Earlier this month, we had the opportunity to attend TED, a yearly convention centered around “ideas worth spreading.” Past speakers at TED include Bill Gates, David Byrne, Bono, Tim Ferriss, Seth Godin, Al Gore, and Steve Jobs. Actually, TED asked us to be the official bookstore of this convention as well as its partner conference, TEDActive. Of course we could not say no to such a fortuitous opportunity.
Working the booth, we sold books to the likes of Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappo’s) and Jason Mraz. We also hosted book signings by David Brooks, Jason Mraz, Roger Ebert, and Sunni Brown.
It was a blast to rub elbows with this amazingly influential and interesting crowd, but the best part was the knowledge that we were getting the word out there about our mission of literacy and sustainability.
And finally, we’d like to leave you with one of the most interesting TED talks of this year: Salman Khan on using video to reinvent education.
UPDATE: You, too, can browse the virtual online version of our TED bookstore booth.
How sad that the “past speakers” on TED were all men, ignoring the courageous women who also have spoken, particularly on TEDWomen. The Rev. Joy
Good point Joy, there is certainly no shortage of thought-provoking talks by women among the growing ranks of TED contributors. This certainly shouldn’t be taken as a comprehensive list of TED speakers — we didn’t even scratch the surface of the full roster.
Some really great ones that come to mind:
3 talks by Aimee Mullins revolving around the next generation of prosthetic legs (2009 – 2010).
Jane McGonigal on why we are drawn to gaming and how games can change the world (2010).
Madeleine Albright on being a woman and a diplomat (2010).
And plenty more contributions including Arianna Huffington, Naomi Klein, and on from there — certainly too many speakers and ideas to list here.
You can find a full list of TED speakers here.