TED Blog

A photo report from the TEDx Organizers Workshop at TEDActive 2011

Since the TEDx program launched 18 months ago, it has grown to include over 1,700 organizers globally, with hundreds of TEDx events planned for the upcoming months.

On Sunday, February 26th, at Cabot’s Pueblo Museum in Palm Springs, over 160 TEDx organizers gathered in the desert for the now-annual TEDx Workshop at TEDActive.

Workshop organizers from 34 countries gathered to collaborate, converse and learn from each other, and to imagine what the TEDx program could look like in 2011 and beyond.

TEDActive hosts Kelly and Rives hosted the workshop.

Organizers heard 3-minute presentations from fellow organizers, including Mariemme Jamme of TEDxAccra, Ruth Milligan of TEDxColombus, Tod Martin of TEDxAtlanta, Kelo Kubo of TEDxSoweto, Hanseok Ryu of TEDxSeoul, Victor Choi of TEDxMyeongDong, David Bill of TEDxNYED, Steve Craft and Hayley Foster of TEDxNASA, Christina McClure of TEDxYouthCastilleja, Carole Kitchell of TEDxDU, Patrick Smith of TEDxPotomac, John Miles of TEDxAsheville, Lib Gibson of TEDxIBYork, Niki Siropoulou of TEDxAcademy, John Werner of TEDxBoston, Remo Giuffre of TEDxSydney, Christophe Cop of TEDxFlanders, Evan Grant of TEDxLondon, Julianne Wurm of TEDxEast, Rodrigo Cunha of TEDxAmazonia and Tony Yet of TEDxGuangzhou.

They also heard longer presentations from the TED staff — TEDGlobal host Bruno Guisanni, Partrnership Director Ronda Carnegie and TEDActive hosts Kelly and Rives — who also did a Q&A with the crowd.

During lunch, organizers broke out into groups divided by regions — the Middle East, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Canada, US West and Midwest, US East and South, Latin America and Asia — to discuss the unique issues that planning TEDx events in their communities creates.

Following the group meetings, representatives from each region took to the stage to give three-minute presentations on what was discussed. Some ideas they presented: adopting a TED Fellow and giving them a platform for their projects, creating regional Google Groups, using universities as a resource for TEDx events and resource sharing.

From there, regions combined to hear four 30-minute sessions on TEDx initiatives including TEDx in a Box, TEDxYouthDay and TEDxChange.

The day ended with a barbecue at the Lucy House — the Palm Springs home of actress Lucille Ball — where organizers continued to connect and start conversations that will extend into the rest of the week at TEDActive (and beyond).