
The elephants in the room at TED - bensummers
http://scobleizer.com/2010/02/14/the-elephants-in-the-room-at-ted/
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GHFigs
Herein Scoble fulfills the "huge responsibility"[1] of getting a rare TED
press pass by reminding us once again of how awesome it is to be Scoble. In a
truly shocking turn of events, getting to attend has made him no longer
jealous of people who get to attend. Sweet badges, networking with rich folk
and stage decor that helps you "weave together a fabric that encourages your
mind to explore new ideas" while staring off into space during a boring talk
will do that to you, I suppose.

If I didn't know that this is just how Scoble writes about everything, I would
have come away with a worse opinion of TED than I had going into it. TED is
supposedly about "ideas worth spreading", not how awesome it is to be rich and
white (or fashionably ethnic). If I wanted to know about things rich people do
that I will never do, I'd watch _My Super Sweet 16_. It's no wonder they don't
hand out more press passes.

I think the way to address complaints of elitism is to not. If being an
exclusive event is how the sausage gets made, great. Reasonable people
understand that the hype and pretense surrounding TED does not negate the
value of the content that it produces. Reasonable people skip the unbearably
pompous intro music and the punctuating two minutes of advertisement for
things that rich people care about and simply enjoy the talks. Reasonable
people don't care about how awesome it is to get into the exclusive club.

[1]:<http://scobleizer.com/2010/02/08/a-ted-responsibility/>

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aaronbrethorst
You did a great job of nailing Scoble's M.O.: 'I thought X sucked, but then I
got to use/be part of X and now I think X is awesome. Next year, I'll think X
sucks again once Dave Winer reminds me that he thinks X sucks.'

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restruct
Upon learning about the $6,000 cost to get in, I shall think of TED Talks as a
tax on rich people to provide free, online quality content to the rest of the
world.

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wheels
I'm actually surprised by the public spat over _$6000_ ; I figured it was much
more or invite only. I mean, heck, a lot of the web conferences are
$2000-3000.

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rdouble
_"I don’t have $6,000..."_

More surprising is that Scoble's been doing whatever it is he does for so long
and he doesn't have $6000.

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jhancock
I believe Mr. Scoble has a family. Anyone here with a family that still works
for a living will tell you that you don't have $6000 to spend on yourself.

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rdouble
Thanks for clearing that up. I read somewhere that he had children, but wasn't
aware that he worked for a living.

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dnsworks
Working for a living? I thought he was a tech blogger.

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barrkel
Personally, I find about 80% of TED talks to be painfully pretentious,
saccharine, or so desperately worthy they just make me weary. For example:
"how we rescued the dancing bears", "embrace your inner girl", "[someone]
teaches kids to take charge", "the uniqueness of humans"; things I could only
listen to with gritted teeth.

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fragmede
Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.

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barrkel
For sure; but e.g. with science fiction, I can delve well into, say, the top
60% without feeling nauseous. The same is not the case with TED.

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heed
I don't like TED, but I like information.

Don't get me wrong, there is spectacular information being distributed by TED,
but I almost feel tricked into obtaining it. The conference is so heavily
designed around status, and ego that it seems like more of a marketing tool
for the intellectual elite to boost their personal brand than a platform to
share ideas. It's inefficient, and deceptive.

What I'd like to see instead of 5-20min presentations is one html webpage with
bits of text and perhaps a few high quality images, or at least the option to
access the information in this format. To me, everything else is fluff. I just
want the information, not the ego, not the voice, not the brands, not the
emotion, not the cheering. Just the information.

I know I might be coming across as snarky, or counter-elitist, but it really
isn't my intention. I love quality information, and TED confuses me. I often
want to idolize and praise these wonderful people that give wonderful speeches
more than their ideas, and I'm saddened. Would the information be any less
profound written on a bathroom wall? I'm definitely torn, but I'm beginning to
think it doesn't matter...

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dnsworks
I can think of more than a few TED talks that just wouldn't have translated
without the oral and verbal clues. The joy in Erin Mckean's voice when saying
synecdochically or erinanceous would be completely lost in text.

