TEDxGurgaon – happened on Feb 27, 2010 (Saturday) at Epicentre Gurgon, India. I attended the event and it was a very nice experience. Let me give some updates for the event.
First of all, let me introduce TED, if you don’t already know about it.
About TED:
TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a U.S private nonprofit foundation best known for its conferences, devoted to what it calls “ideas worth spreading”. Its lectures or TED Talks, widely disseminated on the Internet, are subject to a strict time limit of 18 minutes, regardless of a speaker’s eminence – referred to on occasion in jest as the TED commandment. TED is an annual event where some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about.
About TEDx, x=independently organized event
TEDx is a program that enables schools, businesses, libraries or just groups of friends to enjoy a TED-like experience with TEDx Events they themselves organize, design and host. TEDx events have in common – TED’s format of short, carefully-prepared talks on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder — and to provoke conversations that matter. It also includes of at least two recorded TED talks, lack of a commercial, religious or political agenda, a short introductory video in which TED Curator Chris Anderson explains the TEDx program.
The Event
The event started a bit late and first thing on screen was Chris Anderson’s introductory video played on projector, which gave a good insight on how TED was started. After that the events happened in order below:
1. Punjabi Folk by Rangla Punjab: To pump up the event with high energy, organizer picked up a good choice in terms of punjabi folk dance (Bhangra) to start with.
2. Presentation by Kishore Bhargava: Kishore is a famous person in Indian open source world. He is a team Member at FOSS.in. Also he is a good photographer.
At TEDx Gurgaon, he presented on the topic “How technology is causing photography to evolve”. With some good slides on screen, he showed how technologies, like High Dynamic Range (HDR) and new digital cameras with capability of capturing large number of frames per second, can help us as a photographer.
3. Presentation by Prayas Abhinav: Prayas is founder of CitySpinning Labs, which does product development, inter-disciplinary design services and builds public-engagement platforms.
His topic was Getting Lost (in more ways than one). How to drift through your life. He presented one of the product he created, called as Bhatka Bhatka shoes. These shoes help you get lost. If you know where you want to go, they’ll make sure you don’t get there. Drifting for the age of information glut.
4. Recorded talk with Karen Armstrong : Author and scholar Karen Armstrong talks about how the Abrahamic religions — Islam, Judaism, Christianity — have been diverted from the moral purpose they share to foster compassion. But Armstrong has seen a yearning to change this fact. People want to be religious, she says; we should act to help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help her build a Charter for Compassion — to help restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine.
5. Talk with Osama Manzar: Osama Manzar is an social entrepreneur, author, speaker, editor, columnist, and new media specialist who is spearheading the mission to overcome the information barrier between India’s rural sector, and the so-called developed society, through Digital Empowerment Foundation. He has been a part of the Professional Social Entrepreneurship Program by Social-Impact International.
He talked on how technology can help us decrease the social divide. His was an interesting and motivational story for most of the audiences.
6. Recorded talk with Bill Gates on Energy and Zero carbon footprint
Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero!
7. Recorded talk with Jamie Oliver on importance of Education about food
8. Talk with Atul Chitnis: Atul Chitnis is Chief Products Officer and Senior Vice President at Geodesic Limited. He talked about topic Online Communities beyond social media. He presented his view on current social networking sites and compared with bulletin boards and other medium of communication in early age of internet. He stressed on fact that Conversation is missing in today’s world’s social networking sites and they have become more of a marketing channel.
9. Recorded talk with Pranav Mistry: Pranav Mistry‘s very famous ‘Sixth Sense‘ presentation was played, which he gave in TED Mysore event.
10. Talk with Mark Parkinson : Mark is Director of The Shri Ram School (TSRS), Delhi and Gurgaon, India. He talked about how education world is changing. He stressed on importance of Information and communication technologies (ICT), assessment, teacher education and infrastructure.
11. Recorded talk with Kiran Bir Sethi : Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life’s most valuable lesson: “I can.” Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.
12. Talk with Aparna Wilder : Aparna Wilder is Producer and Co-Founder, WildKumar Moving Pictures and Global Rickshaw. Aparna has recently been selected as a TEDIndia Fellow. Aparna has visited NGOs all over India and feels privileged to have learned about development from various perspectives. She spoke about the Goal program, an initiative that aims to empower girls with life skills education and sports.
12. Talk with Abhijit Bhaduri : Abhijit Bhaduri works as Chief Learning Officer for the Wipro group. A man of many interests, Abhijit has illustrated several books and is an accomplished cartoonist. He loves theatre and has acted in plays staged in India, Kuala Lumpur and US. While in US he hosted a popular radio show – Movie Magic, about classic Hindi movies and film music. Even in India, he was a popular voice on All India Radio where he read the news in English and acted in a number of radio plays and hosted music based shows. ‘Mediocre But Arrogant‘ and ‘Married But Available‘ are two books written by him.
He talked about What makes you happy? He explained the difference between Joy, Contentment and Happiness. Contentment is fulfillment of physical needs. Money, Food, clothes, rest, sleep can make provide you contentment and not happiness. Happiness is something that feeds soul.
From PankajBatra.com, post TEDx Gurgaon Event update
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Nice ! Good to see Gurgaon plugging in !
NICE
Good coverage….I see that many of the presentations were pre-recorded. Do they project these on some large screen. How would it be different from viewing them offline from home?
I have followed TED for sometime now though I have never been to a TED event . Heard they had one in mysore too recenty. What do I need to do to attend one?
@Sameer
Ya, many of the talks were pre-recorded and was projected on large screen. Viewing difference was same as watching a movie at TV at home and at a cinema hall.
Apart from that, there were also 5-6 presenters. Listening and to know about 2-3 of them, was a really wonderful experience.
It was not a original TED event, like the one which was held in Mysore.
Rather it was a TEDx event, a smaller version of TED, approved by TED.