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Publication:The Straits Times, Life!, p C8
Date: 23 September 2010
Headline: Conference of Cool kicks off
TEDx
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Conference of Cool kicks 08A branch of hit lecture
series T e c h n o l o g y ,
Entertainment And
Design has opened here
A
series of talks has been
held in Singapore where
attendance is free, the
speakers are not paid and
the organisers are unpaid
volunteers.
The talks have been oversubscribed
by between 50 and 100 per cent.
But there is a catch: You have to be
an invitedguest or applyto attend and
wait to be approved.
The TEDx Singapore events are an
offshoot of TED (Technology, Enter-
tainment And Design),a globalconfer-
ence series where thinkers, scientists,
authors, artists and explorersspeak on
what interests them. According to its
website, the "x" denotes "an
independently organised TED event".
The organisers are interested in
spreading good ideas and a chance to
be part of what is widely recognised as
a community of the most idealistic,
innovative andvisionarypeople on the
planet.
Dubbed the 'LConferenceof Cool"
by The Financial Times, the series
held in California by the non-profit
TED organisation,has since 1984gar-
nered a devotedfollowing onthe Inter-
net in recent years after it made
videos of its talks available online.
A pass costs US$3,750 (S$4,900)
for those approved to attend. Past
speakers have included film director
1.1. Abrams, author Malcolm Gladwell
and scientist Richard Dawkins.
A TEDx talk in Singapore is free,
but it follows rules laid down by TED:
No panels, question-and-answer or
breakout sessions. A strict 18-minute
time limit is imposed on all speakers.
llNo,we are not snobs," saysTEDx
Singaporefounder Dave Lim, 43, with
alaugh."We are just lookingfordiver-
sity. We have a limited number of
seats because we don't want people
coming from one school or institution
taking all the seats."
The no-discussion or question-
and-answer rule forcespeople to chat
duringthe breaks, he says,in line with
TED'Saim of creating bonds between
people and thus allowing ideas to
spread. Adiverseblend will spread the
messages further, he adds.
Attendees are encouragedto design
and wear their own name tags listing
topics they are passionate about. Past
topics have included "Cats", "Micro-
credit" and "Laughter".
The Singaporeteam will be holding
an event, their sixth, on Saturday and
it is centred on eradicating poverty
and hunger and promoting primary
education aroundthe world.
Speakers will include a Singapore
group that has developed a technology
that allows children in developing
countries to be taught through SMS,
as well as entertainment from local
pop duo Zsa and Claire.
The venue will be made known to
those who are invited. Venue ,andoth-
er costs for this current talk are being
sponsored by Microsoft, though
guests vrrill be asked for contributions
to cover other costs at the door.
The group videotapes all talks and,
in keeping with TED guidelines, plans
to make them available online. None
of the talks from the previous five
events has been uploaded at the
moment.
Mr Lim, who runs an innovation
consultancy,applied for permissionto
start TEDx here within 24 hours of the
scheme being launched by TED in
March last year. He became a fan of
the organisation after watching its
online videos.
The Singaporegroup,now compris-
ing about 30 volunteers, is among
hundreds of TEDx groups all over the
world, each following the parent
organisation's rules on everything
from how to issue a press release to
tips on how to conduct public-speak-
ing training for those who may have
never stepped on stagebefore.
It hopes to runup to four events a
year here.
The group began holding events
from November last year at venues
such as Singapore Management
University, Raffles City Convention
Centre-FairmontHoteland the Singa-
pore Institute of Management.
Attendance numbers ranged from
several dozen to 300, depending on
venue size.
Mr Paul Dunn, 66, chairman of
Singapore-headquartered socialenter-
prise BlGl, which helps companies
donateto charities, spokeat the previ-
ous TEDx Singapore event, held in
August this year. Other speakers
included Ms Sit Weng San,a photogra-
pher who won the ZOO8 UOB Painting
Of The Year award; architect Milton
Tan, who spoke about the inspiration
forarchitecturalideas;andsingerInch
Chua, who sang and also spoke about
howbeing disfiguredby a dog.bite as a
childhad influenced her songwriting.
Mr Dunn says he was pleased to
have been invited.
The TED community, called "TED-
sters", is amongthe best and brightest
and if a TEDx speaker develops buzz,
there is a chance of him receiving an
invitation to speak at one of TED'S
larger events,whichhave globalpromi-
nence, he says.
Clinical psychologist and executive
coach Lilian Ing is a fan of TED'S
online talks and attended the TEDx
Singaporetalk last month.
She is aware that TEDx1s shoe-
string operations would not allow
them to feature the renowned talent
who speak at TED'S global events, she
says.
But she attended it anyway because
she would meet other TEDsters and
listen to speakers who, while not
worldleadersin technology,entertain-
ment or design, would tell stories that
were "personal and passionate", she
says.
She was not disappointed.
"There was electricity in the
room."
johnlul@sph.com.sg
To apply for an invitation to attend the
TEDx event on Saturday,register at
www.tedxsingapore.sg
Source: The Straits Times O Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission requiredfor reproduction.