TEDxNewYork

TEDxNewYork 10/12/10 Nicholas Christakis (2010)

2010-10-12T13:35:00.001-04:00

TEDxNewYork collaborative cocktail evening 10/08/10 Dan Ariely (2009)

2010-10-12T13:32:00.001-04:00

TEDxNewYork 10/08/10 Seth Godin (2010)

2010-10-12T08:52:00.001-04:00

TEDxNewYork: get friendly with TEDxGotham

2010-10-02T09:02:00.002-04:00

We're going to mix and mingle and watch and talk (and what the heck hows about we have a drink too?)...

Join us for the first-ever TEDxNY/TEDxGotham TEDTalks screening party! This is a great opportunity to meet fellow NYC TEDxers/TEDsters, to experience a TEDTalk in a group, and to find out how you can get involved.

Program:
Drinks and Socializing*: 7p.m.-8p.m.
TEDTalks video screening & discussion: 8 p.m.-8:45 p.m.
Drinks and Socializing*: 8:45 p.m.- 10:00 p.m.

*extended happy hour cash bar till 9:00 p.m./no entry fee

To register, click here!

TEDxNewYork 10/01/10 Ellen Gustafson (2010)

2010-10-02T08:58:00.002-04:00

This week: we're on at 4pm

2010-09-30T09:48:00.002-04:00

For those of you who've been double checking - yes, we're on tomorrow (Friday, October 1st) at 4pm instead of the usual time.

See you then!

TEDxNewYork upcoming calendar

2010-09-17T12:39:00.001-04:00

Hello All,

As you may have noticed, our weekly gatherings have been weathering some drastic time and date challenges. We've been working very hard with the volunteers and donated space to accommodate everything as best as we absolutely can. We're not perfect, but we have aspirations. We trust you understand there are many factors we have to deal with.

The good news is we have a calendar for the next 6 weeks! Whew! We're trying to secure Fridays from here until forever but when we can't, we play it old school and go back to Tuesday mornings.

**Tuesday at 10am September 21st

Friday at 1pm October 1st

Friday at 1pm October 8th

**Tuesday at 10am October 12th

Friday at 1pm October 22nd

Friday at 1pm October 29th

Thanks everyone!

TEDxScrambled (no TEDxNY this week 9/17)

2010-09-13T14:22:00.002-04:00

Hello Friends,

Due to the facts that our awesome meeting space is graciously donated entirely for free we ran into a calendar kink and are unable to have TEDxNY this week. No is more sorry than I.

HOWEVER we are deep in conversations to hammer down future dates with nails, glue, screws and clamps just to be sure so that we will be golden for the near and distant future. Then, we'll be able to publish upcoming dates and the (RARE) changes in the future. That's better for everyone.

In the mean time, have a lovely week, enjoy each other's company and the weather and do something nice when no one's looking, because it's fun.

Be well, see you & see you soon.

TEDxNewYork 09/10/10 Robert Thurman (2009)

2010-09-13T14:00:00.002-04:00

So, we had an interesting gathering this past week as a/v issues took the "technology" out of Technology Entertainment Design, so we were all forced to... talk to each other. O heavens forfend! No, wait, we do that every week...

So we talked before the talk instead of talking after the talk which was fun though the conversation structure was very different. Plus, we talked more after too.

I'm putting the request out here for anyone who had something they wanted to share from that (a website, a book, an idea) to post it in the comments here. There were a lot of ideas worth repeating.

Then, we watched this:

Bonus TED Activity on Thursday evening

2010-09-04T08:51:00.002-04:00

TEDxNY is on for this coming week, Friday, 1-2pm.

ADDITIONALLY there's this, with our fellow TEDsters of NYC...

THE 9-9-10 TED-FLAVORED MEET-UP:

Announcing an unofficial and improvised TED-flavored meet-up on the new public Lincoln Center Lawn on Thursday, September 9. The meet-up starts about an hour before sunset and goes until they kick everybody off. Come join us for friends, fun and back-to-school sympathy. Please consider bringing at least two of the following: a little drink, a little food (maybe apples and honey for a sweet Rosh Hashanah?), a musical instrument, a spouse, a lover, a pal, a stranger, your kids, your folks, your posse, not your doggy (sorry!), a TED Talks fan, an activity, a talent and a beach towel and/or picnic blanket worth spreading.

This message is being sent out to New Yorker buddies old and new from among TED, TEDActive, TEDxEast, TEDxGotham, TEDxBrooklyn, TEDED, JED and anyone else we can think of. If you feel like we've missed somebody, absolutely pass it along. TED virgins and walk-ins encouraged. Please feel free to tweet this notice, post it, blog it or link to it here. No RSVP, no questions, no nuthin'--just come if you can, when you can. If it rains...that SUCKS.

--Amy (TED Prize Director), Kelly & Rives (TEDActive co-hosts)

no TEDxNewYork on the 3rd, yes on the 10th

2010-08-31T15:49:00.002-04:00

Hello all,

As it turns out, we won't be having a TEDxNY this coming Friday, but we'll be back on the 10th. In the mean time, YOU have a great long holiday weekend, okay? See you soon (but not as soon as we'd like)!

TEDxNewYork 8/27/10 Marian Bantjes (2010)

2010-08-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 8/10/10 Jane Goodall (2002)

2010-08-11T23:50:00.002-04:00

TEDxNewYork 2/3/10 Sheena Iyengar (2010 Global)

2010-08-03T12:08:00.002-04:00

TEDxNewYork 7/26/10 Dan Pink (2009 Global)

2010-07-26T11:54:00.001-04:00

Tangental side note... Mr. Pink & Sir Robinson are doing this in November. This is not an official endorsement, just an event brought to my attention by @dcinc66, curator of TEDxNYEducation.

-Chel

Check it out:

TEDxNewYork 7/20/2010 Matt Ridley (2010 Global)

2010-07-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

Updates... yes, we're still on, yes, our website needs some work...

2010-07-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lag. We're trying to improve. We do improve on a weekly basis in a very REAL way. In this virtual world... we're a bit behind. But we've got some help now and what was that line...? "I get by with a little help from my friends..."

Thanks for your patience!

