8/6/2019 5 lessons from the TED conference - May 2011 Cover Story Meetingsnet.com

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CORPORATEMEETINGS&INCENTIVES/May 2011 MEETINGSNET.COM 19

The core and content of every TED confer-

ence is simple: Ideas worth spreading. Forcorporate meeting professionals, the idea mostworth spreading could be the idea of TED itself.The annual conference, held at the Long BeachPerforming Arts Center, brings together diversespeakers and listeners for four days of presentationsand networking. And it has one advantage that

corporate planners may never have: TED choosesits audience. Without an amazing audience, wecouldnt attract amazing speakers, organizers say atTED.com. Our speakers arent paidthey attendbecause of the audience.

Thats not the only meeting tenet flipped onits head by TED. The conference is driven towardcomplexity on one handits attendees representa broad swath of disciplines, its topics a world ofideasand toward simplicity on the otherthereis but one thing on the agenda: presentations,none more than 18 minutes long.

You may have seen some of those presenta-tions, in fact. Theyre now known as TEDTalks,and most are on YouTube, where theyve garneredhundreds of millions of views. Expanding itsaudience is another thing TED does well. Three

years after it began posting talks, TED posted, ina way, its secret sauce. June 2009 saw the launchof the TEDx brandlocal TED-like events thatfollow strict guidelines. (See www.ted.com/pages/tedx_rules) In less than two years, more than1,500 TEDx events have been held worldwide.

We created TEDx in the spirit of TEDsmission of ideas worth spreading, says ChrisAnderson, curator of TED and founder of theSapling Foundation, which acquired the TEDConference in 2001. The program is designed togive communities, organizations, and individualsthe opportunity to stimulate dialogue throughTED-like experiences at the local level.

With a license for a Corporate Event, corpora-tions can organize private, employees-only [TEDx]events ... to highlight ideas within corporationsand to foster a culture of passion, inspiration, and

collaborationto enable employees to step outsideof their daily routine and be inspired.

A closer look at TED could inspire you tothink outside your day job, too. Here are fivebig ideas that might help you think about your

meetings in a new way:

CURATEIn TED-spek, meeting pln-ners re curtors. Or shouldbe. Point number one in theTEDx orgnizer guidelines:More thn nthing else,the content is wht defines TED event. If ou choosepresenttions tht provokeconverstions tht mtter,ouve done our job.

Just s museum cur-tor hndpicks works to mkeup complete nd meningfulexhibition, I work with our

tem to identif ides worthspreding, ss TED CurtorChris anderson. We selectour spekers nd tlks bsedon their relevnce, newness,innovtion, impct or potentilimpct, nd interestingness.

avid TED wtcherRuud Jnssen, founder ofarlesheim, Switzerlndbsed The New ObjectiveCollective, which helps org-niztions crft live, digitl,nd hbrid event experi-

ences, hs orgnized twoTEDxBsel events. He seesthe content t TED s biggerthn life, with overrching[topics], nd chllenges thtseem impossible. But whenou put different silos towork on one thing, s hp-pens t TED, the impossiblestrts to look doble.

While one hllmrk of TED gend is this cross-culturl, cross-disciplinr,cross-pollinted mshup ofrt, science, reserch, ndtheor, nother is its simpleformt. as the TEDx guide-lines put it: No pnels. Nobrekout sessions. Usull:No podium. you m not pour spekers to present.and theres tht time limit18minuteswhich, more thn

nthing else sends the mes-sge tht ou better hveour stor stright nd beble to deliver it efficientl.

Wh not think bout ourentire meeting messge inthose terms? We often gettied up in complicted meet-ing objectives, ss MrkSheron, executive vice pres-ident, enggement strtegies,t TBa Globl in New york.TEDs mission is simple:Ides worth spreding. Its so

understndble. Tr to distillwht ou wnt our event todo. Dont hve 10 objectives.you dont hve to reduce it toone objective, but how boutthree?

