Technology Entertainment and Design independently organized events

TED, acronym Technology Entertainment and Design, comprises a set of global conferences held with the general goal of spreading worthy ideas. TED started in 1984 with an emphasis on technology and design (as its name implies), but gas evolved to cover a wider range of subjects concerning the research and practice of science and culture. TED has come up with many initiatives, such as TED fellows (a fellowship program for people from the Asia/Pacific region, Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East), TED women (topics like gender issues and reproductive health), TED conversations (idea-sharing platform), TED books (books long enough to explain an idea, and short enough to be read in one sitting) and the one that is most closely related to tedxnjlibraries.com, TEDx.

What is TEDx?

TEDx are independently organized TED events that allow schools, businesses, libraries and other groups to have the benefits of a TED-like experience, with the specific group managing the organizing, designing and hosting duties. In 2010, around 750 events were scheduled to take place in more than sixty countries. At these events, video and live speakers come together to promote intelligent discussion and connection within a small group. The TED conference offers general guidelines, but other than that, events are solely self organized.

TEDxNJLibraries, for example, was held on Friday May 7th in Princeton, New Jersey, at the Princeton Public Library. As is the case with all such events, this was a TED-licensed, independently organized conference, sponsored and curated by the Princeton Public Library, South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, NJ State Library, Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, and the bloggers of Library Garden. This particular conference was open to the public so as to entourage not only diversity of speakers, but also of overall participants. As far as speakers go, TEDxNJLibraries featured such speakers as Salman Ahmad (musician, humanitarian, and social activist), Steven J. Bell (Associate University Librarian for Research and Instructional Services at Temple University), Leslie Burger (Executive Director of the Princeton Public Library), Sam Daley-Harris (Microcredit Summit Campaign founder), Alfa Demmellash (Chief Executive Officer of Rising Tide Capital), Alison Byrne Fields (Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DDB Issues & Advocacy), Mimi Omiencinski (Princeton Tour Company founder), Eric Mintel (jazz musician), Mark Pascal and Francis Schott (Restaurant Guys), Merrick Rosenberg (Team Builders Plus President and Chief Learning Officer) and Lynette Young (Purple Stripe Productions VP of Creative Endeavors).

As for the attendants, among the people who registered and were accepted were Steve Garwood (Princeton University Libraries Staff Training and Development Coordinator), Julie Strange (Statewide Coordinator, Maryland AskUsNow!), Elizabeth Dickson (Pioneer Portfolio, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Research Assistant), Tabitha Johnson (The School at Columbia University/K-4 Librarian), Karen Klapperstuck (Monroe Twp Public Library, Virtual Branch Manager), Judy Moriarty (Atlantic & Pacific Real Estate US, Inc., VP, Broker of Record), Sarah Lee (Brooklyn Museum- Digital Imaging Specialist), Sean R. Piotrowski (Technical Support Specialist at Princeton University & Adjunct Professor for the Computer Information Systems Department at Rider University), Steve Downs (Assistant VP, Health Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Rich Gopstein (Director, Identity and Access Svcs), and many others.