TED is a non-profit organization that is devoted to spreading ideas in three areas — technology, entertainment and design — through a collection of speakers and presentations, many of which are available for free online. TED events have been taking place since 1984, and occur annually in Long Beach, Calif. In conjunction with the organization, TEDx is a new program that enables local communities such as schools, businesses, libraries, neighborhoods or just groups of friends to organize, design and host their own independent, TED-like events.
The first TEDxRochester took place Nov. 2 at the Geva Theatre Center. The six-hour-long event featured 12 speakers from the Rochester area who shared their innovative ideas with an audience of about 350 people. A few places represented by these presenters were RIT, University of Rochester, Strong National Museum of Play and the George Eastman House.
The first to present was Adam Frank, assistant professor of astrophysics at the University of Rochester and author of the book, "The Constant Fire." Frank is a self-acclaimed atheist. When talking about the evolution versus the creationism debate, his advice is to just "get over it." He was very selective of the terms he used when discussing science and religion. One term he favored was "sacred" because it does not have religious meaning. It simply means being attentive to life.
Next up was presentation was given by Larry Moss, a balloon artist. Moss has worked on projects containing as many as 40,000 balloons. People from 11 different countries, speaking seven different languages worked on a record-breaking project in Belgium. "Balloons were the unifying device," said Moss.
Following Moss was presenter and RIT professor of computer graphics design, Marla Scweppe. Accompanied by two graduate Computer Science students, David Huynh and Brian Johnston, they presented RIT's virtual theater, which has been showcased at Imagine RIT for the past two years. For the third annual innovation festival, they are planning a talent show. "The goal would be to put on a ... compelling performance," Johnston said. For a while they were so focused on the technology that the shows seemed more like a demonstration. Now that they have the technology side down, the focus is to put on a good show.
Although both Huynh and Johnston are big fans of and very familiar with TED talks, Huynh had some criticisms for the TEDxRochester presenters. "They're not on par with the TED talks that I've seen so far," he stated. Regardless, TEDxRochester piqued the interest of other students and community members. Attendee Michael Dumont, a sixth year dual degree Computer Science student at RIT, is interested in attending more TED talks. Although he doesn't plan on being in Rochester next year, he plans to "see what other TED events are going on in whatever area I end up in."
If you were unable to attend, you can see for yourself what you missed. Videos of all presentations will be posted to TEDxRochester.com within five to seven weeks. If videos aren't good enough and you're just itching to see them live the next time they come around, be prepared to apply early for a spot in the audience of next year's TEDxRochester. The waiting list for this event was long, and it can only be expected that with this its success, the list for next year will be even longer.
For more information about TED, visit http://ted.com. The next TEDxRochester is already scheduled to occur on Nov. 1, 2010.
