Can't get into TED conference? Watch it online

In February hundreds of celebrities, tech geeks and other random important people will converge in Long Beach for Technology Entertainment Design, a conference started 25 years ago to bring together people from the tech, entertainment and design worlds.

TED is where Microsoft revealed its worldwide telescope, where Paralympic athlete Aimee Mullins tried out a new pair of artificial legs online and where such people as Al Gore, Bono and Jane Goodall might bump elbows while reaching for a jumbo shrimp.

Sound cool? You might think about going, because this is the first time the conference will be held in Southern California -- it's moving to Long Beach after 20 years in Monterey. But you probably can't get in. Curator Chris Anderson (no, not that Chris Anderson) says that thousands of people apply but that TED staffers have to winnow the field using a complicated formula based on things like how interesting they are.

Don't weep yet. Even if you're not interesting enough to attend next year's conference, which is themed "The Great Unveiling," you can still watch the lectures. Two years ago, TED started putting a few videos of lectures online. Today the organization said that talks had been watched more than 50 million times worldwide and that the conference would release a new talk every weekday.

Videos up currently: brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor talking about her stroke, Gore lecturing (again) about climate change, tech guru Johnny Lee showing all the cool ways to use a Wii controller and "Freakonomics" author Steven Levitt questioning whether we need child car seats.

The most-viewed talks are by some of the conference's least-famous speakers, Anderson said. "It shows the Web's ability to create a different kind of celebrity," he said.

At February's conference, three recipients of the TED Prize will reveal their one wish to change the world. In 2005, Bono wished for a social movement of 1 million American activists for Africa. Last year, Bill Clinton wished for a better rural health system for Rwanda.

This year's TED Prize recipients have not been revealed. Here's hoping that one of them wishes for more seats in the TED auditorium.

-- Alana Semuels

Semuels, a Times staff writer, covers marketing and the L.A. tech scene.

Comments

[jozielee]

TED has been a revelation for me, and an education.

I can sit through a lecture, think about what I've heard then let it soak in. My favorites have been added to MySpace page from week to week so I can share the lectures with friends and visit at will. Jill Bolte Taylor and Sir Kenneth Robinson have been my all time favorites.

What a thrill knowing the conference will be local. Would I go if I could? Doubtful. Why fight traffic, sit for hours through lecture after lecture when I can see it minutes or days later on the internet. It's like taking a class online. The only test is how you use the information so beautifully handed to you.

I fear that TED becomes a place where people show up to gain celebrity and not a place to promote unique, and often mind-blowing, ideas.

[KaRi from LBweekly.com]

Looking Forward to TED and BIL's presence in Long Beach Feb 2009!