Hello, I like to watch TED talks to help keep me current with new topics of interest. Have you ever seen one?
I've seen many of them, yes! There's tons of them to watch, as it was founded in 1984 as a conference and then has been held annually since 1990.
I didn't realize that it has been around for so long. Do you know if they have always distributed their content online for free?
I believe they have always been free, yes, from a cursory Google search. And the actual events have been held throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, but, as you said, they have live-streaming for those that can't attend.
Yes, I have never attended one in person but I hope to one day. I hear that speakers are usually given a maximum of 18 minutes to express their ideas at conferences.
You're correct about that. And some of the most notable speakers to do so would be people like Bill Clinton (former president), or Jane Goodall (anthropologist), Al Gore, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Bill Gates, Bono, and even the founders of Google! This list doesn't even include Nobel Prize winners to give talks, either.
That is a star studded list of speakers. It also seems that currently the TED website has over 2600 talks up and view able.
Given its emphasis on technology and design, and it having been born out of Silicon Valley, most assume the main conference is held there. However, the main TED conference is annually held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Yes, I have heard that they hold them in Canada now. I believe they used to be held in Long Beach California years ago.
by Chris Anderson, a British-American businessman, through the Sapling Foundation.
The main TED conference is held annually in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Prior to 2014, the conference was held in Long Beach, California, United States. TED events are also held throughout North America and in Europe, Asia and Africa, offering live streaming of the talks. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers are
TED (conference)
TED Conferences LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a media organization that posts talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was conceived by Richard Saul Wurman in February 1984 as a conference; it has been held annually since 1990. TED's early emphasis was on technology and design, consistent with its Silicon Valley origins. It has since broadened its perspective to include talks on many scientific, cultural, political, and academic topics. It is owned and curated