TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate “ideas worth spreading”. TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event and the conference was held annually from 1990 in Monterey, California. TED’s early emphasis was largely technology and design, consistent with a Silicon Valley center of gravity. The events are now held in Long Beach and Palm Springs in the U.S. and in Europe and Asia, offering live streaming of the talks. They address an increasingly wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, educator Salman Khan, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners. From 2005 to 2009, three $100,000 TED Prizes were awarded annually to help its winners realize a chosen wish to change the world. From 2010, in a changed selection process, a single winner is chosen to ensure that TED can maximize its efforts in achieving the winner’s wish. Each winner unveils their wish at the main annual conference.Since June 2006, the talks have been offered for free viewing online, under a Creative Commons license, through TED.com. As of November 2011, over 1,050 talks are available free online. By January 2009 they had been viewed 50 million times. In June 2011, the viewing figure stood at more than 500 million,[7] reflecting a still growing global audience. The first Pole at the TED conference was Jacek Utko (in 2009).
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (Subject to certain rules and regulations).
The first TEDxPoznań took place on 28 May 2010 in the Culture Centre “Zamek”. The leitmotif was “Evolution of an Idea,” which attempted to show at what point of the civilizational development are we today, where will we be tomorrow and what awaits us in the future. TEDxPoznań was the third TEDx in Poland, the first one was TEDxWarsaw, thanTEDxWulkan (also in Warsaw) and TEDxKraków. Poznań joined this incredible initiative, bringing together more than 500 events – from New York and Tokyo Buenos Aires.
This year’s TEDxPoznań2012 motto is “4 x M, City, Mass, Machines and Brain”, which corresponds to each of four blocks of the conference. The intention of the creators of the conference is to focus on four dimensions of civilization in which we live in the urban (city), social (mass), technological (machine) and psychological (brain) aspects.
This year’s speakers will include: composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (lecture: “The power of music – emotion versus reason”), Oscar Zięta (presentation: “Controlled loss of control”), Dr. hab. Janusz L. Wisniewski (“Is love only a (neuro) peptide?”), Professor. Wodzisław Duch (“How to reach full human potential: take care of the brain “), who was also present at the recent “Week of the Brain” at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, as well as Jan Barciszewski representing ICHB PAN (lecture: “Is it possible to effectively diagnose and treat brain tumors”).
Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center is TEDxPoznań2012 official partner, being responsible for the online broadcast of the conference of (PLATON TV team). What is more, Bartosz Lewandowski (PSNC) will give his lecture on RFID technology.
In addition to the main event, available for a specific, already closed list of people, the organizers will organize two additional live broadcasts of the conference. TED enthusiasts will have the possibility to watch the lectures’ broadcast on big screens placed in ZOO Coworking Space in Poznań (www.innowacyjni.eu) and in EUREKA Hub, which is located in City Park Poznań (www.eurekahub.pl). All those who failed to get tickets for TEDx’a, are invited to the after party at Concordia.
More information about the conference is available here.
