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Last week I was again privileged to attend another marvelous four-and-a-half days of ideas, innovation, design, empathy and fun at TED. Last year the conference was held in Monterey, CA with a simulcast setup in Aspen, CO. At that time I was invited to join the gathering at Monterey and enjoy the sessions down there. This time the venues changed; the primary event was at Long Beach, CA (Beach) while the simulcast was at Palm Springs, CA (Mountains, Desert). I was a guest at the Palm Springs venue which was beautiful (check my video here) and about 28 degrees celcius, which is quite important when coming from a cold country like the Netherlands.

Because I arrived early I subscribed for one of the pre-conference safari rides (great opportunity to meet new people. If you ever go to TED, be sure to be a day early and catch one of those trips. Don’t fall for the “you should not wear flip flops because of the scorpions”, we did not see any scorpions, snakes or any other animal that tried to attack us). The next day the conference started and it was great. During one of our many “pool party’s” which are excellent events to meet new people and share ideas, people started asking me what the difference was between the ‘main thing’ at Long Beach and the experience at Palm Springs. So for people that want to attend TED but are unable to decide to which location to apply for I’ve created a summary of the differences that came across. Please note that this is the way I’ve experienced it, and that I might differ a lot from other experiences.

Ted@Longbeach is the main thing therefore most of the ‘big’ speakers are in that location and when they are speaking you’re actually there to experience it. No matter how much effort goes into the experience being shared with Palm Springs (and the TED crew do put in a lot of effort, more on that later) nothing beats being in the same room as the speaker / performer. But.. imagine 10 different kind of couches, seats and ‘beds’, high quality screens and a HD satellite uplink from Long Beach. Meanwhile a continuous supply of food and beverages (we should have one of those Google Café’s in our office) keeps you from getting hungry or thirsty. I’m not sure about the actual location (since I’ve not been at Long Beach) but the Riviera at Palm Springs is very nice. Though some of the other TEDsters and myself were thinking of joining the pool pleasure while attending the conference; what about screens at the pool?

The biggest difference between PS and LB are the TEDsters themselves (assuming the people at LB are similar as in Monterey). Among the LBTedsters are speakers, philanthropist and famous actors / artist. People that are well accomplished in life and (generally speaking) very set on their goals and purposes. Events and chats amongst attendees are somewhat more formal. Ideas need to be well considered and talked about but as soon as people are motivated they’re willing to put in a lot of energy. At PS the ambiance is much less formal. Many people show up after the conference at the local pool parties, discussions are very energetic and everybody gets involved. Friendships are being formed easily and just after a day most people know each other (this is of course also because PS only has 400 people while LB has over 1200).

To summarize, I think idea creativity (thinking of new ideas and have your ideas tested) is something that happens a little more with the people at PS while the folks at LB (again all in general) are more about the actual implementation and possibilities. If you ever get the chance of visiting TED, apply to Palm Springs the first year. Gather ideas and meet (new) people to test and elaborate on them. Then apply for Long Beach to get your idea going. Either way, it’s not an experience you’d want to miss!