In orgnizing theTEDxBsel events, Jnssengot to tht distilltion bnswering one question.When we strted tlkingbout ides nd themes,ultimtel we sked, Dowe know wht we rell

cre bout? When ou findtht, when ou touch thosechords, thts the mgic.

By Alison Hall

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Think of our event s show.Tht doesnt men glitzit mens rehersl. KrDeFris ws show director forTEDxSnDiego, which drew325 live nd more thn 27,000virtul ttendees in November2010. There ws conscious

decision to tret this s show, not just n event, ndtht cme through in the pro-duction qulit nd execution,DeFris ss in blog postbout her experience tht iswell worth reding. (Find it thttp://bit.l/howTEDx.) Weput together production stfftht included show director,tech director, tlent reltionsmnger, stge mnger, ndpresenttion mnger, to nme few. and DeFris drew from

her experience with TV wrdsshows to tke the gend out-

line nd flow it into minute-b-minute show rundown.

The other thing requiredb show, s opposed to meeting, is complete techrehersl. We strted off withour tech lod-in, then mrkedll our speker spots on stge,

followed b our emcees run-ning their lines. Spekersbegn showing up in thefternoon, some running theirfull tlk, others just clickingthrough nd getting feel forthe stge, DeFris explins.The tem held spekerorienttion to review theprotocol for hnding over thestge from emcee to spekernd vice vers, plus whtwould hppen if spekerrn beond his or her llotted

time. (at 30 seconds over, theemcee ppers t the edge of

the stge; t one minute over,the emcee pproches)

Thoroughl workingthrough this kind of detilhed of time is non-negotible for successfulshownd should becomejust s routine for corporte

meeting. Respect our udi-ence nd the will rewrd oub prticipting full. TEDpresenters re coched onspeking nd engging theudience, Jnssen notes.Prt of the mgic is howspekers re trined.

Mn executives reunwre of how de-motivtingtheir lckluster presenttionscn be for emploees. If ouhve trouble getting executivesto reherse, send them the

video Behind the TED Tlk, inwhich two spekers novice

nd true str of TED, whosefirst TED tlk is one of themost viewed of ll timepre-pre for their presenttions.

and if oure still stuck withC-level egos, point out tht therehersl is not just for them,ss Mrk Sheron of TBa

Globl. Execs m not relizetht everone who is mkingtht presenttion possibleprompters, sound gu, videogu, webcst guthe ll needto reherse the speech, too.

Finll, look for hiddengems in our own bckrd.Do some reserch on ourinternl tlent pool, suggestsDeFris, who is now orgnizingTEDxIntuit, plnned for august.Ive used emploees who doTostmsters or prticipte

in locl theter s emcees tlrger meetings.

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PlAy wiTh dEsignIf theres one prerequisite for TED ttendnce, its n open mind.Corporte meeting plnners could open their minds to the importnceof meeting design, believes Dinne Devitt, CMP, owner of DND Group,New york. you cnt tke room setup lightl, she ss. Dcor givespermission to forget the outside world. The gol is to cpture people,llowing them to focus so ou cn send our messge.

Devitt recentl helped to design the room setup for meeting ofthe Westfield (Ct.) chpter of Meeting Professionls Interntionl.Working with furniture sponsor CORT, she trnsformed long, rect-ngulr, brown hotel meeting room into something unexpected.The front of the room contined pods of csul furniture includingsofs round smll tbles. In the middle ws trditionl theter-stlesetingusing designer chirs. and t the bck, she set rectngulrnd tringulr Lucite tbles nd chirs. People cme to ded stop,

Devitt reclls. you could see them clculting wht mood the were innd where the wnted to sit. It ws ver interesting dnmic. Theirsenses were heightened. We surprised nd stimulted them.

