25 February 2006

The State Theater & its Content(s)

Whatever you think about Unleavened Doom, it sure does project to the balconies. Jim Crupi was therefore a good pick to address the full TED audience as we all assembled
under one roof for the first time in the Monterey State Theater.   

All told, I
found the theater to be a great addition to the TED arsenal. The space is just jaw-dropping, the change of
scenery was nice, and it gave a much clearer sense of the full scale of the TED
audience than the evening events in which we’re dispersed throughout a vast ballroom. I hope we continue to convene there at future
TED’s, and think the Friday evening session is the ideal time for that. A change of pace is welcome by the third day,
and it’s a great way to gather the tribe and set the momentum as we move on to
the big night at the aquarium.

Certain presenters
will also work great in that space. Bigger-named speakers
that we’d all hate to miss seeing in person, as well as those with a
theatrical bent to their presence are obvious candidates. It sounds like it was more by happenstance
than design that the theater came available to us for Session 10. If that’s indeed the case, I think we lucked
out in that at least three of presenters were of the sort whose styles are well suited for a plenary
session (Crupi, as well as presenter-performers
Julia Sweeney and Sirena Huang. How about
that Sirena, huh??) .

All of that
said, my own vote would be that we keep the vast majority of the conference in our
traditional digs over at the conference center. The casual flow between the Google Café, the comfort and amenities of
the simulcast lounge, and the intimacy of the main hall all have a lot to do with
the spontaneity and informality that are hallmarks of TED.

Of course,
it’s easy for me to say this as one who was lucky enough to have a Main Hall
pass this year. TED does have an issue
in its increasing popularity, and shifting the full event over to the State
Theater would let everyone see every session that interests them. What do you think?

 

 

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