TED @ IBM Stirs the Imagination and Inspires the Soul

The TED conferences have done a great job of bringing the best and brightest together for a number of years now. Known for brief insightful and educational talks on thousands of different topics, attending a TED event means you are prepared to hear ideas you’ve never heard before. This year, I was invited to attend TED @ IBM, a unique TED event conducted in partnership with IBM. As you might imagine, being associated with IBM means that many of the talks would somehow have technology and a focus on the future as a core component. The theme of the event was Necessity and Invention, and I was privileged to be the official Social Reporter on behalf of IBM. It’s always exciting to go behind-the-scenes at an event such as this, and showing up at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts the day before did not disappoint. With great attention to detail and an intent to provide both attendees and speakers with a memorable experience, the TED and IBM teams collaboratively worked well together. While IBM provided a live video stream of the event for those unable to attend, a “war room” was set up for the IBM Social Business to be able to execute on tweets, photos and posts as the event unfolded. On event day, every seat in the event center was occupied. The lights went down and the event began… What happened next could only be described as a whirlwind of discovery, imagination, creativity and inspiration, as speaker after speaker took the stage with a message to share. When you have an opportunity to deliver a TED Talk, you want to make sure it comes from a place of great significance to you. After all, if it is important to you, odds are your message will resonate with others as well. We all live in our own bubbles, both personally and professionally. But in just a few hours, we were brought into the world of Sneakerheads, Qubits, entrepreneurism in Africa, stuffed animals that help diabetic children be healthier, ways to reverse the negative impact of plastics, humor-generating computers and more. It was a captivating afternoon of fresh ideas, new horizons and the promise for a better future. If you follow me, you’ll know that I’m not a big fan of mainstream news sources. They focus way too much on the negative things happening around us. But I believe there is far more good in the world than bad. And I believe a majority of individuals and businesses are seeking to make a positive difference. TED @ IBM also choose to focus on life-affirming messages that provided hope and encouragement. Almost every talk spoke to me in some way (one was just way over my head!) And along the way, I tweeted and captured images of the speakers to invite others into the experience. Here are just a few of images and topic-setting thoughts that I posted along the way. My friend, Tamara McCleary, was on hand to host the Livestream and to participate in a half-time Blab along with me. You can experience the energy of that time by watching the replay of our stream below. And while the talks truly were worthy of the TED platform, leaving all of us with new ways of thinking about our world as we returned back to our own bubbles, there was one more element that really put the icing on the cake of any live event… the people. The only thing better than being a part of something like this is sharing it with friends. Of course, TED @ IBM did not disappoint. There’s something about social media that has not only introduced us to many new friends, but it has also facilitated the deepening of already-existing relationships. So coming together with my friends at TED @ IBM and sharing the experience with them multiplied the magic of the day. I’d like to give special thanks to the IBM Social Business team for inviting me to be a part of TED @ IBM! Have you ever been to a TED event? If you were to give a TED Talk, what would the subject be? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.