TEDxNewYork 4/13/2010 Sylvia Earle (2009)

2010-04-13T18:19:00.000-04:00

Special Screening on Wednesday (Tuesday's TEDxNY is still on the schedule.)

2010-04-12T07:44:00.000-04:00

There will be a special screening of The Cove this Wednesday, April 14th, from 6-8pm, followed immediately by specialist Dr. Diana Reiss.

This event requires an RSVP! Please email TRAINING@GREY.COM if you would like to attend.

Dr. Diana Reiss

Diana Reiss, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology, Hunter College.

Diana earned her Ph.D. in Speech and Communication Science from Temple University and is an internationally recognized researcher in animal cognition and communication.

Her research focuses on marine mammal cognition and communication, comparative animal cognition, and the evolution of intelligence. Her work also involves the rescue and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals. In 1982, she developed a laboratory at Marine World in California, where she investigated the nature of dolphin communication and cognitive abilities. She was one of the scientists instrumental in the campaign to protect dolphins from being killed in tuna nets that resulted in the labeling of "dolphin safe" tuna. In addition, she was a scientific advisor on the Emmy award-winning documentary, The Cove, a founder of the Center of Animal Intelligence at the National Aquarium, and a co-founder of Thinking Animals, Inc. which will bring scientists from around the country to New York for a public symposium on animal Cognition and Behavior in May 2011.

Diana's work has been published in numerous international scientific journals and book chapters and has been featured in many television science programs, included Nature, National Geographic, Wild Kingdom, the Today Show and several BBC nature shows.

TEDxNewYork 4/9/2010 Temple Grandin

2010-04-09T21:33:00.001-04:00

TEDxNewYork 4/2/2010 Woody Norris (2005)

2010-04-09T16:38:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 3/25/10 Kary Mullis (2009) & Eva Vertes (2005)

2010-03-25T05:27:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 3/16/10 Dan Barber (2010)

2010-03-17T09:42:00.000-04:00

We're back! March 16th

2010-03-15T16:40:00.000-04:00

Please RSVP to:

training@grey.com

to attend tomorrow, March 16th.

See you soon!

Thanks,

The TEDxNY crew

TEDxNY cancelled 3/2 & 3/9

2010-03-01T07:13:00.001-05:00

Sadly, due to technical difficulties (ie construction in our meeting hall at Grey) TEDxNY is cancelled for the dates of 3/2/10 & 3/9/10.

TEDxNewYork 2/16/10 Jamie Oliver (2010)

2010-02-16T11:48:00.000-05:00

CAMEO at TED2010: TEDxNY (that's you!)

2010-02-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

yo! short video on TED mainstage about the TEDx program. the video that rattled through the many faces of TEDx events all around the world in 90 seconds. but i saw you!!! you, my friends were there... because you are there. here. at TEDxNY week after week we get together and watch and talk.

i gave a talk about running TEDxNY the day before TED started, in the pre-conference programs where we get nitty-gritty-- TEDsters talking to TEDsters before we sit and get quiet to watch the amazing 40 speakers on the main stage. in a way, that's kinda like what we do at TEDxNY. we listen but we talk too.

my talk was called "Curating the Conversation" and in 3 min i had to break down what it is we do every week. we watch a TEDtalk and then we listen to each other. i am so happy to share the job with Don of wrangling strangers together to bring your wisdom out of hiding in your brains and into the world. your ideas. worth spreading.

i got to end my talk with this very simple thought. every week i am lucky to be in the room with you all and encourage an environment of respectful sharing of ideas. i love it dearly. but if i am a curator, you, my friends are the art, you make the art.

take a moment to stand back and look at yourselves. i do. it's a beautiful view. and you are the idea worth spreading, TEDxNY is the best idea i could bring to TED2010.

grateful, humbled,

(sappy) chel

Something that hit my radar today...

2010-02-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

http://sundance.bside.com/2010/films/countdowntozero_sundance2010

First off, TEDActive 2010...

2010-02-11T14:15:00.001-05:00

So, my friends, I find myself in Palm Springs again this year. It is awesome. I want to share it all with you. And there is much I can when we get back... In the mean time I wish I had the energy to live-blog more. Someone whose microblog that is very play-by-play is this awesome dude named Ash:

http://twitter.com/ashdonaldson

Follow him, head to that url...

more later,

chel

We're off the second week of February 2010

2010-02-06T18:28:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, we won't be able to host TEDxNY the second week of February. Sorry, no TEDxNewYork on 2/9/10.

We'll be back soon!

Be well,

Don & Chel

TEDxNewYork 02/02/10 George Ayittey (2007)

2010-02-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

TEDxNewYork 01/19/10 Stephen Petranek (2004)

2010-01-19T21:21:00.000-05:00

The Stephen Petranek TED talk we watched this week was on disc from 2004 and is not at this time available online. You can find out more about him here:

http://www.ted.com/speakers/stephen_petranek.html

The punch line of this is that while the talk we watched was about 10 things to be optimistic about, the only one he has online is on the 10 ways the world might end.

TEDxNewYork 01/12/10 Barry Schwartz (2009)

2010-01-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

TEDxNewYork 01/05/10 Eleni Gabre-Madhin (2007)

2010-01-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

The organization of which she speaks is here:

http://www.ecx.com.et/

A little news since her talk is available on the TEDblog.

And PBS did a piece on her work as well, approximately two years further down the line.

TEDxNewYork 12/22/09 William McDonough reprise & John Forte introduction

2010-01-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

To ring out 2009, a little green cheer:

A reprise of William McDonough and a new song by John Forte.

TEDxNewYork 12/15/09 Andrew Mwenda (2007)

2009-12-15T15:26:00.000-05:00

TEDxNewYork 12/08/09 William McDonough (2005)

2009-12-14T09:06:00.000-05:00

John Forté

TEDxNewYork 11/17/09 Rives (all)

2009-12-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

Rives (March 2007)

Rives (February 2008)

Rives (November 2006)

Rives (February 2006)

TEDxNewYork 11/10/09 Dan Ariely (2009)

2009-11-15T23:21:00.000-05:00

And a call to action by one of our fellow conversationalists:

"The TEDx conversation this morning was very inspiring.

