For the last two years, Vancouver has been home to the annual TED conference, and between 15th and 19th February, the Canadian city will once again host this flagship event.
What began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) converged, today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — and in more than 100 languages.
The roster of presenters has broadened too, and regularly includes scientists, philosophers, musicians, business and religious leaders, and philanthropists. And past speakers have included Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Bono, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking.
Dr Brené Brown speaking at TED in 2012
Carmen is an avid TED supporter, and will be attending this year’s conference which is themed ‘Dream’.
“Because dreams matter more than ever. Humanity has more capability, connection and possibility than ever in history. And yet too often we waste these powers. We get bogged down in the mundane. Confused by the complexity. Or exhausted by the naysayers.”
The 2016 event is dedicated to ‘…imagineering, invention, innovation…’ and talks will be delivered by ‘courageous dreamers who can bring us with them on their journey’. Here's who we are looking forward to hearing this season.
Joe Gebbia, Cofounder Airbnb
A major disruptive force in the hospitality industry, Joe will be taking part in Tuesday’s ‘Radical Repatterning’ session.
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s Founder and CEO
Kalanick is another entrepreneur who is responsible for disrupting an entrenched industry, and is also credited with reinventing urban transport as we know it.
Alice Rawsthorn, Design Critic
A Frieze columnist and writer for the International New York Times, Alice Rawsthorn has also launched a daily Instagram diary to demonstrate how social media could enrich the collective conversation on design.
Monica Byrne, Author & Playwright
Monica’s characters defy racial, social and gender stereotypes, and her work, which deftly avoids the traps of conventional fiction, has garnered critical acclaim from both inside and outside the sphere of her genre.
TED 2016: Dream
One of Carmen’s favorite talks was presented during last year’s TED conference. Martine Rothblatt, the transgendered founder of Sirius XM satellite radio and head of a company that makes life-saving medicines for rare diseases (including a drug that saved her own daughter's life) is working to preserve the consciousness of the woman she loves, by creating a companion robot in her image. In this film of her onstage conversation with TED's Chris Anderson, she shares her powerful story of love, identity, creativity, and limitless possibility. Watch here:
See the full program schedule for this year’s conference and read more about TED here.