I hope you know about TED.com. If you do, then skip this paragraph. If you don’t, then take a few minutes or hours or, as interest demands, days to find out what it is. It has easily become extremely prominent on the web around the world and is up there with Youtube and Tumblr and Twitter as the Gods of the internet. It is a website for “ideas worth spreading.” Many innovative and exciting presentations flow through this website on every topic you can imagine.
Now, Rutgers had a TEDx event this past Sunday. In case you don’t know, because I didn’t know until the event, the addition of the “x” means that the event is independently organized. So TED.com does not directly have anything to do with the organizing of TEDx events. Instead, TEDx events are just flying under the flag of TED and what it stands for. I attended the event, and it was quite inspiring. There were definitely some things I would like to see, change, or improve about the event for next year, but putting that aside, it was fantastic. There were thirteen speakers that each came up after one another with the occasional video directly from Ted.com in between. There were some really great accommodations too; bagels, coffee, donuts, sandwiches, soda. Of course this isn’t why I was there, but it was certainly nice.
This almost brings me to my next point. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but I kept hearing that you had to be invited or be on a waiting list or just be worried that there wasn’t enough room for you to go if you wanted to. This bothered me some. The point of TED isn’t to be exclusive, it’s about sharing. So why not have less accommodations and more room. To be perfectly honest, there was plenty of room. Loads of people showed up, but there was still a ton of room for both more chairs and chairs to be filled in the back.
I would like to see about getting involved in TED events, even if I am unable to help out specifically with the Rutgers one, because I see some things that can be improved. For example, after the event, I was inspired to do things. I wanted to change the world and build all the things, but I wasn’t sure what it was I could do, at least not directly with many of the topics that were presented. Sure, some of the speakers presented in a way that allowed you to see what you could do, but a lot of those solutions were not immediate, and not all of the presenters allowed for a next step. I would say only about three of the thirteen really had it together enough to tell everyone about a solution or the next step to the idea they were sharing. Many of the other topics were either ideas I had heard a million times before without a solution or were just looking to teach a short history class.
Despite those things I mentioned in the paragraph above, it was still an amazing event which I hope you all try to go to next year. And try to get involved! Help improve the event! Demand to be let in! Share your own ideas and find others who want to do something with them.
Caleb Rechten is VP and a contributor for the Rutgers Review.