Chris Anderson Is Giving TED Away To Whoever Has the Best Idea for Its Future (wired.com) 41
Chris Anderson, who transformed TED from a small conference into a global platform for sharing ideas, announced today he's stepping down after 25 years at the helm. The nonprofit's leader is seeking new ownership through an unusual open call for proposals. Anderson told WIRED he wants potential buyers -- whether universities, philanthropic organizations, media companies or tech firms -- to demonstrate both vision and financial capacity.
The organization, which charges $12,500 for its flagship conference seats, maintains $25 million in cash reserves and reports a $100 million break-even balance sheet. The future owner must commit to keeping the conference running and maintaining TED's practice of sharing talks for free.
The organization, which charges $12,500 for its flagship conference seats, maintains $25 million in cash reserves and reports a $100 million break-even balance sheet. The future owner must commit to keeping the conference running and maintaining TED's practice of sharing talks for free.
Sell it to Al Gore (Score:4, Funny)
He could do perpetual ManBearPig presentations.
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He could do perpetual ManBearPig presentations.
I read that as “AI” Gore and it still made sense.
Turns out Artificial Intelligence has been on display for decades.
Easy choice (Score:3)
Give it to Hank Green.
Better find a new model (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't think TED talks have a future. Their are too many other competing voices out there, and audiences prefer an interrogative experience over a lecture-type experience. Roundtables seem to be the thing. Maybe start TED Tables.
Re:Better find a new model (Score:5, Insightful)
I'd imagine that the self-important wealthy people who listen to TED talks would miss them when they are gone. They would miss that dopamine hit of temporary inspiration that they get from listening from people actually trying to make things better, before ultimately ignoring all the advice they just received and going on with their daily pursuit of profit maximization at all costs.
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They can make their own TED Talks at Davos, with blackjack and hookers.
In fact, forget the TED Talks.
Re: Better find a new model (Score:2)
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Ah yes... I will miss TED talks. I love hearing the hopeful struggles of technologists trying to out maneuver the failings of humanity with their data driven ideas. If only they had my great idea of buying Nvidia stock instead of helping paralyzed children. Yes, I guess I am the smartest one, now that I think of it. The money proves my intelligence. Did I answer your question?
Re: Better find a new model (Score:2)
Re:Better find a new model (Score:4, Insightful)
and audiences prefer an interrogative experience over a lecture-type experience
I wouldn't make that an absolute statement. Podcast style content is extremely trendy right now, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a niche to be filled with public talks.
I'm a capitalist, but even I admit that something that drives me insane about the world of commerce is how trendy it likes to be. We seem to fall into this mindset that if you don't have market dominance you're a failure. The reality is that there are millions of small mom & pop shops out there that aren't bringing in a fortune but where the owners, employees and customers are happy because they are filling a niche.
I don't know if TED can ever achieve the same level of success that it enjoyed some ~10 years ago +, but I would hate to see it disappear. Some of my favourite lectures of all time were TED talks. So I have to believe that there is a market there, even if it is a smaller one than the market for "interrogative experiences" in current year.
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>"I wouldn't make that an absolute statement. Podcast style content is extremely trendy right now, but that doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't a niche to be filled with public talks."
I was thinking the same thing. I have never "been" to a TED talk, watched/listened to them online, like most people. I don't see them as all that much different than lots of other things I consume online.
>"I don't know if TED can ever achieve the same level of success that it enjoyed some ~10 years ago"
Probably n
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The worst part is how classist TED is. So of course TED never talks about classism even though it's the elephant in the room. When are rich people going to realize that class exploitation and class discrimination are not the foundations of a sustainable or ethical society?
Universities? Pass on that. (Score:2)
I'm not sure where he's been where he would consider a proposal from a University. They have all evolved from institutions of higher learning into full-bore capitalist profit centers, wringing as much cash as they possibly can out of their market positions. Harvard and Yale have something like $50B each of assets.
That means they have the money, but don't expect them to spend it on what you think they should.
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Sounds to me like they'd be a perfect fit to attract TED's paying audience
My proposal (Score:2)
Re: My proposal (Score:2)
That's not a TED talk, that's a Fudd talk.
Re: My proposal (Score:2)
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where people typically turn out to be wrong or get arrested
Your lips to God's ears. A local LatinX (barf) visionary did a TED talk. She just started a 10 year stint with her partner in crime in federal prison for white collar crime.
Anderson's Long Tail of hot air (Score:5, Insightful)
But, like Anderson's "The Long Tail", it's mostly BS. I was present for the observations that led directly to Anderson's "Long Tail" article in Wired and subsequent much-hyped book. I was also present, years before the article, when we discovered that too many options led to choice paralysis and a reduction in sales.
But Anderson, like so many of his TED bloviators, didn't let this get in the way of a good story and rode that horse into fame and glory--so the joke's on me.
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Like I said: the joke's on me.
I think they call it "fogdooding" (Score:2)
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Shark Tank!
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Yeah it's called the House of Representatives
No Censorship? (Score:4, Interesting)
Maybe the new model could be "not deleting TED Talks that cause controversy and butthurt among certain orthodoxies".
Nah, we have podcasts now and TED cares about being the "popular kid".
If it's not obvious, TED stopped being relevant coincident with that change in management.
Why go give an amazing talk that breaks new ground? It'll just get smashed by The Consensus whose grants depend on the old ideas.
I remember a decade ago when some radical TED Talks changed my mind on several subjects.
red ted (Score:2)
Better Red than TED. TED is passe. RIP TED.
Trump's Excellent Dystopia (Score:1)
Sold! After tariffs and bans of course!
Peer review (Score:2)
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Truth. I use "has this been the subject of a TED talk" as a litmus test for bullshit.
If it's been in a TED talk, it's probably garbage.
The only reason I watch TED talks... (Score:4, Interesting)
Sell it to The Onion (Score:2)
Would be nice to have more Onion Talks. Just (mostly) a slight branding change.
Taylor Swift (Score:2)
$12,500 for a ticket? The market is already there.
TED 2 (Score:1)
How about just a better idea? (Score:2)
Turning it into a Sitcom [wikipedia.org]? :-)
Ted (Score:2)
I was surprised to learn that this guy's name isn't Ted, I always assumed it was named after a person. Their about page didn't have this, but Wikipedia says it's an acronym for Technology Entertainment & Design.