TED world conference to come to Vancouver in 2014
By Aidan Mouellic, Contributor
Every year in Long Beach, California, the brightest minds from the technology, entertainment, and design sectors gather to discuss the latest and greatest developments within their fields at the annual TED world conference. The highlight of the annual TED conference are the 18-minute talks that brilliant minds give on ideas they wish to share. The TED conference is essentially the Olympics but for the mind, and instead of medals your performance is measured in the amount of YouTube views/likes you receive. The popularity of the online TED talks has made the TED conference the place to be for academics and celebrities alike. In 2014, TED will be celebrating its 30th anniversary of spreading innovative ideas.
To celebrate this milestone, the people at TED are moving their 2014 world conference to Vancouver and Whistler between March 17 and 21. The main portion of the conference will be held at the convention centre downtown in Coal Harbour. Whistler will be hosting a simulcast at the Fairmont hotel of each Vancouver talk and the hotel will also be hosting a TEDactive conference where delegates will discuss topics relating to the sorts of activities that go on in Whistler.
Residents getting excited at the thought of attending the conference and rubbing shoulders with the world’s most elite minds should likely start saving immediately. Tickets for the conference are $7,500, and there are only 1,200 available. To make matters worse for the proles of Vancouver, attendees must fill out an application to attend the TED conference and explain why they deserve to be in attendance and also explain how they will make the world better. At a previous TED conference held in Scotland, attendees who had to pay $6,000 to attend also had to disclose what their occupations were and their major accomplishments. The applicants then had to provide two references along with three websites that discussed who they were and what they were known for.
Needless to say, the TED conferences are not for your average Vancouverite. On the bright side, it will all be rebroadcasted for free online.
For a week in 2014, the average IQ of Vancouver will be significantly higher and since the city hosted the most physically capable individuals from around the world back in 2010, it is only fitting to host the most intellectually capable people in 2014—even if once again the average citizen won’t be able to participate in the festivities.
