User:UWRishi/sandbox

TEDxUofW is an independently organized TED event held at the University of Washington. It was created in 2011 by a group of University of Washington students. By being organized by a student group of volunteers, the curation of speakers and topics revolve around the university and other interests relevant to students.

About TED


TED (Technology Entertainment Design) is a global set of conferences that revolve around the motto "Ideas Worth Spreading". In response to growing demand for the TED format, the organization launched TEDx for local and regional events. Speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can and past speakers 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.

History of TEDxUofW
In January 2011, a pair of students in the University of Washington's UW Leaders program considered hosting a TEDx event centered around higher education and the funding issues in Washington State. Kartik Rishi, a freshman at the time, applied for a license from TED and was granted rights to TEDxUofW in April 2011. Along with the support of his mentor, Tim Tan, the event formed around the idea of inspiring students to connect with each other and showing them what advances were being made in business, culture and technology with the theme, "The Next Generation". After the event on April 21st, 2012, Kartik moved on to work on TEDxSeattle while Tim became a mentor for a new team of individuals working on TEDxUofW 2013