been sold out for years…
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference.
I’ve written about TED in the past – in fact I previously gave links to the Anthony Robbins video from a past TED… (I’ll put that video link at the bottom of this – it’s one of those priceless videos so be sure to watch it – even if you’ve seen it!)
So what is the big deal about TED??? TED is a meeting of some the greatest minds! From all walks of life. Really!
If you are not familiar with it – let me tell you TED is a brilliant concept! Their slogan is “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It’s similar in concept to Twitter as in “less is more” – because they LIMIT their presenters to only 18 minutes! Let me tell you – it’s not easy for some of these brilliant minds to condense into 18 minutes all the thoughts and ideas they are having – but – that is part of what makes TED so great. The speakers jam cram their 18 minutes with profound stuff!
Wow… look who’s there this year! Tony Robbins, J.J. Abrams (LOST), Chris Anderson (Wired/Long Tail), Seth Godin, Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Bono (I know!), Richard Branson, Ray Kurzweil, Bill Clinton, Thomas Dolby (really? oh he’s the TED music director – cool!), Peter Gabriel, David Pogue, Al Gore among others… wow… the ultimate festival lineup!
You can see the complete list of the current 328 “presenters” at:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers
If you wanna see some videos of TED presenters in action you’ll find them here:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/list
TIP: sort them by “date filmed”
As of this moment there is only 1 video from the current 2009 TED conference and it’s of Bill Gates.
Whether you like him or not – I highly suggest you check out the video of the TED 09 session with Bill Gates. He is getting a good deal of press because he released “bloodsucking mosquitoes” into the audience during his 18 minute presentation.
See the clip for yourself. And I know – it’s irresistible to not think of Bill Gates and his Mosquitoes and think of Bugs… as in Microsoft bugs… Ironic he did that!
Well, that’s all for now! Hope you get a chance to go snoop around the TED site! Not all of the videos will be something to connect with – but some are pure gold!
“Most people fail in life because they major in minor things. Success is simple, but it does require certain consistent things each day.”
- Anthony Robbins
P.S. I promised I would dig up that info and link to the videos from Tony Robbins speaking at an older TED event…. here is the info from an older Words Equal Money issue…
I have a video for you with Anthony Robbins from the documentary “TED: the future we will create”. This relates to the theme of my new product and offers a great segment with Tony Robbins (Anthony if you prefer) talking about his curiosity and how he is not the “motivational guy”, but rather the “WHY guy”.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/96
As Tony himself says – he wants to know why we do what we do. Check out the clip. It’s worth watching!
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TED is a great site and I’m glad that you think so too. I did not know that Anthony Robbins spoke at TED.
I think the message behind TED is everyone has their own intelligence and their talent to contribute something worthwhile to the world.
For example the kids who got a simple air balloon miles up into the atmosphere….that is inspirational too (NOT an Aprils Fool joke at all).
http://www.modernstreet.com/general/its-april-fools-day/
We all at some time need inspiration and motivation to help achieve our goals in life.
I needed a little pick me up today, thanks for this!
I love TED videos! They are a great way to get your day started, just watch at least 1 video each morning for a great jolt of motivation and inspiration.
Karen Sielski
Kinetic Wealth blog for online wealth and motivation
I absolutely love TED videos and often turn to them when I’m feeling a bit bored and need some . They’re great for ideas blog posts or for further research.
Gillian
I’m a big fan of TED, particularly the business and design talks and ideas. And if you guys happen to visit the TED site be sure to watch Steve Job’s talk entitled How to Live Before You Die. It’s amazing!
Maybe one day I’ll get to see them here in Toronto, Canada