P.W. SINGER TALKS ABOUT ROBOT WARFARE IN IRAQ AT THE OPENING SESSION OF TED 2009

Beginning as a small non-profit foundation 26 years ago, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) has become an international industry unto itself. This year, as well as the annual conference in Long Beach California, there will be the TEDGlobal event in Oxford, UK and dozens of smaller TEDx events around the globe.

TED’s mission is “ideas worth spreading”, and nothing has enabled the spread of information and ideas as effectively as the internet, particularly viral video. The TED website contains hundreds of free full-length videos of talks at TED conferences, where speakers ranging from Bill Clinton to shy scientists discuss topics as diverse as emotional robots and malaria. TED Talks are the antidote to laughing at fat people falling over on YouTube, and their popularity has skyrocketed over the past couple of years.\

Brisbane architect-cum-creative catalyst Paul Fairweather is a believer in the importance of creative thinking, and as such has put his hand up to get Brisbane’s first TEDx event off the ground.

“I love the Albert Einstein quote, ‘imagination is more important than knowledge.’ I think that here and now, creativity is getting a growing recognition not just in design-based industries but in business and in life.”

Co-hosted by Fairweather and MAP magazine director Carl Lindgren, TEDx Brisbane is the first full-scale TEDx event in the country and aims to create as ‘TED-like’ an experience as possible. A veteran of two TEDs and numerous design conferences during his years as an architect, Fairweather stresses the importance of forming new networks, not just sitting and listening passively to the content.

“It’s not like an industry-specific conference where you know 90% of the people, they’re there every year and they all leave during the breaks. The really big thing about the curating is to get a really big cross-section of people there from art, technology, science, design, entertainment – that’s the difference, the cross-pollination of ideas and influences.”

The curators might be idealistic, but they are also smart – free coffee and catering will be provided for all attendees.

Attendance to TEDx Brisbane is free, but there is strong competition for the venue’s 260 seats. Fairweather estimates there will be two to three times more applicants than seats available. The registration form is akin to completing selection criteria for a job interview, and if selected, audience members must promise to ‘show up on the day and not allow for someone who would like to have been there to miss out.’

“The registration process is in line with the way the TED conference works, where you have to either apply or be invited to attend,” Fairweather explains. 

”You have say what you’ll get out of TED and what you’ll take away from TED; the audience is curated as much as the speakers.”

The event’s sponsorship base includes multiple universities as well as the State Library – apparently nobody needed much persuasion to jump on board.

“You know, there is such an interest in TED, and it really has a parallel with QUT’s Creative Enterprise program. We didn’t think that sponsorship would be a big problem, but after it was all done, Carl said it was the easiest push for sponsorship he’s ever done!”

There are persistent rumblings in Brisbane’s arts circles that one day, the River City could overtake Sydney and Melbourne as the arts capital of the country. Is it more realistic to aim for the title of ‘most creative city’? Fairweather is guarded.

“If you compare it, we’ll will never be acknowledged, because it’ll just become the whole Melbourne vs Sydney thing. I think we are building a very creative culture in Brisbane. What we need are more physical facilities that mirror what is happening in the community, like the State Library.

“It’s a really good hub and we need more of them.”
TEDx BRISBANE will be held at the State Library on Saturday Mar 6, with the line-up announced on February 14. See www.tedxbrisbane.com for more information on the event, including registration details. To view talks from past TED conferences, visit www.ted.com.

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