We looked deeply into human behavior, coupled it with climate-change problems,
and concluded that humans can change things in small steps.

I request that we actually take a small-step this week, to complete what we got out of the meeting.

One small step, to turn our words into actions.

TED is a group of doers, not just talkers, and if we stood behind our words, our meeting will become much more valuable.

So if you wish to play the game, make just a small step this week out of your ordinary practice, whatever that means to you.

Change a light bulb, compost, have a family conversation or create your own unique step...

Hey, if we wear the right sweatshirts on. . . wouldn't that be a TEDx to remember? ;-) "

-Vico Sharabani

TEDxEast 11/06/09 report on a TEDx we didn't have a hand in creating

2009-11-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

***Please note that while people from TEDxNewYork attended, we were not part of the creation of TEDxEast. We merely attended, as the "x" in TEDx means "independently organized event".

We're very, very grateful to the work of Julianne Wurm for making TEDxEast such an awesome event.

Rock on.

PS She'll be doing it again in 2010...

TEDxNewYork 10/6/9 Michael Pollan (2008)

2009-10-05T15:51:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 9/29/9 Tierny Thys (2003)

2009-10-05T15:50:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 9/22/9 Richard Preston (2008)

2009-10-05T15:49:00.000-04:00

TEDxNEWYORK 9/15/09 Willie Smitts (2009)

2009-09-15T10:18:00.000-04:00

TEDxNEWYORK 9/1/09 Nate Silver (2009)

2009-09-02T15:38:00.000-04:00

TEDxNEWYORK 8/25/09 Anna Deavere Smith (2005)

2009-08-25T08:41:00.000-04:00

Ok, so this one has some ups & downs to start our day....

TEDxNEWYORK 8/18/09 Aubrey de Grey (2006)

2009-08-18T09:30:00.001-04:00

In keeping with TED's penchant for out-of-the-box thinkers and iconoclasts (the nice kind of iconoclasts), here's Aubrey. If the accent is a little difficult, there's the transcript at this link (and the transcriptions are open-source, interactive... and translatable if you're multi-lingual, willing & able to help, btw.

TEDxNEWYORK 8/11/09 Deborah Scranton (2007)

2009-08-18T09:22:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, did I not mean to start the morning on such a terrifically serious note. Next time we'll get a little more lighthearted ...

TEDxNewYork 7/28/2009 Robert Ballard

2009-07-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

Today we sat in an austere conference room instead of on the couches in the lounge . Eh, sometimes the screen you get is the screen you get. At least there chairs were green. And the people were nice. I really wish y'all would argue sometimes. Everyone's got such good communication skills...

-chel

TEDxNewYork 7/21/2009 J. J. Abrams

2009-07-21T10:22:00.000-04:00

Low turnout today, but it was raining and the streets looked sad, so we went with the light-hearted, excited Abrams. Good call.

TEDxNEWYORK 6/30/09 Samantha Power (2008)

2009-07-01T12:14:00.000-04:00

TEDxNEWYORK 6/23/09 Juan Enriquez (2003)

2009-07-01T11:54:00.000-04:00

The video we watched isn't available online (thank you Don & your magical TED DVD library...) The video was great (and sent me to the bookstore- twice) as was the conversation. Watch/read anything by Enriquez you can get your hands on. His input is worth it. In my humble but assertive opinion.

TEDxNEWYORK 6/16/09 Dan Dennett (2009) & guest Robert Leslie

2009-06-16T11:53:00.000-04:00

Today's discussion was pretty much pure content as opposed to verbal intercourse but here's a wrap up for you... First, Dennett's talk. It's fun (and short), watch it. Next, we had TED photographer Robert Leslie (his popular photograph, above, taken at TED in Monteray will lead you to one of his websites) as our guest for the hour. Robert Leslie came to be the TED photographer through his regular work with musicians and one in particular who pointed him towards TED Susheela Raman. Robert's photographs are enlightening, sometimes humorous and very comprehensive when it comes to TED- a little peak behind the curtain.

Robert blew past the celebrity and rock-n-roll photographs to give us a brief tour of the US post-election and more broadly, the development of one of China's new cities. And there will be more details on that shortly, but this blog needs posting and emails need replying. More soon--

I'm going to break in with a little new about Twitter for a moment, not because I want to tell a hundred random followers about my breakfast but because of its immediate relevance in the media at the moment. Namely: what the heck is up with elections in Iran, explained here in painstaking statistical analysis by Nate Silver (he was also fastidious with his hyperlinks, so don't make a superficial pass at his page if you want real insight.

First, the Twitter Apocalypse happened last Friday (can you say y2k in 140 char or less?), what that actually was, and yes, there's an explanation in quasi-layman's terms for you. I crowd-sourced the explanation using Tweeter (my Facebook/Twitter aggregate) and got an answer or two that helped me well enough. Here's that for you if you want it.

Next, the reason it came to the fore today is because of the news from Iran being covered so quickly by text messages before an A/P reporter can get to their keyboard. (There's also a conference based on Twitter in town this week, but we didn't dive into that. Evan Williams, co-founder of Twitter, spoke at TED this year about what has become of it too. At any rate: Iran, Twitter, mainstream media, find out what's going on in short form, long form, quickly or slowly, the interwebs are shouting, as are the people.

TEDxNEWYORK 6/9/09 Seth Godin (2009)

2009-06-09T15:55:00.000-04:00

Usually I try not to repeat what is stated in the video, because, um, the video it's right there, see? Subtitled and everything. Of course if you want to go contribute to the TED open translation project, feel free to pitch in your multi-lingual talents if you have 'em. I will pull out a few of Seth's quotes from this talk that are worth highlighting.

Firstly, Godin is an excellent public speaker- more of a didactic storyteller than a lecturer. His tips on giving a compelling presentation can be found on his blog. He's also a great thinker, this year he presents a vein of thought on what "tribes" are in the modern world and how we can function with them.

With the death of the "tv-industrial complex", Godin wasn't just talking about advertising, but of a shift from medium to message, and how to communicate a compelling idea. Our conversation hovered around advertising (hey, we were sitting on the creative floor of Grey), but not only.

