I spoke at TED this last week. While it was one of the most inspiring things I've ever attended, I was somewhat underwhelmed with the age demographics represented. There were maybe 10 people under the age of 25 (I'm 22). On one hand it kind of exposed the inherent agism expressed in the valley that I was/am accustomed to, on another hand it was frustrating that it seemed as if I was somehow a young'n hanging out with the adults, and on yet another other hand it was inspiring to see people who have worked on one thing their entire lives and stuck with it until they've changed the world (whereas in the Valley so many people want to make their FU money and sit on a boat for forever).
It's definitely elitest in the strictest sense, but you have to realize that a lot of the people (at least the speakers) have passions that they have pursued not so that they could one day speak at or attend TED but because those ideas actually matter a lot. The opportunity to attend TED is a byproduct of pursing your passion, which is infinitely more important than infinite snacks, gift bags full of stuff or even getting to meet your heroes (I met Jeff Bezos).
Unrelenting passion will get you farther than any ticket to a conference will. The lucky ones are not the ones who get what they want (like a ticket to TED), the lucky ones are those who get to do what they are meant to do (who change the world for the better).
The fact that young people don't have thousands of dollars to spend on an annual conference isn't "ageism". Older people simply have more discretionary income.
Yeah - I didn't pay since I was a speaker but that's a good point. Since it goes to a non-profit it is tax deductible so in real dollars it is somewhat cheaper than the actual $7.5k it costs, Jessica Mah understands the finances a lot better (she's who explained this to me), I don't know how they would expect anyone else to know this sort of thing though...
The intent probably isn't there, but that is the effect. Does the fee need to be that high? If not, do they want more young people to attend? If so, it's too high.
Yeah. If I was James Cameron, I'd have better things to be excited about - like Avatar 2 - than to be looking forward to speaking at TED. The ones who have it all, don't really need it
It's definitely elitest in the strictest sense, but you have to realize that a lot of the people (at least the speakers) have passions that they have pursued not so that they could one day speak at or attend TED but because those ideas actually matter a lot. The opportunity to attend TED is a byproduct of pursing your passion, which is infinitely more important than infinite snacks, gift bags full of stuff or even getting to meet your heroes (I met Jeff Bezos).
Unrelenting passion will get you farther than any ticket to a conference will. The lucky ones are not the ones who get what they want (like a ticket to TED), the lucky ones are those who get to do what they are meant to do (who change the world for the better).