User:David Chouinard/TEDxConcordia

TEDxConcordia is a Montreal-based conference that focuses on disseminating "ideas worth spreading". The next conference is to be held February 12, 2011 under the theme Connect the Dots. TEDxConcordia takes its name from Concordia University, which hosts the conference. Along with TEDxMcGill and TEDxToronto, it is one of largest TEDx events in the country. Although TEDx events are licensed by TED, individual events are local and self-organized.

About TED


TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is a global set of conferences and is the organization that makes possible TEDx events. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners. As of 2002, TED is headed by British former computer journalist and magazine publisher Chris Anderson.

Since June 2006, the conference's talks (as well as several TEDx talks) have been offered for free viewing online on the organization's website. As of July 2010, the 700 talks have been viewed a combined 290 million times and still attracting a growing global audience. In 2008, TED made available the TEDx brand, a program that enables schools, businesses, libraries or just groups of friends to enjoy a TED-like experience with events they individually organize, design and host. , TEDx events have been held in over 60 countries.

Main event
TEDxConcordia's main annual event is held at Concordia University, but it reaches out of the academic community and attracting a larger audience of TED enthusiasts. Although the university hosts the event, it provides no funding (as the event is independently organized). The conference typically lasts a single day.

The 2011 event is to be held February 12 at Concordia's newly-renovated D.B. Clark Theatre. Under the theme of Connect the Dots, speakers will present on a variety of topics that ultimately explore a holistic view of some larger issue. TEDxConcordia typically features a mix of student speakers and local professionals. 2011 speakers have yet to be announced.

Discussions with TEDxMcGill and TEDxConcordia
TEDxConcordia, in cooperation with TEDxMcGill, also holds a much smaller monthly event, dubbed Discussions with TEDxMcGill & TEDxConcordia. The informal event showcases two TEDTalks, ultimately to favour discussions and debate around the ideas presented in the talks. TEDxConcordia currently caps the audience at around 35 participants.