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nandemo
_What makes TED TED? Well, for one, it’s TED because Sarah wasn’t there (and I
won’t be there next year because I didn’t pay the $6,000 in time). Its elitism
and expense IS part of why TED is magical (...)_

This sounds really weird to me. I think what makes TED TED are some amazing
talks by interesting people.

We can watch it on the net. Who cares how rich the audience is?

If anything, I suppose the audience is partly the cause of what I dislike in
TED: the almost stereotypical Stuff White People Like content and tone of some
talks.

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Tichy
"the almost stereotypical Stuff White People Like content"

Maybe, but then where is the "stuff non-white people like" conference that
everybody is watching? Everybody is free to organize a conference, so why do
only the stereotypical white people seem to bother doing it?

To be clear, I don't want to imply that "white people" are better somehow, I
just have troubles grasping the "stuff white people like" complaint.

Also, maybe there really is a non-white TED out there, which right now has 200
votes on non-white Hacker News. If so, it would be _very_ interesting to hear
about it (both the conference and non-white hacker news).

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nandemo
Please don't take it literally. I meant SWPL as in this:

<http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/>

and thought it would be understood.

What I mean is stuff that is too "liberal", too bland, too politically correct
for my taste. A bit hypocritical at times. It's just my opinion; perhaps I
should have phrased it differently.

This is only tangentially related to race, by the way. People all over the
world (including me) love classical music etc, but by using a derogatory term
I'm implying only the stuff I dislike. ;-)

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alabut
I understood you just fine, didn't take you literally, knew that you didn't
mean to offend and still found your comment a bit annoying.

Annoying's not so bad, I wouldn't go as far as to say I was offended, although
it's more out of repetition and boredom from the stereotype of certain
subjects being cast as a white thing. I'm old enough to be over that kind of
thing but can't pretend I don't notice. I'm not white and I love pretty much
all the TED content - the SWPL comment just takes me back to high school.

If it makes you feel better, non-white people aren't immune to unintentional
and mild racism either - nobody is. My in-laws constantly make jokes about
white people and it grates my nerves when they do it too - they don't get a
free pass just because they're Hispanic.

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metamemetics
SWPL couldn't have taken you back to high school if you actually understood
him just fine because the blog is only 2 years old.

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argv_empty
What's the age of the blog got to do with it? It definitely takes me back to
high school, because the parody culture it describes is much more in line with
where I went to high school than with where I am now.

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3dFlatLander
My only wish is that TED would release all the talks on the website. I think
the talks are secondary to the networking that happens there, and that gives
the conference its value and keeps people coming. The videos they've posted
are awesome, but I always wonder on what isn't up there.

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dsplittgerber
Chris Anderson said that it's mostly the second-rate stuff that doesn't get
published, even over time. There must have been a handful of talks that were
really disappointing and they don't seem to want them making the rounds.

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WarDekar
Is there a list of ones they plan on posting? I was under the impression they
were only posting 1 every weekday, and so far the only 2 up (at least on the
official site) are Blaise Aguera y Arcas on Augmented Reality and Jamie
Oliver's wish for food for every child.

While I found both of those interesting, I'm really looking forward to a few
of the others and only 1/day being posted is brutal.

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mark_l_watson
Great article. I also have felt some "TED attendance envy" while really
enjoying the online videos. For some people, the value of personal networking
far out weighs the travel costs and conference fee. I like to write (i.e.,
email) people who entertain, inform and/or impress me, and I am pleasantly
surprised how often people respond to questions and comments.

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moron4hire
$6000 a ticket isn't a lot considering the caliber of speakers that they bring
in. They're paying the speakers, right?