The role of the media was to populate the world with images that become cultural points of reference. The idea of spreading ideas through tribes is that instead of having to shout loudly to the whole world, you can reach out to communities and seed ideas there. Then the tribes will carry forth the messages that they care about.

A problem, or as some of us call them, opportunity, is that things like TV used to be a closed circle... but if we leave a gap then there's room for the audience to join in, be part of the mystery or creation of a story.

chel

TEDxNEWYORK 6/2/09 Shai Agassi (2009)

2009-06-02T14:06:00.000-04:00

Today's TED Tuesday selection probably had something to do with GreyNY's own Don McKinney sharing on a panel with Shai at WBSCC last week (see prior posts). Also, Shai's insight is highly relevant to... the everywhere, right now. Don's additional insightful adds to our conversation came from working in the ad world in Detriot for several years as well. Oh and GM is in the news today (sorry I really couldn't decide which news source to use for that announcement).

Of course it's not just the Associated Press that's all a-buzz over GM- the blogosphere is all a-twittering. (Can we use twittering by its Merriam-Webster definition anymore?) So instead of quoting co-workers, and myself here with our frustrated, inflammatory comments, we'll let some of writers of the day take the stand (and thanks Huffington Post for being the repository of such great thoughts):

TEDster Cameron Sinclair's editorial asks What If GM Were Run Like A Non-profit? His article provides some great additional information too, so follow his links....

A surprisingly insightful criticism that a problem with the heads of American automobile manufacturers didn't spend sleepless nights trying to improve their product but focused their energy on lobby government to avoid mandating seatbelts and airbags. The source surprised me.

And of course, it wouldn't be a TED Tuesday if I didn't leave the conversation with an addition to my reading list. At the top: Internal Combustion, by Edwin Black. (That web page could be sexier, but of course Mr. Black wasn't writing a website, he was writing a book.) (Go ahead, buy it green.)

But let's bring this back around- it's too easy to trail off on the line of thinking "what were the big three thinking?!" Instead let's go back to the top of this post, the solution-oriented Shai Agassi who is thinking, hard, and coming up with some pretty damn viable solutions. Rock on with those electrons.

-chel

THE PANEL ON COMMUNICATIONS

2009-05-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

Click here to watch all the speakers and panels of the summit. Our panel is on day three.

GREAT PANEL AT THE WBSCC

2009-05-30T09:49:00.000-04:00

I'll post more as they become available.

TEDxNEWYORK 5/28/09 Jacqueline Novogratz (2003)

2009-05-29T13:58:00.000-04:00

This week's TED Tuesday was, of course, on Thursday as the holiday weekend threw everything a little off schedule. We watched what I believe was Jacqueline Novogratz's first TED talk, from 2003-- not available online, but thanks Don for loaning us the dvd. On the TED website you can find her talks from 2005, 2007 & 2009 and I recommend all of them.

I'm currently reading her book The Blue Sweater, which is far more compelling than I expected (and I was expecting it to be good anyway) and I recommend that as well.

A few small, quick notes from the post-talk conversation:

Ms. Novogratz is always pushing to make philanthropy as empowering and effective as possible; she learned about course-correcting-- methods that are tried, but not always true. We talked about that on many scales: life at large, small projects, large organizations, these happen in many ways. When you stop to assess how you're progressing on the road towards a goal, you may change how you're going to get there. It's important to not become paralyzed by how overwhelming a situation might be. Interestingly enough, a few hours later Cameron Sinclair's article The Tugboat & The Tanker showed up on the Huffington Post with an excellent analogy on the hows/whys of course-correction.

The conversation didn't exactly meander, but somehow we do find ways to include a lot of topics in what was ultimately about 40 minutes of talk time... Come, see what we mean by that.

til next week,
chel

PS check out the news of the world in the posts below from Don's trip to the World Business Summit on Climate Change!

SPEAKING AT WBSCC

2009-05-26T11:18:00.000-04:00

Presented Climacide and the need to re-brand global warming to the World Business Summit on Climate Change today. Great response. We'll see going forward if the world business leaders are serious. Stay tuned.

Thanks to Daniel for the photo.

WE ARRIVE IN AN ELECTRIC CAR

2009-05-26T04:46:00.000-04:00

Oddly enough, we were the only ones.

P.S. Yes, we are giants.

TIME FOR TOUGH TALK, TOUGH ACTION

2009-05-26T03:16:00.000-04:00

The panel this morning is getting serious.

On stage is:
Anders Eldrup, CEO and President, DONG Energy
Shai Agassi, Founder and CEO, Better Place
Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., CEO, PricewaterhouseCoopers
James E. Rodgers, Chairman, President, and CEO, Duke Energy
David Blood, Senior Partner, Generation Investment Management
Anders Eldrup, CEO and President, DONG Energy
Yoichi Funabashi, Editor-in-Chief, The Asahi Shimbun
Sir Crispin Tickell, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme, James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization, Oxford University
Moderated by Nik Gowing

These CEOs are calling for a higher global price on carbon to push innovation. However, there is little faith that politicians will ratify anything that makes life uncomfortable.

Shai Aggassi: "A $200 tax per ton of carbon would raise the price of oil $2 per gallon. That price increase results in a 0.4% reduction in driving." In other words, a tax, in Shai's opinion is not going to get it done.

Sir Crispin Tickell: "People have to be told that there is a price for the carbon they put in the air."

David Blood: "We must expose the organizations and people who are lobbying against regulation." He continues, "Investing in companies that do not address these issues are bad investments. They are sub-prime assets."

James Rogers: "I had a shareholder meeting this year that said I was wasting money by going out and talking about this issue."

Shai Aggassi: If you emit tons and tons of carbon and you cut that by 10%, you get a lot of credit. If I go out with cars that don't emit any carbon, I don't get any credit. What I need to do is buy up all the emitting cars and replace them with non-emitting cars, just so we can get the credit."

Interjection from the audience: "I'm very disappointed in this conference. We aren't talking about the effects. I'm from South Africa. We're the canary in the coal mine. Next year we will be out of water. There will be six million people with no water. Do you want to put that on the agenda?"

