The story of the first TEDx: Q&A with Krisztina “Z” Holly
Krisztina “Z” Holly was the first person to ever be called a TEDx organizer. Her event, TEDxUSC, took place on March 23, 2009, and had 1,200 attendees. Last year there were 6,000 applicants for those same 1,200 spots. We caught up with her at TEDxSummit.
How did you get involved with TEDx (before it even existed)?
One of my team members, Elisa Schreiber, and I reached out to Chris Anderson in November 2007. We had lunch in New York and talked about how we could bring the experience of TED to our community: our students and faculty as well as our alumni and the business community around USC. We proposed the idea of doing an independently organized TED event; if we were successful, we could create a model for others to do the same. I don’t think we can take credit for being the first to suggest organizing a TEDx event. The difference was our vision of making it a broader opportunity, of scaling it.
I’m so honored that Chris took a chance on us and let us take the TED brand and run with it. We really thought he was going to say yes. We were aiming for the event to be in May 2008, and in January he called us and said it wasn’t possible, that he didn’t have the right person on the team to lead the initiative. I was crushed. But then again, why would he have let us do this, anyway? It was too good to be true. I thought that was it.
But then several months later, I got another call from Chris. He said he had found the right person: Lara Stein. We started planning for the following March.
How was planning for that first TEDxUSC? What were some difficulties you faced?
Chris thought that there was no way we should charge for tickets, but we had it in mind from the start that we should. First, very simply for budgetary reasons, but also because we found that people value what they pay for. Chris also thought the event should have more TED content, that half the talks should be videos from TED. But because there was much less content on TED.com back then, most of our audience (who were TED fans) had already seen the best talks. That was a bit tough. But it was a growing process, we weren’t at all upset. And by the end Chris understood. At the event he even came to us and said, “You don’t have to play them all!”
I’m sure you didn’t expect things to come this far. Being here at the first-ever TEDxSummit, what strikes you about how much the community has grown?
In the very beginning, we talked with Lara about what the branding should be. I thought of our tagline as being “ideas worth powering.” X represents the unknown. And also TED to the power of x. It’s funny, we thought maybe the community would grow … to about 12 events!
At Summit, I’m most struck by the organizers. They’re so diverse and so passionate, yet somehow so like-minded and in tune.
From the TED Blog »>
The Journey to TEDxYouth@Berlin
Stephan Balzer is the TEDxYouth@Berlin 2010 and 2011 Organizer and the Founder and Director of Red Onion GmbH. Stephan believes that kids know best when it comes to choosing a good TEDxYouthDay program.
“What sparked us to organize our first TEDxYouth@Berlin event was not an idea from an adult, but rather a response from the sons and daughters of our TEDxBerlin team members,” Stephan said. “Their kids starting asking, ‘Why don’t you do something for us?’”
So Stephan applied for a TEDxYouthDay license and rallied a youth board, which was made up of young people who had expressed interest in helping to design a program for TEDxYouth@Berlin. The kids discussed speaker ideas intensely and came up with a list of people which, according to Stephan, was a very strong list. Adults provided support when kids requested it.
Stephan was excited by the fact that many of the kids involved in TEDxYouth@Berlin 2010 were exploring TED for the first time and were learning what it was all about.
“A TEDxYouthDay event has the power to make the young generation sensitive to local and international issues and to help them see how much our world is connected today. By speaking at an event — and even organizing one — kids get to show that what they do in their community can impact the globe.”
Stephan discussed the uniqueness of TEDx events, particularly for Germany. He does not think that German classrooms allow for the type of sharing that happens at a TEDx event. Additionally, he feels that TEDxYouth events can help to get rid of the common assumption that kids are not able to organize events or give good talks.
“We ran into heavy discussions because the kids were promoting the conference at other schools. Some of the German school directors thought the program didn’t make sense, saying that it sounded like too much for a young audience.”
However, Stephan believes that the TEDxYouth@Berlin program was certainly not too much for the young audience. Since kids had thought of the speakers, they also got to create the order in which they wanted them speak. Stephan said that these young organizers did not have a problem with a mishmash of ideas in one session — in fact, they liked it. For example, at one session, the head of an NGO that prevented suicide spoke, followed by an entrepreneur, followed by a technology guru.
“What mattered was the TED-like way that the speakers told their personal stories on stage — they connected and engaged with the young audience.”
For TEDxYouth@Berlin 2011, Stephan plans to tap into the livestreams from other TEDxYouthDay events so that kids can truly feel the global scale of the event. He wants the young attendees to see that the world is discussing issues for their future.
Stephan hopes that one day TEDTalks will be used in German classrooms as inspirational tools to create fascination around ideas.
Compiled by Cloe Shasha
TEDxAbuDhabiU Organizer James Piecowye interviews Kelo Kubu, organizer of TEDxSoweto. She shares her story of growing up in South Africa in the 70s and how she became a change agent.
TEDxAbuDhabiU Organizer James Piecowye interviews Co-Curator of TEDxBloomington, Christian Long, about education innovation and the future of design.
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posted 01 August, 2011
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