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It’s a Good Time to be TED in MIchigan
Dr. Gary Gable at TEDxDetroit 2009
Meet TED, a world traveler who brings together top innovative thinkers and tens of thousands of eager minds. Yeah, it’s good to be TED. But it may be even better to be the city that hosts TED.
If you haven’t heard, TED was named after Technology, Entertainment and Design and was born in 1984 in Long Beach, California. TED is made up of those world class innovative thinkers and doers who give presentations related to one of the aforementioned topics to captive audiences once a year. TED lives by the mantra: Ideas worth spreading.
In the spirit of spreading those ideas, TEDx came about in early 2009. Fear not, TEDx is not TED’s evil twin, but rather, the result of a marriage between TED and community. The ‘x’ stands for independently organized event — TED lends its name, some guidelines and lets the independent organizers take the reins and breath their local spirit and flavor in the event.
It didn’t take long for the great minds in Michigan to grab hold of the opportunity to bring the TED experience to our state, and in October 2009, there was TEDxDetroit. Following Detroit’s lead, TEDxUofM was hosted by Ann Arbor in April 2010.
Intro video for TEDxUofM earlier this year. TED from Rob Porte on Vimeo.
In May an unprecedented 500-some Michiganders gathered for TEDxLansing, more than doubling attendance numbers at the previous two TEDxs.
Even on a small scale, it’s easy to see the benefits a TEDx event can bring to a community. First, there’s the opportunity to showcase the resources and talent a community has while attaching it to a global phenomenon. Being lumped in with some of the world’s most innovative and creative people isn’t exactly bad marketing
Second, the activity surrounding TEDx certainly adds a little bump to the local economy. Local businesses hosted hundreds of patrons during the week with events such as a Mid-Michigan Twitter mixer, a pre-event breakfast gathering, an after party and a two-hour lunch that allowed attendees to choose from one of several local dining options .
TEDxLansing also had a third affect that has potential to change hundreds of lives in an unsuspecting way. A heart-wrenching TED talk from Gift of Life Michigan representative Betsy Minor-Swartz prompted more than 80 new organ donor registrants –– and counting –– to sign up as result of TEDxLansing.
A second TEDxDetroit event is happening next month and you can sign up here. Later in the fall there will be a TEDxGrandValley.
One of our all-time favorite talks from the original TED: Howard Kuntsler explains the importance of place to our society.
Imagine what TEDx could do for your community.
The Testament of TEDx:
Total number of TEDx events to date: 500
Total number of TEDx events planned for 2010: 500 +
Total languages at TEDx events: 35 +
Total number of countries participating in TEDx events: 70 +
Estimated number of people who have attended a TEDx event: 50,000 +
Estimated number of people projected to attend a TEDx event through end of 2010: 100,000
Number of colleges that have hosted TEDx events: 100 +
Number of colleges currently signed up to host an upcoming TEDx event: 80 +
Find a TEDx happening near you, or learn how to produce your own TEDx event, right here >>
Watch TEDx talks from the amazing YouTube archive right here >>
Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons license via djbuchannan
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