Another from the audience: "We must get back to business leadership. There are parties in Australia who are willing to say 'if you regulate us we will leave' that isn't leadership, that's fear."

Sir Crispin Tickell: "The fundamentals of economics are broken. We have to re-examine economics if we want to fix this."

David Blood: "Business owners understand the problems. Investors and asset managers do not. Investors are lagging behind."

James Rogers: "What we think of energy conservation now will be seen as very primitive soon. We need to break away from short-term thinking."

David Blood: The best way to run a company is long term. Asset managers must get back to long-term thinking. We need to realize that climate issues have been seen as an issue from the left. This is not a liberal issue. That thinking has caused a lot of cynicism. We need to look at this from an economic standpoint not as a partisan issue.

Shai Aggasi: Capital is hard to get. If you wait till tomorrow, you'll get a better price per share. As long as they see the market going down, they will hesitate.

James Rogers: You can give investors a speech about the long-term, but investment terms have gone from five years to 18 months.

David Blood: We must include the developing world. If we do not engage them we will fail in December.

The final question: "Have we been bold enough?" The panel was split.

"THE PLANET DOES NOT ANSWER TO SHAREHOLDERS"

2009-05-25T02:56:00.000-04:00

Harish Hande, co-founder and managing director of SELCO Solar Light, came out swinging with the declaration that most businesses have no clue because most businesses have not been affected by global warming.

"We make products for the rich, packaged for the rich."

Harish broke it down simply. 1.5 billion people do not have a voice. They cannot make choices because another 1.5 billion have the money to move the market in their direction. Most decisions, Harish contends, are made from glass offices at the top of buildings removed from the poor.

Giovanni Bisignani CEO, IATA

2009-05-24T10:58:00.000-04:00

We all know aviation is a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Here are some numbers given by Giovanni Bisignani:

2.3B people flew last year with just 900 fatalities.
Fuel efficiency has improved by 70% in the last decade
32M tons of CO2 has been saved through best practices in the last 4 years

Mr. Bisignani set several goals he would like see hit:
25% improvement in fuel efficiency by 2020
70% use of alternative fuels such as biofuels by 2020
50% carbon reduction by 2020

Mr. Bisignani went on to say that while we must ensure positive economic outcome, we must have regulations to add structure to the voluntary actions currently being taken by the airlines to "link government targets with the good work of the airlines".

Biofuels were mentioned several times as an important part of meeting the above goals. Biofue;ls can reduce the carbon footprint in the aviation industry by 80%.

WORLD BUSINESS SUMMIT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

2009-05-24T10:50:00.000-04:00

GREYnyc is in Copenhagen for the Summit this week. I will be posting from the conference.

http://www.copenhagenclimatecouncil.com/

TEDxNewYork 5/14/09

2009-05-14T13:05:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 4/28/09 Vik Muniz (2007)

2009-04-28T15:19:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 4/23/09 Helen Fisher (2006)

2009-04-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

Love.

Love hurts,
love scars,
love wounds
and mars.
Any heart
not tough
or strong enough
to take a lot of pain,
take a lot of pain.
Love is like a cloud,
holds a lot of rain.

Love hurts
Oooh oooh love hurts

I'm young,
I know
but even so,
I know a thing or two,
I've learned from you.
I've really learned a lot
really learned a lot.
Love is like a stove,
burns you when it's hot.

Love hurts
Oooh oooh love hurts

Some fools think of happiness,
blissfullness,
togetherness,
Some fools fool themselves I guess,
but they're not fooling me.
I know it isn't true,
know it isn't true.
Love is just a lie
made to make you blue.

Love hurts
Oooh oooh love hurts

-B. & F. Bryant

TEDxNewYork 4/16/09 Bonnie Bassler

2009-04-15T22:41:00.000-04:00

TEDxNewYork 3/16/09 Sherwin Nuland

2009-04-13T22:01:00.000-04:00

From TED.com: Surgeon and author Sherwin Nuland discusses the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression -- including his own. It’s a moving and heartfelt talk about relief, redemption and second chances.

TEDxNewYork 2/16/09 Joshua Klein

2009-04-13T21:58:00.000-04:00

Amazing crows.

THE FIRST TEDxNEWYORK SINCE TED 2009 David Merrill & Juan Enriquez

2009-04-12T10:06:00.001-04:00

Two from TED 2009 I couldn't wait to share.

Every time I hear Juan Enriquez, I'm inspired.

It makes me wonder if the question posed below will be much harder to answer in our lifetimes.

TED TUESDAY 12/16/08 Dan Gilbert, Malcolm Gladwell & Ben Zander

2009-04-12T10:03:00.000-04:00

The final TED Tuesday of the year and the topic is happiness. I must say this is probably the best single TED Tuesday yet. By the time we had all sung "Ode to Joy," we all had shining eyes.

Anyway, my holiday wish for everyone this year is happiness. It may be elusive. It may not be where you thought it would be, but whether you find it or synthesize it, I hope you supersize it.

Cheers,
Don

TED TUESDAY 12/9/08 Julia Sweeney & Dan Dennett

2009-04-12T10:02:00.000-04:00

God.

TED TUESDAY 12/2/08 Wade Davis & Janine Benyus

2009-04-12T10:01:00.000-04:00

This week, the worlds we ignore, but should be learning from.

Next Janine Benyus opens a window on the natural world.

TED TUESDAY 11/18/08 Ben Saunders & John Francis

2009-04-12T10:00:00.000-04:00

This week incredible journeys.

TWO-FER TUESDAY! 10/6/08 Jill Bolte Taylor & Vilayanur Ramachandran

2009-04-12T09:59:00.001-04:00

At the risk of sounding like a DJ on circa 1979 KMET (bonus points for anyone who can correctly sing the KMET jingle), I'm trying out a new format and, as the name suggests, it's double your pleasure, double your TED. Two...two...two treats in one. OK, I'll Stop.

Great TED Tuesday this week as we explore the brain. First Jill Bolte Taylor then Vilayanur Ramachandran.

TED TUESDAY 10/23/08 Paul Stamets

2009-04-12T09:56:00.000-04:00

This week Paul Stamets.

Mycillium? I hardly knew 'em.