No furniture sponsor? you cn mke n impct in smll ws. Tr theter-stle setup but plce the chirs in crescent shpe rtherthn stright line, Devitt suggests. Or just dd couple of sofs. Itsoftens the room nd mkes people more t ese. Or put six-foot tblet the bck, set t ngle. Even if dont hve budget, ou cn be cre-tive with wht ou hve. Look t things differentl.

and present differentl, dds Mrk Sheron, executive vice presi-dent, enggement strtegies, for TBa Globl. as soon s PowerPointpops up, people switch off. We re doing lot more with other contentsstems such s Montge nd Pndors Box. He lso notes the wide-screen stge setup s continuing trend. It signls chnge. Its not

the stndrd setup, he ss, dding tht cost hs come down in theproduction relm, so these things re doble for more groups.

Produce it

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MAKe it

PerSoNAL

Inspired b his ttendnce tTEDactive2011, and Tlor,CMP, director of the Intel

Fellows Office t Intel Lbs inHillsboro, Ore., hs held twoTEDxIntelLbs events. Theide of bringing TED bck toIntel ws little bit of desireto get the genie bck intothe bottle, he ss. Is there w to recpture some ofthe mgic tht comes fromthe cross-pollintion t TED?and how cn I deliver it to nudience tht hs t most few hours month to spre?

Ive done two short

events, essentill introduc-ing the Intel Lbs udienceto the concept. Responsehs been tremendous: 100percent wnt it to continue,nd mn wnt to volunteerto help it succeed.

One thing tht prticu-lrl ttrcted Tlor ws howTED presenters engged theudience. One of m roles iscoch to senior technologistson presenting, he explins.TED hs powerful stor-

telling method I think we cnlern from. The power of mnTED spekers comes becuseou cn relte to wht there sing on personl level.as technolog compn,our defult method of influ-

EXPAndTED is much more thn single conference theseds. It is TEDTlks, therchived presenttions. ItsTEDGlobl, summer con-ference in Edinburgh withn interntionl focus. ItsTEDactive in Plm Springs,

which runs concurrentl withTED nd emphsizes con-nection nd cretivit. Itsthe TED assocites webcst,which, for reduced fee,gives registrnts virtulfront-row set to the entireTED conference. and it isthe TED Open Trnsltionproject, which t lst counthd logged more thn 17,000trnsltions of tlks b vol-unteers into more thn 80lnguges.

your tkew? Letour meeting live on. Cretehigh-qulit recordings ofpresenttions nd rchivethem for ttendees ndnon-ttendees. Is it just theslesforce tht needs moti-

ence is with dt nd fcts.But few in n udienceremember most of tht lter.Its bout breking wfrom PowerPoint nd telling stor rooted in personlexperience in 18 minutes.

Mrk Sheron of TBaGlobl grees. Some of

the best TED tlks re oneperson speking boutsomething the cre boutnd the udience gets it, hess. The whizz-bng ndpizzzz is not necessr. Ofcourse, our brin needs brek, so ou do wnt mixof didctic nd interctive,entertinment nd eduction,but everthing should hve purpose. Mn events re bg of stuff with no through-line, no stor. For me nd for

TBa Globl, telling stor isincredibl importnt. Peoplehve gthered to her otherpeople tell stories forever.Its ver nturl to mke meeting into tht kind ofexperience.

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vting t the nnul kickoffmeeting? Wh not expndtht udience nd unif theefforts of emploees in ll

res of the compn?Hbrid meetingswhere

both live nd virtul compo-nents re held simultneous-lre growing. are thereinterntionl divisions thtcould virtull ttend theCEOs kenote ddress?

One cvet: If ou go thehbrid route, p s muchttention to our virtulcomponent s ou do to thelive one. Its ver importnttht the live-streming udi-

ence feel connected, ssRuud Jnssen of The NewObjective Collective. If oure just wtching nothermeeting hppen, it is like bdpublic-ccess TV. WhenJnssen nd his TEDxBselorgnizing tem got togetherto wtch the live stremingof the first d of TED2011,he ss, TED cme up withide of doing shout-out tothose [wtching] round theglobe. We were selected s

one of five loctions to beconnected to the min stgein Long Bech b Skpeb free, es, cmer setup.Its one little touchpoint, butit llows people to see theimpct. n

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