The TEDxYYC committee was fortunate to have two members attend the TEDActive conference from Feb. 26 to March 2, that “brought together innovative doers and thinkers to soak up remarkable ideas – and in a voice uniquely theirs, reflect them out to the world.” – TED.com
Over 600 attendees from more than 50 countries were at TEDActive in Palm Springs. Held in conjunction with TED, the TEDActive talks were live streamed from Long Beach to a series of conference centres at the Riviera Resort.
TEDxYYC Committee members James Bull and Alex Middleton at the TEDActive event in Palm Springs
TEDActive is a more participatory event than TED proper as there are a number of conversation-breaks where attendees brainstorm issues ranging from healthcare to cultural vibrancy, an interactive model of the “city of the future” and numerous areas for information sharing. There were TEDx organizers from as far away as Mongolia and Sudan and workshops were held to discuss best practices for TEDx events.
TEDx is now a massive network, and ‘x’ events have been held in 126 countries around the world. The opportunity to connect with organizers from these countries was a powerful snapshot into the effectiveness of the “ideas worth spreading” movement.
A number of the TED speakers ventured out to Palm Springs to interact with participants at the conference and they were remarkably approachable and eager to talk about the ideas they shared on the Long Beach stage.
Some standout talks from the week include Susan Cain:The Power of Introverts and Peter Diamandis: Abundance is our Future.
For more on the event, an interesting article from the Standard Social Innovation Review offers a refreshing take on the TEDx platform that is definitely worth the read.