TED TUESDAY 10/16/08 Susan Blackmore (2008)

2009-04-12T02:57:00.001-04:00

This week, Susan Blackmore.

Will our ability to grasp ideas ultimately kill us? Imagine if our existence was only biological. What if ideas did not catch on and transfer from person to person? What if we were never able to duplicate an action such as making fire? What would the world be like?

This talk made me totally re-access my idea of intelligence. By suggesting that ideas act like genes, Susan Blackmore brings a high level of chance into the equation of evolution and opens up immense variability in what intelligence is. Imagine other life forms suddenly showing up from outer space. We always think of aliens as having a similar intelligence as ourselves. Sure they would be more or less advanced than us, but intelligence would take the same form. However, according to Blackmore, our intelligence is based on imitation and replication with variation. And, she says, that is an incredibly dicey equation for two reasons. First, it isn't easy for brains to do. Ideas had to be had by the first replicators, they had to find special brains. Blackmore referenced Louise Leakey who pointed out earlier that there were several branches in our family tree that didn't make it. Second, big brains are dangerous. They are hard to give birth to and it isn't in our best interest, physically speaking, to have big brains. Big brains are not efficient. Big brains are two percent of our body weight and take 20 percent of our energy to run. Does that make memes more dominate than genes given the right replicator?

So, back to the original question. I think our ability to replicate ideas with variations has had a profound effect on every other species on the planet. We have recreated the Earth in our image. We have created a place specifically for creatures with big brains – a place where ideas shape the landscape, allocate resources, form cultures and create wealth. Ideas have forced the rest of the world to adapt.

Finally, Blackmore brings us to temes and says technology is the next replicator (the t in temes). I wonder if the recent stock market crash is an example of machines blurring the lines – computers set to sell stock at a certain price trigger a cataclysmic melt-down of the global economy. Sounds like sci-fi and there is a decidedly Matrixy feel to the whole thing.

TED TUESDAY 8/19/08 Steven Levitt

2009-04-12T02:56:00.001-04:00

This week Steven Levitt.

TED TUESDAY 8/12/08 Bill Stone

2009-04-12T02:54:00.000-04:00

Bill Stone's stunning announcement wowed the crowd this week and sparked a discussion about the lack of global enthusiasm over exploration. We came up with a number of possible reasons for this this. My favorite was along the lines of Al Gore's comment that we live in an age of mass distraction. I'd be curious to see what everyone else thinks about this. Why are we so apathetic about exploration? Is it because the definition of an explorer is not as focused as it was in Shackleton's time or even in Neil Armstrong's time? Being an explorer once had a rugged, devil-may-care image attached to it, mostly, I believe because of the things that were being explored (dangerous new territories for instance). Now there are a lot of different kind of things being explored and a lot of different kind of explorers.

Also, if anyone from TED is reading this blog and has info on what Bill is doing now, please share.

TED TUESDAY 7/2/08 Juan Enriquez

2009-04-12T02:52:00.000-04:00

This talk by Juan Enriquez was my introduction to TED. I find the insight about language to be the most fascinating part of this talk.

TED TUESDAY 6/10/08 Sir Ken Robinson

2009-04-12T02:51:00.000-04:00

This week, Sir Ken Robinson.

TED TUESDAY 6/20/08 James Howard Kunstler (2004)

2009-04-12T02:48:00.000-04:00

One of my all-time favorites, the angriest man to ever speak at TED: James Howard Kunstler

Also check out his five-part series on the end of peak oil.

The discussion was varied on this our first go out of the gate. A lot of it surrounded the end of peak oil and the demise of Walmart (an event Kunstler predicts). But we soon shifted to urbanism and the culture suburbia forces on us, which seemed to some in our group to be more hype than reality.

The question what can we do right now to stave off the "long period of pain" Kunstler talks about as a result of the end of peak oil came up and led us to a discussion of living locally (buying locally, working locally, finding ways to have more value to our neighbors).

Here's a question (or two) to everyone – what can we do to move the conversation from consumerism to living locally? What kind of tools can we build to facilitate that behavior? For instance, what about a craigslist-style message board where local growers can connect with local customers? A co-op message board. Any ideas?

LAWRENCE LESSIG, RIVES

2009-04-12T02:45:00.000-04:00

Everyone, this is the first talk we watched today. Feel free to comment.

And here's the poet Rives.

Found @ TED.com

A NEW ROLE FOR THIS BLOG

2009-04-11T12:20:00.000-04:00

We are proud to announce that in addition to being TED's agency partner, GREYnyc is the home of TEDxNewYork. TEDxNewYork will replace TED Tuesdays and this blog will replace kingsofsimulcast. Read below this post for Chel's wonderful live blogging from TED 2009 in Palm Springs. For those of you searching for something blogged about from TED 2008, I will keep kingsofsimulcast live for awhile longer.

ENGAGE

2009-02-07T16:04:00.000-05:00

The last session of TED was called ENGAGE.

I hearken back to the parting words I learned when I was young:

"Go in peace to love and serve."

Session 12: Engage- Liz Coleman

2009-02-07T15:19:00.000-05:00

Liberal Arts: An education designed to foster a student's broadest intellectual and deepest ethical potential.

Liberal Arts no longer exists.

Technical skills are celebrated but these are viewed warily:

What kind of a world...
are we making?
should we be making?
can we be making?

Civic mindedness is treated as outside, not the core.

This nation with all its resources seems utterly helpless to stop the fall of all the major problems of society.

How is it that so many

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson

[Note how many people here at TED have quoted good ole TJ... I think I need to re-read everything I ever read of his and kick myself for not reading all of it. Are these books at the TED bookstore? They need to be!]

The Reality:
None as the answers
Everyone has the responsibility.

The new cirriculum- my favorite, Venn diagram (!) to show that all of these things must be seen in combination of each other.
*equity
*education
*the environment
*governance
*the uses of force
*health

History provides a laboratory in which we see the actual and as well as the intended consequences of our actions.

The NEW liberal arts:
rhetoric
design
mediation
improvisation
quantitative reasoning
technology (which merges from these in concert)

"This new wine needs a new bottle."
Freshman Course Schedule becomes A Medieval Fair

The challenge for Bennington is to execute these values she's outlined here.

