TED, the nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” opens registration today for its TED2013 conference – with a twist. In order to unearth some of the world’s most remarkable voices and ideas, TED will host a 14-city global audition series. Organizers expect to fill at least half of next year’s program, themed “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered,” with people they discover through the process.
“The search was borne of a realization that TED’s best moments often come from unexpected places. We thought, why not leverage TED's expanding global footprint to find even more of those undiscovered voices, to do something completely different?” said Chris Anderson, TED’s curator. “The search is designed to bring together the most remarkable lineup in TED's history. Given what we’ve already seen from our global TED community, we’re confident we’ll be wowed.”
Audition events are confirmed on six continents: in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Doha, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo, Tunis and Vancouver – all between April and June 2012. TED has tapped local TEDx organizers in each city to produce the events.
Doha auditions for the TED2013 Conference in Long Beach, Calif. are now open to local innovators, artists, performers and thinkers. Nominations for Doha have started and will close on February 28 at midnight; chosen speakers will be contacted by the week of March 13.
From April-June 2012, TED will also hold public auditions in 14 other cities on six continents seeking to uncover new talents, voices and ideas the world needs to hear. The entire TED community will have a chance to vote on the most promising presenters and many of these will be invited to join as speakers at TED2013. In fact, at least half of the program will be chosen this way.
TEDTalks are riveting 18-minute online video lectures delivered by scientists, artists, astronauts, dancers, doctors and other interesting people at conferences hosted or licensed by TED, the non-profit devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” If you have any further questions on auditioning from the GCC, check out their website http://on.ted.com/auditionsdoha or email auditions@ted.com
