TED Returning to Africa
Posted on November 26, 2007 - Filed Under Africa |
As a big admirer of TED, I was really pleased to get this email today from the organization. Although the recently held TEDAfrica event was billed as a one time event, it was so popular they just had to bring it back.
For those who have never been to a TED conference or haven’t downloaded the TED presentations online, you don’t know what you are missing. Listening to the speakers will change how you see the world.
Dear TEDizens,
We’re delighted to tell you that there will be another TED conference in Africa next year and that we hope to make it an annual event on the continent!
TEDAfrica will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on September 29-October 1, 2008 (save the date!), and will follow the format of this year’s event in Arusha, Tanzania.
The conference will be organized by a wonderful local team with whom we have just signed a license agreement. The four-person team includes TED Fellow Kelo Kubu and the conference will be operated out of a new South Africa-based non-profit organization devoted to promoting a better future for the continent, the “TED Africa Foundation”.
We will be supporting the foundation both financially and logistically to help ensure that the event maintains and builds on the quality and success of the Arusha event.
Initially we had intended that conference to be a one-off, but we received such enthusiastic feedback that we had to find a way to bring it back and in the summer we invited groups to apply for a license to host the conference. Kelo’s team were one of several who submitted bid and we were stunned by the quality of the proposals. The winning bid included several brilliant ideas to make TED Africa even better, and also featured a strong plan to ensure the event’s financial success and long-term sustainability. We therefore have enormous confidence that the next TED will every bit as exciting as Arusha was.
The organizers have already begun feverish preparations and when registration for the event formally opens, we will put out another note. Meanwhile, if you want to suggest a speaker, discuss sponsorship, or offer other help, you can write to contact@tedafrica.org. A new website promoting the conference will eventually be launched at www.tedafrica.org.
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