09 June 2007

TEDGlobal 2007: bloggers' first thoughts from home

Afromusing sums it up:

TED Global felt like a seminal moment in Africa. I may have said this already but i will say it again. It was unlike any conference i have ever attended. Stupendous, challenging, interesting, eye-opening, heart-opening literally with Dr. Seyi Olesola and figuratively with Binyavanga Wainaina, Chris Abani and the music of Vusi Mahlasela. It was not uncommon to see people quietly wiping away tears during some of the talks. …

Bankalele brought TED’s perspective to stories from the G8 summit:

After listening to a week of stories on aid, development, and entrepreneurship, we emerged from Ted Global in Arusha to find one of the proponents of a new vision for development in Africa — outgoing British prime minister Tony Blair endorsing shady dealings that involve Saudi Arabia in the name of strategic relationships. …

In a post titled “Panic Mode,” Mentalacrobatics shares a searing story (with photos) that must be read start to finish. It begins:

Well, well, well. I get back from TEDGlobal in Arusha to find the world has gone mad back at home. …

After blogging every single session, Ethan Zuckerman is still processing:

Conferences like TED Global are only a couple of days long, but I find I can get surprisingly used to them — wake up, absorb a mass of new and provocative ideas, have a few dozen conversations, stagger back to the hotel, rinse and repeat. And then, all of a sudden, they’re over. …
… And now I’m enroute to Cape Town, wondering what we’ve learned, what might come out of this gathering.

Mweshi says:

I believe the people of TED provided us with a great platform with which to communicate with one another and if we can harness the power of those present at TED, Africa’s future is looking very bright! …
And from a previous post: What happens after this conference now is entirely up to all of us who love our continent. To all TEDsters out there, let’s make this event the genesis of the cheetah renaissance!

Afrigadget/White African‘s Erik Hersman was offline from Thursday on –but he’s back, and it’s worth catching up. Also check out his photos from the conference here.

And our apologies to those readers who’ve tried to leave comments in the past week. While we’re making repairs, please join the conversation on TED.com, perhaps in the Theme called “Africa: The Next Chapter,” where we’ve collected some Talks from past TEDs that touch on the themes from TEDGlobal 2007!

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