Rueben's Ramblings

I found the following at Seat42F this morning and thought I should spread the positive word about this event:

On December 7 and 8, 2010, in an unprecedented partnership, TED and The Paley Center for Media will produce the first-ever TEDWomen: a gathering of global thought leaders and innovators in Washington, DC, connecting to thousands of online participants and self-organized events around the world.

TEDWomen will reveal: Who are the women leading change? What ideas are they championing? How are they shaping the future? It will also explore how women and men often orchestrate different but complementary approaches to ideas worth spreading.

The cross-disciplinary, cross-generational program will focus on how women think and work, communicate and collaborate, learn and lead — what this means and why it matters to all of us. Speakers from around the globe-from anthropologists to artists, scientists to soldiers, bankers to builders, farmers to futurists-will share their ideas in the classic TED format, creating a program that surprises and inspires. The event will convene an international audience of men and women.

“Investing in women and girls may once have been considered a radical notion, but today its value is clear,” says Pat Mitchell, president of the Paley Center and host of the conference. “In developing nations, women and girls provide the vital link to economic growth, public health, and political stability. In the west, generations of educated women are forging new directions in the sciences, arts, business, and beyond. TEDWomen gives us a chance to amplify this striking moment in our global history and to understand more fully the contributions of women and girls in every aspect of our life and work.”

“TED’s entire focus as an organization is on ‘ideas worth spreading,’ and there’s a rich vein of powerful ideas to share about women’s role as change agents,” says Chris Anderson, Curator of TED. “We’re eager to begin a global conversation that will continue long after the event about the new-and sometimes old-ways that women are shaping the future.”

Speakers you will hear from at TEDWomen include:

* The women who redesigned their country’s financial system in the wake of near-catastrophe;

* The physician who discovered the life-saving importance of treating men and women differently

* The tech pioneer whose human-centered approach is redefining how we interact with computers

* A world leader bringing peace to her conflict-ridden nation

* The teenage filmmaker whose stories changed how a community saw itself

* A maverick CEO whose ideas on women and leadership will surprise you

* The anthropologist who traces altruism to the mother-child bond

* The sports champion who defies convention with her ability and her appearance

* The explorer collecting stories and preserving languages of endangered cultures

TEDWomen will be held at the International Trade Center, located on historic Pennsylvania Avenue, and will close with a celebratory evening program, the first event held at the newly built, architecturally stunning United States Institute of Peace.

TEDWomen also will be connected live to self-organized events across the globe as part of the TEDx program, which allows licensed individuals and organizations to hold their own TED-like events. These gatherings will connect thousands of people from every continent, creating a global dialogue over the course of the two-day event.

TEDWomen will be supported by partner companies that have powerful brand stories to tell around women. These will include Abu Dhabi’s Shawati’ Magazine, AOL, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, The Coca-Cola Company, and The Levi’s® Brand for Women. Each will contribute to the conference and also play a key role in amplifying the ideas after the event.

Registration for TEDWomen is available at http://conferences.ted.com/TEDWomen/ beginning Thursday, July 15, 2010.

Groups or individuals around the world are encouraged to hold their own independently organized TEDx event in conjunction with TEDWomen. More than 600 TEDx events have been held to date, in more than 98 countries and 25 languages.

About the Paley Center: The Paley Center for Media, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, leads the discussion about the cultural, creative and social significance of television, radio and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curatorial expertise, an international collection and close relationships with the leaders of the media community, the Paley Center examines the intersections between media and society. The general public can access the collection and participate in programs that explore and celebrate the creativity, the innovations, the personalities and the leaders who are shaping media. Through the global programs of its Media Council and International Council, the Paley Center also serves as a neutral setting where media professionals can engage in discussion and debate about the evolving media landscape. Previously known as The Museum of Television & Radio, the Paley Center was founded in 1976 by William S. Paley, a pioneering innovator in the industry. http://www.paleycenter.org

About TED: TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a simulcast, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Oxford, UK. TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, the Open TV Project, bringing TEDTalks to global broadcast networks, and the Open Translation Project, which allows any TEDTalk to be translated into any language by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals win “one wish to change the world”; TEDx, which supports individuals and groups in hosting local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community.

TEDGlobal 2010, “And Now the Good News,” is being held this week in Oxford, UK. TEDWomen, “Revealing the Ideas of Women and Girls Worldwide,” will be held December 7-8, 2010, in Washington, DC, with partner events worldwide. TED2011, “The Rediscovery of Wonder,” will be held February 28-March 4, 2011, in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs, California.

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