In 2014, TED will celebrate our 30th anniversary. And to mark this spectacular event, we’re planning something very special. We are moving our annual West Coast conference from Long Beach, California, to Vancouver, Canada. From March 17 to March 21, 2014, TED will be held in this great city, which boasts a thriving spirit of innovation as well as stunning views — the harbor and mountains in the same scenic vistas.

TED2014 will be held at the world’s most eco-friendly meeting venue — a convention center positioned directly on Burrard Inlet, which took our breath away upon first seeing it. The Vancouver Convention Centre is connected to three incredible hotels and features a sprawling, six-acre living roof. Inside this center, we’ll be building a new kind of TED theater — one designed to maximize the impact of talks while also taking advantage of the panoramic views of the North Shore Mountains. Our stage designers are dreaming up what this new space will look like as we speak.

If you look hard enough from the theater, you may be able to see the new home of TEDActive 2014 — the gorgeous ski resort of Whistler. Just 90 minutes outside Vancouver, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler will host this conference for movers and shakers, which features a full simulcast of TED, its own unique programming and a slew of field trips for adults, all designed to inspire conversation.

TED2014 will be a time to look forward as well as back. We have decided to hold our base-level pricing to the same as it’s been the past three years. Meanwhile, we’ve opted to scale back our audience size from 1400 to 1200 paid attendees, to strike the right balance of scale and intimacy and allow for more in-depth human connection. Alongside attendees, we’ll also be inviting one hundred of the best TED speakers of all time — to be selected by you. Some will speak on the main stage again, while others will mingle in break-out groups, lunches and dinners. It’s a chance to reflect on the most significant developments of the last 30 years, and to inspire innovation in the next 30.

Registration for both TED2014 and TEDActive 2014 will open on Monday, February 11, 2013. The theme: “The Next Chapter.” We want you to be a part of it »

Will this be a next chapter for TED? Quite possibly. From 1984 to 2008, TED was based in Monterey, Calif., before moving to Long Beach with TEDActive nearby in Palm Springs. While we have absolutely loved the past five years there, but as TED has crossed major milestones — our billionth video view last fall and our 6,000th TEDx event last month — we feel ready for a new adventure. Our staff is pumped for TED2013, our grand finale year in Long Beach, and are thrilled to be able to go exploring in 2014.