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dho
"TED has never paid speakers to attend, but we're committed to creating an
experience that's tremendously fulfilling and beneficial on all sides. We do,
of course, cover travel costs to Long Beach or Palm Springs, and provide
excellent hotel accommodation." Source: <http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/73>

~~~
moron4hire
Well, the travel expenses aren't anywhere near what a speaking fee would be,
but at least the speakers aren't having to dip in to their own pockets to make
a free talk happen. So where does the $6000/ticket go? It seems like a bit
more than what would be necessary to cover those costs.

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wrs
$4000 is a donation to the non-profit Sapling Foundation. The rest is pretty
reasonable considering it's a 5-day conference with very high production
values. (Except the food, which is kinda hit or miss.)

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pw0ncakes
The controversy is over a measly $6000? That's what the fuss is about? Most
people on this site have had $100,000+ spent by their parents in order for
them to attend an invitation-only institution at which they spent four _years_
networking with the supposed future leaders! Gasp!

Honestly, TED seems like a much better investment than an elite college. Four
years' time and $100-200k, at an age where it's mostly impossible to predict
who will accomplish anything, with those "future leaders" selected by
unqualified bureaucrats? Or $6000 for face-time with sure bets? Just sayin'.

There are a lot of problems with our society and with parasitic elites, so
don't get me wrong: I'm all about busting and beating on those who try to
hoard power. I'd love to see a car bomb hit Skull and Bones, and I'd gladly
contribute to an Internet hit pool on anyone who attended the Bilderberg
conference. But we have to pick our targets carefully, and TED does not seem
to deserve our indignation, at least not based on what I've read. My
understanding is that it's relatively easy to get in if you have the $6000
(again, cheaper than college) and sign up early; it seems like it's difficult
to enter because there's so much demand that the spots fill up early. Well?
That's life.

~~~
ramchip
I'd like to know where you went to pay 100-200k in tuition fees and get
nothing but networking out of it.

Where I live, a bachelor's degree is about 15k (total), and is about learning
engineering, physics or whatever you want to do. Going to TED twice won't give
you quite the same skills...

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pw0ncakes
That was perhaps a bit inflammatory... I probably shouldn't have posted it, at
least not in that tone and manner.

Certainly college doesn't provide "nothing but networking", nor does going to
TED. You learn a lot in the process, sure.

The reason American tuition is so high, however, especially at elite schools,
is because a lot of Americans believe that attending the right college is a
golden ticket of sorts.

I guess my point is that there's no sense in being indignant about $6000 to
attend TED when Americans are willing to spend an _additional_ $250k over the
cost of attending a first-rate state university (including the prep high
schools required for most people to have a decent chance at the most
prestigious college) for the supposed networking advantages.

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ramchip
Yes, it was a bit inflammatory, but I see your point now and I agree.

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rogermugs
The Elitist Dominate TED

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trevelyan
summary: celebrity worship.

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dsplittgerber
If by celebrities you mean some of the most insightful and inspiring people
from many countries all over the world, then you are quite right. It reads
like worshipping the effort these people have put into achieving progress,
which sounds great to me. Otherwise, I guess you're just being cynical or
snarky.

~~~
_delirium
Some of the talks are genuinely good, but many have a sort of weird vibe to
them that I find offputting, that seems to value flashiness and trends over
intellectual content. Sort of like if all of academia were the MIT Media Lab.
Some, especially the management/motivation/life-philosophy ones, even border
on the new-agey psuedo-psych sort of stuff you find on the corporate speaking
circuit.

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tsally
...the talks are 18 minutes or less. If any of the talks seemed lacking in
intellectual content to you it's most likely because of time constraints. For
example Ken Robinson's talk on education was 100% motivation/life-philosophy,
simply because he doesn't have time to present the proof he's based his
opinions on. The proof does exist though; all the speakers have the
credentials to back up their presentations.

I'd be interesting in a few of the "many" examples you have of this type of
talk you object you. If you wouldn't mind, please link to a few here. I
haven't seen a single TED talk that fits the "corporate speaking circuit"
test.

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_delirium
Daniel Pink came to mind when I was writing that part. I agree in an 18-minute
talk you can only sort of speak in generalities, but in his case, his books
are similarly unscientific.

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tsally
I never watched Pink's talk, but based on his bio I can see what you are
basing your opinion off of. However, it's my impression at least that speakers
like that are a minority.

