Today, TED 2008 begins in Monterey, California, with a sister conference patching in from Aspen for the first time.
Bruno, the TED Europe Director who I ended up next to at LIFT08 (someone who speed-blogs as fast as and more lucidly than me), has revealed some of the behind-the-scenes action as Monterey shapes up, the kind of stories and photos that you can't pick up from the superb video podcasts. I, for one, can't wait to see what comes out of the themes of this year's conference:
I love the great arguments that take place around The Economist's online debates as much as the debacles that take place on the newspaper's own site. This week sees a new debate kick off, with one of my heros in the 'Con' side:
"This house believes that if the promise of technology is to simplify our lives, it is failing."
It's not an easy one on which to predict the outcome since I'm sure many readers of this blog would agree that while technology has enrichened their lives it has hardly simplified it (but in complexity often lies challenge, enjoyment and innovation).
So John Maeda, author of The Laws of Simplicity (Great book; go buy. Great TED Talk, go watch), has a tough job on his hands as a lover of simplicity to make the case that technology is simplifying our lives after all. Interestingly, he didn't want to argue against the motion, which figures given his simplicity, but has had great fun in his opening statement. He's currently winning two-to-one, but as I have found out, the Economist vote lies in your hands... and your blogs.
The LIFTers have managed to put up video from this month's event in Geneva. My five minute open stage talk, voted for by the conference participants, was marred by a dodgy mic and some even more dodgy conversion of the fonts on my preso (must remember to remove older versions from memory pens before handing them to the techie guys). This is the reason, dear conference organisers, that I much prefer just plugging in my own Mac - worth sacrificing 30 seconds of speaking time for :-) Nice versions of many of the same slides are in a 20-minute version of the talk that I've slideshared.
Anyway, I hope that in 5 minutes (and 20 seconds) I manage to do justice to the sterling work of the team back in East Lothian and at LTS. It's certainly had positive feedback, both on the day and since then on some blogs. It is probably the last time that I use that pesky cupstacking video (thanks, Stephen), although I'll have trouble not talking about the continued importance of audience, of purpose, and of sharing what we do. Above all, I hope that some LIFTers take my challenge seriously and help their local learning communities to start sharing a heck of a lot more than they currently do.
At 3.45pm, the time that school's out in Scotland, I will technically hit the big 3-0. I'm meant to feel depressed about this, I think, but I don't quite see why. What actually happens in one's twentysomethings?
1998: Having the time of my life as a student in Brittany (and stressing about reading horrible Stendhal and Flaubert).
Macintosh Classic II.
1999: Having to reign back the time of my life to pass my language and law exams.
Macintosh LCIII
2000: Once again having the time of my life in France, while signing up to the Army. Not sure if it's more exciting to be an Army educator or a spy. Decide to have a go at being a spy.
Macintosh LCIII
2001: Failed to join the Army (and not because I blogged I wanted to be a spy). Discovering instead how hard it can be to live in a big city (Paris) on no money and no time outside work.
Dell Inspiron 4000
2002: Learning (again) how to be a good teacher and living in Glasgow's dampest flat.
Dell Inspiron 4000
2003: Discovering the joys of the pay cheque, while having to fly to Dublin every weekend to see my girlfriend.
Dell Inspiron 4000 and Toshiba Satellite
2004: Asking my girlfriend to be my fiancé
Toshiba Satellite
2005: Asking my fiancé to be my wife. Changing career for the fourth time.
Apple Mac PowerBook G4. 1st Gen iPod
2006: Asking my wife to have a child. Changing career for the fifth time.
Apple MacBook Pro. iPod Shuffle.
2007: Having a beautiful daughter. Changing career for the sixth time, and becoming self-employed.
iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and iPod Video.
2008: ... Seeing for the first time that people do actually take me seriously. Work has never been more exciting, I've never seen so many places, I've never enjoyed those around me so much.
iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and iPod Video.
You see, looking at things that way, it seems that life only gets better. And there seems to be a direct correlation between happiness, success and Apple Macs. Hmmm. I don't see how having one more candle to blow out is going to change that (unless my lungs give out on that last candle ;-) I hope you'll share a virtual dram with me tonight.
Pic: Slow down Arthur and Stick to Thirty, from the book of the same name.
