I’m not sure what happened. We waited for days then weeks, but the invitations never arrived. Yes, that’s right, none of us in the office of This were invited to TED2009.
If you haven’t heard of TED, don’t despair. The annual invitation-only event brings the best and brightest in Technology, Entertainment and Design together to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). The goal is to foster and spread great ideas. Why? Consider this:
* An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
* An idea weighs nothing.
* It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
* And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
* It can reshape that mind’s view of the world.
* It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind’s owner.
* It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others.
Fortunately for those of us not quite brilliant enough (yet) to get the coveted TED invite, many of the talks are posted online. For a taste, check out the video above of a talk on spaghetti sauce given by fellow Canadian Malcolm Gladwell at a past TED conference. Or better yet, head to their website and check out the talks for yourself!