Ive been to TED and Ive met Bill Gross. I like TED, Bill Gross doesn’t like me. That being said Bills summation of the recent TED is short and to the point. Save airplane flights, TED tickets (by the way $8-15,000), customs both ways, a new currency. Rain, Did it rain in Vancouver during this years TED?, Speakers with handlers, handlers with handlers, and maybe if you went you would find someone who actually bought a ticket where the cost of it was a dent in their checking or more likely savings account. When I went to TED in NYC the best attendee story was the guy who work up Richard Saul Wurman, he started and used to run TED, at 5am in the morning for a ticket. He worked in Russia in the oil business, he saved his money, as there wasnt anything to buy there, maybe that was a good thing, for him it was, he bought a ticket to TED in NYC. I believe the ticket was $4,000 in 1998, the last and only time TED was in NYC. So thats what you missed, those people who have dreamed of TED and reached in and paid for a TED of their own limited funds. Thats the backstory of TED, those who you don’t know of, having their first TED experience, reaching deep into limited funds to experience the in person wonderment of TED. The fact that we all cant go to TED in person is one of the scaling problems of the world. Here is a link to Bills TED post on linked in Read Bills excellent TED post.
BTW for those without the $8,000 the best TED afterparty is the Bil conference. Its free and you can still get tickets for next year.
PHOTO From Vancouver Sun