This morning I attended session one of TEDxPSU. My best guess is that about 800 participants gathered in Alumni Hall to hear speakers on a variety of different topics discussing "ideas worth spreading".
The introduction was a video in which the founders of TED explained that they had very little to do with the day we were about to experience, but rather the local community defined our experience. That's what is so interesting about TED. It provides a few simple tools for localities to use to put together a TEDx event, and then lets them run with their ideas.
Ideas are spread at these individual events around the globe and then broadcasted online for all to see. A specific number of minutes at each TED event is required to be dedicated to sharing the ideas of past events. For example, this video was shared at TEDxPSU.
This particular video is from Edinburgh, Scotland but was seen not only at Penn State today, but also has over 450,000 views on YouTube. It is also available with subtitles in 43 different languages. TED is changing the way we share and spread information. It is allowing people from all over the world to have their voices be heard in a constructive, straight-forward manner. TED is inspiring us to think bigger than ourselves and learn from the world around us. TED is globalization and it is awesome!
The topics of this mornings talks ranged from understanding that the deaf are bilingual to giving plants mobility to global warming. Yet what I realized from attending today's event was that TED is so much bigger than the speeches given at each single event or the videos that come from those events. It is about the thousands upon thousands of stories and ideas that are shared with anyone who is willing listen. It doesn't matter where you grew up or where you come from, not only can you hear all the amazing ideas worth spreading, but if you have your own idea, you can spread it too.
If you log onto ted.com, the front page hosts an array of different videos that all have different topics. When you put your cursor over each different video, there is not only a description, but also a few labels that each video has been given. For example, a video could be frequently deemed informative, inspiring, unconvincing, persuasive, fascinating, beautiful or funny. But the only way to really tell, is to watch it yourself.
One of the most impressive parts about today's event was the use of technology. I often find PowerPoints to be fairly distracting and to take away from a presentation like this. Yet the PowerPoints today were crafted so carefully and so strategically, they did nothing more than supplement the material. Most of the slides were extremely simple, with about 5 words tops. There were pictures that said more words than the speaker could in their entire presentation. They were clean, well-prepared, and added to the presentation. That is how PowerPoints ought to always be used.
Overall, I was extremely impressed by the work that the TEDxPSU team did to bring this event together. Not only was the event live in Alumni Hall, there were also viewing rooms around the HUB and a live stream online here. Around 2pm when I logged on, there were 50 people currently watching the stream and there had been over 700 views throughout the day. I can't wait until TED becomes as popular as it deserves to be. Most people have seen a TED talk or two, but I think the possibilities are endless for the utilization of the information they provide. I have already had a professor use a TED talk in class and I hope that as I move forward in my education, I will only see more of these ideas spread through the classroom, through the community, and around the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment