If you are in the meetings industry you will know about TED conferences? Founded by Richard Saul Wurman, this unique format showcases leading thinkers who share their big idea with an audience in less than 18 minutes. TED is an innovative way to share information.
In the July/August 2012 edition of Biz Bash magazine I was fascinated to read Wurman’s latest adventure. The bold title got my attention ‘It will be improvised, it will be terrifying’. He has created a new event called WWW (not it isn’t any relation to the world wide web) he was just being clever with words.
Wurman’s idea is to create a conference just like a dinner party where he is the host and the conference will only be spontaneous conversations on stage with some of his favorite people. Participants don’t show their books or their work. He will host the postulation. These new conferences will have no AV, will have very specific healthy food, great transportation and it will be leading thinkers responding to questions – he is keen to create conversations to engage thought leadership.
I love this approach! Wurman shared he doesn’t want to do what has already been done. It sounds to me like he is bored with TED and everyone has copied this format so it was time to reinvent.
His goal is to leverage technology but not in presentations, he has organized breakouts using tele-presence and he will have 4 speakers beaming in from around the world for people to chat with in the break – brilliant!
Wurman shares he wants to do good work trying to do something he likes, this reminded me why I love being part of the Thought Leaders community. People doing what they love, with people they love in places they love. Thought leaders know how to engage in impactful conversations that can have a ripple effect across the planet. How could you increase engagement at your next event?
Love to hear your thoughts, please share them with us here on our blog.
P.S. If you want to read the article from Biz Bash – click here.
