At the intersection of ideas

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At the intersection of ideas Image by Pexels from Pixabay

As we plan for our 2021 events, we continue to find that we sit at the intersection of so many great ideas and too little time to pursue them all!

Of course, that's probably an enviable place to be. We'd all be in a much poorer place as a species if good ideas were highly scarce. At the same time, it also makes it more important for us to continually curate the ideas that are best suited to our current time and place in history. Especially as we start to emerge from the pent-up nature of the pandemic, we anticipate that people will be even hungrier for the types of ideas that help us make sense of the next step. We have lots to recover from, and a vast number of choices to make as we attempt to move forward as societies in a post-pandemic world.

Within our own Alberta context, we're ramping up toward a series of important municipal elections that will shape our future for the next four years. Those decisions are fundamentally important to the way our local communities run — whether local councils will be filled with visionaries who seek to connect us in a common effort, or those whose political tendency is toward fragmentation and division. Obviously, we're in the former camp when it comes to electing officials, and we hope you'll make the effort to learn who is running, what they stand for, and how you might help those who you believe will make strong community leaders. Our friends over at The Sprawl are keeping tabs on the field of candidates taking shape for mayor and as councillors in the wards, so we encourage to check it out and start engaging.

For Fall 2021, we are set to resume some limited in-person events starting with a special evening of curated content from this year's TEDMonterey event, titled "The Case for Optimism". There is, indeed, some hope on the horizon as vaccination rates start to impact the course of the COVID pandemic, but we've still got a lot of ground to go to put all of this mess behind us. Find out more about our TEDxCalgaryLive event on September 21st, and join us for some amazing talks and discussions.

Other events coming up will include some collaborations with other community friends in October and November, hopefully including a joint TEDxCountdown event with other organizers in the city, and a special presentation of content from TEDxWomen in December.

Last but not least, we're planning ahead for our own main annual event, where we traditionally gather 350+ amazing Calgarians to watch our own speakers take the stage, and where our participants take part in an amazing set of interactions with one another throughout our venue. We had to put that off for 2020 and much of 2021, but we're assessing whether we can hold the event in December or early 2022 once it's clearer how the current COVID variants will evolve. Above all, the safety of our participants, speakers, and volunteers is of paramount concern, and we'll always be guided by ongoing public health recommendations.

If you're not already subscribed, jump over to our newsletter sign-up page to get set up for our 8 Seconds bulletin, or join one of our many social channels to keep up to date on evolving plans!

Last modified onTuesday, 14 September 2021 14:42
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ChatGPT insights from AI: No. 1

Heard of ChatGPT? Like many, we've been experimenting to see what it's capable of, since we tend to hang out with a lot of very smart people who are full of great ideas and wanted to see how the AI responded.

Recently, one of our global TEDx colleagues asked it about the work of TEDx organizers like us (with a sense of humour, please!):

Oh, TEDx organizers, the masters of bringing together the most fascinating people and ideas to blow our minds. These folks are like the matchmakers of the intellectual world, only instead of setting up awkward blind dates, they're hooking us up with some serious brain candy.

I mean, these organizers have to be some serious multitaskers. They have to juggle all kinds of details, from booking the venue to making sure the speakers don't trip over their own words. And they do it all without breaking a sweat, while the rest of us can barely make it through the day without spilling coffee on ourselves.

But let's talk about those speakers for a second. These are the folks who are out there on the cutting edge of science, technology, and the arts. They're the ones who are pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and creativity, and they're doing it all while looking cooler than a polar bear in sunglasses.

And you know what's really impressive? These talks are like mini master classes in all kinds of subjects. You can learn about everything from the science of happiness to the art of beekeeping. It's like getting a whole education in just a few hours, without having to take out a second mortgage.

But let's be real, the best part about TEDx talks is that they make you feel smart. Like, really smart. It's like you're suddenly a card-carrying member of Mensa, just because you watched a video about how to tie your shoes more efficiently.

So let's give it up for the TEDx organizers, folks. They're the ones who are bringing together some of the most brilliant minds on the planet, and making us all feel like we're part of the smartest club in the world. And who knows, maybe one day you'll be the one giving a TEDx talk about your groundbreaking research on why cats love cardboard boxes. Hey, it could happen!