"We intend to turn the intellectual and imaginative power, passion and boldness of our students, faculty, and stoff on the developing strategies for acting on the most critical challenges of our time."

"We cannot have a viable democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians and spectators."

"Being overwhelmed is the first step if you are serious about trying to get at things that really matter on a scale that makes a difference." [thank you Anonymous for helping complete that quote]

I'm going to write her an email and request a full transcription now...

interstitial - Darius from Darius Goes West

2009-02-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

* I’m not a disabled person, I’m a person with a disability.
* I’m not suffering. But you’re going to die. So is everyone else!
* It’s not a rare disease. It’s the number one genetic killer of children in the world

What stereotype are you comfortable with? Well it’s a Sony…

Session 12: Engage- Barry Schwartz

2009-02-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

Title Slide: a collaboration with Ken Sharp for a book that someday... he hopes to finish

Obama appealed to each of us at his inauguration:
"The time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation..."

Barry's goals of this talk:
• Why Obama was right about virtue
• Practical wisdom (Aristotle) is the key virtue
• Nonetheless, we're making a war on wisdom (in the US and it's unwittingly
• But there are sources of hope

Example: the long list of a janitor's duties. Nothing on it involves other human beings. BUT janitors reported that their attitudes and actions in their jobs were purposefully a result of their relationships and respect for people at the hospital.

Practical wisdom is Moral Skill plus Moral Wisdom: A wise person knows when and how to improvise, a moral jazz to accommodate situations and this person is made, not born. you need to have/be mentors.

"Rules and procedures may be done, but they prevent you from having to think" -Scott Simon

Rules: we need better ones if we're going to use them. But they don't make things better in the long run. Moral skill is chipped away as the effects come down the line. They don't allow the wisdom of the people trying to convey the

Incentives the war on moral will: motivational competition. they don't promote peoples interest in doing the "right thing", but a moral drive alone causes people to

people lose morale and morality.

Good news: You don't need to be brilliant to be wise
Bad news: But brilliance doesn't mean you are wise

"We must ask, not just is it profitable, but is it right?" -Obama 12/18/08
people become addicted to and focused on the wrong thing.

We must re-moralize work: it's not about teaching ethics courses. it's about celebrating moral heroes. acknowledge and be proud of these people.

Aaron Feurrstein and Malden Mills had a devistating fire but he kept all employees at a profit loss because it was right. Ray Anderson turned his "evil empire" into a green company AND learned it made a greater profit too! Morality should be "ordinary" if not "extraordinary" so that when we do right it shouldn't be against the tide.

Ethics as lived, not as taught [KIPP]

As teachers must remember we're always teaching, the camera is always on. And we must always be an example of morality.

Kids need to respect themselves, their teachers, others and to respect learning. Teachers must always embody it. Kipp is great as a teacher because of it.

Honesty, kindness and courage are a natural follow to morality.
And hope is wanting to do the right thing in the right way for the right reasons. We must pay attention to what we do, how we do it, why we do it.

Standing O.

interstitial- Gever Tulley

2009-02-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

If you haven't seen it- there was a TED talk online that became a surprise hit last year and it was Gever Tulley's

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/gever_tulley_on_5_dangerous_things_for_kids.html

Now, carefully read that link...

quotable: "decoration of an unfinished project is sort of a gestational incubation"

He showed many things his kids did as a team and individuals... For the finale of this show of kids' works: "The things that kids build amaze even themselves, like a roller coaster by 7-year-olds."

Session 12: Engage- Jamie Cullum

2009-02-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

Here he comes...

I Get A Kick Out Of You (yes we get the same out of you Jamie)... started out a capella with the mic so far away he was just a lonely voice in a large hall. The best way to get people's attention isn't to shout, it's to whisper. Did anyone notice if he made a little sneeze when he sang the line about getting a kick out of cocaine? Annie Hall, anyone?

I've Got A Woman (could probably have them all I'm guessing, you wild (piano) player)... he even makes a kick drum out of the leg of the piano and pounds out percussion barehanded on all parts of the grand piano.

Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain as a segue into Rihanna's Umbrella was cute, clever and brought the house to its feet

All At Sea is an original he wrote when he broke up with his gf, skipped the commencement of his college graduation to work on a cruise ship. He changed on lyric in the sad song for the humor of it: "I gave away my iPhone..."

And again, to our feet! ...while he was going about the stage gathering the blazer and button down he managed to through off during the show...

Chris says we're going to try and squeeze an encore at the end!

Jamie Cullum has a website too of course, but I'm just going to link to his (disappointingly sparse) tour schedule....

interstitial - Jay Walker

2009-02-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

"Let's talk about manias!"

Religious, sports, deadly, entertainment, age--

There's a new mania: learning English.

China will be the biggest English speaking country of the world.

80 million hs students in China take a test that determines the outcome of the direction of their lives and 25% of the grade depends on great English skills.

Is this good?

English is the language of problem solving. Not because we push, but because the world pulls. It is the world looking for a way to join together to solve its common problems.

Session 11: Predict- Dan Ariely

2009-02-07T12:54:00.000-05:00

His massive burn injuries changed the ways he viewed predictability and irrationality.

He wasn't allowed to interfere with his treatments as they were "experts".

After 3 years he went home from the hospital, went home and started experimenting with other people and their reactions to pain. The result:

We don't encode duration as we encode intensity. If you get a break from what hurts, it makes pain more endurable.

One example: cheating. The experiment: if a simple test was given where people were able to cheat would they?

Did they do it less if big punishment for cheating was there? It didn't. If the probability of being caught cheating was up, it didn't color the amount of cheating. The thing that made them cheat less was their ability to look themselves in the mirror.

Decreasing the fudge factor: a moral sense and a value of the reward (money versus representative money).

Cheating was also affected by their belief that their honesty could be challenged by perceived equals.

The greater the distance from cheating the greater it is.

How does this affect behavioral economics?

When he was at the hospital his favorite nurse explained that his treatment wasn't just painful from him but also for her having to inflict it on him who she liked so much. However since she believed what she was doing was right so it made her not challenge her own behavior towards him in treatment.

