Attending a TedX Conference
Blue Ninja went to Delft on 6 June 2019 for a fantastic TedX Talk at TU Delft (Delft University of Technology). This was the first time either Louisa and Julie have attended a Ted Talk, although we watch enough of them on YouTube! If you are not sure what a Ted Talk is, it’s a series of intellectual and thoughtful talks presented on a range of topics and issues. Talks can be as short as a couple of minutes to around 18 minutes in length. They are provoking, inspiring and diverse in their subject matter.
What is TED?
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and has been running for over 30 years. Initially, it started as a one-off conference with an excellent range of speakers but has grown exponentially. Read more here about the History of TED.
The difference between Ted and TedX is that Ted Talks offer more of a global focus, whereas TedX is more directed at the community it is engaging with. For us, this was TU Delft and a Dutch (English speaking) audience. Many of the presentations were from people associated with TU Delft or topics that suited a Dutch audience. TedX is independently organised and managed with a brand and structure following the TED style and method.
Mark Feldman wrote in a Forbes article that as of 2012 there have been over 2400 TedX Talks. There have now been over 30,000 TedX Talks held as of 2019. The concept of Ted Talks has grown in popularity around the world. There have been 44 TedX Talks alone in The Netherlands held during 2018 with a variety of themes and topics.
Ted has elevated speakers to a new audience, such as Brene Brown who spoke on ‘The power of vulnerabilty’ which has been picked up and is now available on Netflix. Other Ted Talks that have reached the ‘most watched’ playlist include Simon Sinek talking about ‘How great leaders inspire action’, Susan Cain explains ‘The power of introverts’ or even Tim Urban’s interesting talk on ‘Inside the mind of a master procrastinator’.
Below is a snapshot of the Blue Ninja experience at TedX Delft. Julie and Louisa couldn’t capture everything on the day, but all the talks are available via the TedX Delft website so check it out.
If you’ve never been to a Ted or TedX talk before, Blue Ninja strongly recommends you check out the next Ted talk near you. You never know what you may discover!
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