The just-concluded TED 2010 conference — which each year brings together “some of the most fascinating thinkers and doers” from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design — took as its theme this year: “What the world needs now.” Armed with that weighty bit of inspiration, the nearly 50 speakers — ranging from Bill Gates to director James Cameron — were then asked to “give the talk of their lives” by tackling one of 12 themes in just 18 minutes on eye-opening subjects such as “Mindshift,” “Discovery,” “Play,” “Provocation,” “Breakthrough,” and “Imagination.” To help continue those conversations — and to capture some of the buzz and inspiration that inevitably fills the halls after a speaker wows the crowd — GE created a social space at the conference where those in attendance could share their thoughts in video booths. A sampling of them is featured below.
What’s the big idea? GE’s booths — which are the tower-like structures in the background that had rotating colors of green, blue, and the orange pictured above — helped capture audience responses while they were still fresh following each of the talks. The videos then immediately joined the loops of other booth recordings being shown on nearby TV screens, which played throughout the conference.
TED organizers have noted with justifiable pride that past attendees have called the conference “the ultimate brain spa,” “Davos for optimists” and “a four-day journey into the future, in the company of those creating it.” That same optimism was evident in the GE booths, where attendees were given conversational prompts upon entering that were tied to TED’s 12 themes, as well as the broader question of “What the world needs now.”
In the clip below, Michael Borosky describes the potential of “democratizing” technology:
Here, Catherine Mohr, is inspired by “data-driven” decision-making:
John Ellenthal’s focus was collaboration:
In this clip, linkages between food and cancers are steering Gwen Campbell to more dark chocolate and red wine!
And, sometimes words just can’t express a TED-inspired moment, as the band ETHEL proved when they opened the door of the GE video booth to record their take on what the world needs now.
You can get a taste of TED in this video, which compiles some of the highlights from recent conferences.
* Learn about the TED 2010 speakers
* See the TED 2010 program
* Read recaps on TED’s blog
* Meet some of less famous, but equally “fascinating” TED speakers via CNN