The challenging of one's beliefs to improve a situation is so very important in all aspects of life, especially in behavior economics.

interstitial: Nicholas Negroponte

2009-02-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

The OLPC is so usable in Africa it puts our own to shame.
Kids are teaching their parents.
The future? The world will move from the concept of OLPC to the reality of olpc wildly in the next 3 years.

And he got a standing O for his 3 minute talk.

Session 11: Predict- Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

2009-02-07T12:49:00.000-05:00

He called Tienamen Square before it happened. He sees a bigger picture with great clarity. Prediction of the future affect our ability to change it.

There are many ways of predicting but they are all mumbo jumbo (horoscopes, casting bones etc). We need to use and believe the wisdom of science. (That’s what Nate Silver did!)

We can scientifically engineer the future!

Who is rational? (Do what they think is in their best interest.) Most people are.

Who are influencers? Exhort them to be better. But we can’t look only to the leaders. We can look to their advisors. And the people who influence them. With 5 decision makers you get 120 interactions. The matrix of learning and influence 10 decision makers means 3.6 million interactions. We need the help of computers to examine such a great number.

What percent of the time is the model right when even the experts are wrong?: 90%!

What must we know in order to predict? Not much:
Who has a stake in the dcision
What they say they want
How focused are the issue- their priorities?
How much clout do they have with their opionions?

We all care about two things: outcome and credit.

We can get the information we need from the experts.

Now, Iran’s nuclear policy… what’s likely? Their ability to build is lower than their clout among their own people is. If we left them alone, their need for machismo among their people. Of course the world can’t/won’t do it. If Iran made enough weapons grade fuel they could get the clout they want without having enough to build the bombs. They gain power in their people when pushing towards building but drop entirely radically if they test.

Say to others: “If you say that’s impossible you’re confused with I don’t know how to do it.”

Chris asks if saying these predictions out loud will this discourage action against what we fear?

The short answer? No. With good reasons [I need help quote them here fellow bloggers/TEDsters.]

Session 11: Predict- Peter Alcorn

2009-02-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

Session 11: Predict- Alex Tabarrok

2009-02-07T12:04:00.002-05:00

Alex acknowledges that the economy now is a mess but the
With the radical changes and challenges (war etc) we built walls.
Only later in the last century did we begin to pull the walls down: political alliances, trade laws, communication, social walls
With the second half of the last century we have grown radically in gdp and population, especially in India and China. Sub-Saharan Africa however has declined.
New ideas drive growth.
Ideas have an amazing property. "One apples feeds one man, one idea can feed the world."

Incentives and Ideas:
consider two diseases: one rare, the other common, but of equal severity if not treated.
Which disease would you rather have?
The latter because larger markets save lives as the desire for greater effectiveness among drug producers.
Larger markets increase the incentive to produce new ideas.
So how do we maximize the incentive to produce new ideas?
There are few scientists and engineers in the world, but the good news is that the USA's proportion has been shrinking- we are sharing the shouldering with a great variety of minds.
If the world were as wealthy as the US, the number of idea-makers would multiply by five.
The US and the world at large benefits with the wealth of others.

What about the increasing cost of oil? Growth increases the demand/need and therefore costs. Of course that means the push for alternative energies. We are better equipped to create those now as well.

Globalize world markets yes- but GLOBALIZE EDUCATION. The USA needs to learn this because we have global leadership.

To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson: When someone else lights their candle from ours, there is twice as much light.

Session 11: Predict - Nate Silver

2009-02-07T12:04:00.001-05:00

Session 10: Dare- Lena Maria Klingvall

2009-02-06T21:09:00.000-05:00

Born without arms, and with one (and a half) legs, she was the first child of her parents. They were told she could be institutionalized. This was Switzerland in 1968. Three days later her parents were able to meet her and her mother found out that no one told her how beautiful a baby Lena was. They kept her, and had another child. Lena's brother had no handicaps "that's what they think," she said with a smile. Being a little brother can be a handicap. Everyone has them, most are not obvious.

She was a championship swimmer in the para-Olympics. Her swimming style looks like peristalsis. (I was really wondering how that works, but when you see it, it makes more sense.)

The list of things she can do is long: sing, use chopsticks, sew, and... calligraphy. She wrote a note in calligraphy with her foot. "Hello everyone!" Then she wrote another with the pen in her mouth, as perfect and beautiful a scrawl. "Beat that!"

One of the hardest things was getting dressed. She needs a stick as a tool. One day she was in a jam and needed to use a hanger and learned that she could improvise almost anything.

Adapting to a society that doesn't adapt to you makes you grow.

There's one thing left she wants to do: be a truck driver.

What has made everything possible? Love. Isn't anything difficult? Lots of things are, but no more so than anyone else. Being different has put her in a different category than anyone else so in some ways it has made her blessed.

Session 10: Dare- Willie Smits

2009-02-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

From Indonesia, Borneo, he is microbiologist and forester. Married a local girl who was from a tribe that required a dowry of 6 palms. This brought him to thoughts on orangutans.

Deforestation releases so much co2 that his home is the third worst country in the world (China’s in the lead). Except his country has NO INDUSTRY.

He developed compassion for the orangutans and was upset that we applauded his saving more than a thousand of them because the need for saving meant we were full of failures to begin with.

He works to re-forest the wiped out areas, massive changes that aerial photos show dramatically. Breaking the cycle of destruction starts with fires. Fires destroy the area like none other, then the fires live underground and flare up again. These continue to destroy once the major fire is over. In the last fire season, no child gained ANY weight and IQs dropped an average of 12 points.

Sugar palms are fire resistant and create a strong buffer. They can be tapped on a daily basis with cuts instead of cutting down so there’s no reason to re-plant. They can lay out in a plan to border the growth. The important step is to make sure there will be useful crops at every stage of development of the area. They are changing the way that they can hold on to cloud cover and prevent drought.

They engage the locals at EVERY step from fires to crops for re-developing.

He goes to that point many, many times. Local involvement at every step. Save the forests. With the people. For the people. For the orangutans.

He says it comes down to one word: INTEGRATION.

To this I say: Note my “what are three things to ask me about” nametag. You want your human ecology, baby? I got your human ecology, right here!