TED, in their own words is “an intellectual circus for ideas. Presenters don’t lecture but rather amaze, entertain and present ideas in 18 minutes or less.” So to distill it is to strip it of its meaning … meaning that what I’m about to do is a woefully inadequate substitute for the real experience. It’s like when you tell that joke and nobody laughs, you shrug and say, “I guess you had to be there.” Well kids, you had to be there.
Still there may be value in telling you what you missed. So here we go:
Robert Haas
- Aerial Photographer
- Showed us his portfolio and talked about the fact that when you’re that high up, all of mankind’s blemishes and corruptions are obscured. It is beautiful up there.
- Takeaway: Nations need to work against their own self-interest and for the interest of the global community.
Jill Sobule
- Singer/songwriter
- Sang two songs, “If I had a jet pack” (cool song) and one that was vaguely insulting to Texans. Missed the title.
- Takeaway: Nothing? More of a palette-cleanser.
Joshua Prince-Ramus
- Architect
- Said that architects have become cowards because of litigation. They need to be radically creative and proved it with an amazing virtual tour of the new Dallas Theater Arts Center.
- Takeaway: Be radically creative! Break all the conventional rules of your industry.
Anousheh Ansari
- Space explorer and entrepreneur
- Showed us video and narrated her 10-day flight into outer space. Used that as a platform to encourage us to ”Imagine, be the change, and inspire”
- Takeaway: Set impossible goals and believe that anything is possible.
David Gallo
- Oceanographer
- Changed all our views of the ocean and its impact on the rest of the earth. Did you know that all 6.8 billion people would easily fit in one cubic mile? Yet we’ve managed to turn the ocean into a chemical soup.
- Takeaway: Our ecology problems are man-made and they can be man-corrected. Do something about it.
Amory Lovins
- Physicist
- Talked about “institutional acupuncture”. How Wal-Mart and others are saving the environment by being aware and proactive. Ford is not bankrupt like GM because of this. Apparently green is good for business.
- Takeaway: Businesses need to share their green technology rather than keeping it secret.
Rogers Hartmann
- Entertainment Manager
- Has Spasmodic Toricollis, a painful nerve disease. Told about her diagnosis and journey and how she’s getting better. Loves to talk about awareness. She was the first presenter of the day to get a standing ovation. She is the real deal.
- Takeaway: See the person, not the disease.
Billy Abraham
- Theologian and philosopher
- Proposed that science can measure human intention. Yes, you heard me. He proposed that it is possible to take neuroscientific measuring instruments and figure out why people do what we do. Talked about the intersection of belief and technology.
- Takeaway: Make illuminating mistakes. Be a maverick. Do things differently.
Lewis Warren
- Pianist/prodigy
- He played a couple of songs for us.
- Takeaway: Dang, if he can be that good at 12 years old, why the *@&$ can’t I be that good at something … anything?
Greg Harper
- Entrepreneur
- Demoed some eye-popping gadgets. Camera that doubles as a projector. Portable blu-ray player that plays personal video. Tiny, form-fitted noise-cancelling headphones with amp. Other cool things.
- Takeaway: Ummm … Technology is cool?
Arthur Benjamin
- Mathemagician
- Had folks bring calculators up on the stage. Did amazing mental math in his head faster than the calculator-users. Squared 76,792 in his head and other cool tricks. Taught us how to do it.
- Takeaway: Thinking differently often leads to uncanny results. Buy his book to learn how to do math.
John Araki
- Writer
- I can’t tell you what he talked about. No, seriously. He made us promise not to blog about it.
- Takeway: On a need-to-know basis.
Aaron Reddy
- Public school teacher
- To inspire his class, Aaron paddled the length of the Mississippi river, analyzing water samples the entire way. He narrated his slides of the trip.
- Takeaway: Public school teachers can no longer be conduits of information — that’s what Google is for. They need to be originators and dramatic communicators.
BL Lacerta
- Improvisational music group
- Five piece band and two dancers did an unrehearsed, unwritten musical piece. I’ll have to be honest here, I’m going to have nightmares tonight from this performance. It was as disturbing as it was dissonant. I suspect that the musicians will consider this review as a high compliment.
- Takeaway: I’m just not cool enough to appreciate this “music”
Jeff Talley
- Major General, US Army.
- Gen. Talley was responsible for rebuilding Baghdad’s ghetto, Sadr City. His strategy was to remove the insurgents by cleaning the city, providing power and clean water, and rebuilding every hospital and school. The new warrior.
- Takeaway: Innovative engineers can solve the problems of drought, hunger, homelessness and disease. Ooo-rah.
William Kamkwanba and Bryan Mealer
- Student/innovator and Journalist
- They shared William’s story of his tenacity as he built a windmill with an electric generator out of junk … at 14 years of age. Provided his village with pumped well water, the only source of clean water within 60 miles.
- Takeaway: Solve problems yourself even when it looks impossible. Don’t wait for the government to rescue you.
Tanya Pinto
- Advertiser
- Founded Baal Dann, a charity feeding the poor in India. When Tanya became malnourished, the cure became an inspiration how she could feed the malnourished using a peanut-based food called Plumpy-nut.
- Takeaway: Therapeutic short-term feeding can correct long-term malnourishment. Let’s go do it!
Lisa Sobule (again)
- Singer/Songwriter
- Came back for a second set. Did two catchy tunes. A surprisingly violent love song called “Mexican Wrestler” and a PG-13 rated one about Googling old boyfriends.
- Takeaway: Another palette cleanser
Turk Pipkin
- Philanthropist
- Told stories of his foundation, Nobility.org and how he fed the poor in other nations, drilled water wells, collected rainwater, and provided computers for them.
- Takeaway: Pick an issue that is important to you and take action.
The Polyphonic Spree
- My new favorite band
- Oh. My. Gosh. I’m blown away. I’ve never seen a more energetic, drawing, mesmerizing, creative, captivating performance. I counted 14 musicians, including a cello, violin, flute, electric guitar, two full drum kits, two keyboards and a freaking upright harp. The lead singer climbed six rows into the audience. They had choreography. They had ’splosions. Oh, and they sounded great too.
- Takeaway: Don’t know. Don’t care. Still trying to get my head around what I saw.
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