Apply now to join the TED2012 Fellows class, and attend TED2012: Full Spectrum in Long Beach. Artists, scientists, inventors, change-makers … Learn more about the amazing TED Fellows program >>
UPDATE: Application deadline is Monday, August 1, 2011, 11:59pm US/Eastern.
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Last month we announced our first-ever TED auditions, to explore the theme of TED2012: Full Spectrum. The challenge to the TED community: Make a one-minute video that describes your idea worth sharing — and how you’d share it with the world.
We received hundreds of submissions from around the world in our short timeframe, and narrowed our finalists down to a group of 17, with a wide range of formats and styles. Watching through these hundreds of one-minute videos was intriguing, hilarious, occasionally very moving. Most of all, it was inspiring to see how many people are thinking deeply about great ideas and how to share them.
It’s thrilling to announce the list of 17 Full Spectrum audition finalists. They’ll be presenting their auditions on May 24 in New York City, and we’ll be livestreaming the event worldwide. Congratulations to these finalists:
Chris Plough
Virgil Wong
Jess Hobbs
Dr. Jane Rigby and Dr. Amber Straughn
Cesar Kuriyama
James McBennett
Reggie Watts
Kevin Carroll
Joe Sabia
Onyx Ashanti
Eric Singer
LeeAnn Renninger & Tania Luna
Jared Ficklin
Erik Wahl
Lior Zoref
Beth Urech
Joshua Walters
Follow many of these finalists on Twitter >>
]]>Last week we announced our first-ever video audition for TED. Make a one-minute application video to get started — video deadline is April 25, 2011, at 11:59pm Eastern. Finalists will be invited to our May 24 audition in New York City. (Get more details, and learn how to enter.) As the entries start coming in, TED’s Content Director, Kelly Stoetzel, answers some questions about the TED2012: Full Spectrum auditions.
Why are you holding this audition — what do you hope to find?
Two reasons, really. First, there are many remarkable ideas, stories and people out there that are pretty much undiscovered. We’re hopeful that this will lead us to some of them. Second, the theme for TED2012 is Full Spectrum. We’re planning to take the art of the spoken word a step further with some unique presentation styles. We’ve brainstormed a list of formats that we think may work well, but we’re also eager to learn about the innovative ways others want to share their ideas so they make the greatest impact on the audience.
What are some talks I could watch to get inspired to make my Full Spectrum audition video?
Larry Lessig does a beautiful job choreographing his spoken words perfectly with his slides. Rives does that too with his poem “Mixed Emoticons.”
Theo Jansen brings one of his gorgeous, lifelike sculptures with him onstage (along with a couple of other props) to show us how they work.
Sarah Kay (poet; watch her video above) and the LXD (dancers) both combine performance with speaking.
Clifford Stoll and Hans Rosling each just have a style that’s all their own.
Frans Lanting uses photographs with music in a unique story-of-life performance.
Ross Lovegrove sets his slideshow to a timer. His words are eloquent captions.
What if I can’t get to New York on May 24?
If you have a great idea, make a video anyway and enter. We’re watching all the videos that are submitted, and if we love your idea but you can’t get to New York, we’ll figure something out. One goal of this contest is to make the world aware of TED’s openness to seeing new speakers and new ideas, whether through the May 24 audition or anytime via our online Suggest-a-Speaker form. You’re always encouraged to dream up new ways to share your ideas with the world. We always review every submission that comes in, and if it looks like a great fit, we certainly won’t let it pass us by.
What are you looking for in an application video?
We are looking for people to explain their presentation ideas clearly and give us a sense of their passion and their speaking ability. All this in one minute or less.
Will you be able to give me feedback if I don’t become a finalist?
We probably won’t be able to give individual feedback, but we’re planning a blog post about what worked and what didn’t in a general sort of way.
Can I share my audition video publicly? How about after the May 9 notification deadline?
If you want to share it publicly at any point, go for it.
Will TED do auditions like this every year?
It’s hard to say just yet, but we’re very excited to see what comes out of this one.
Questions? Write to fullspectrum@ted.com, or post to the Full Spectrum open thread on TED Conversations >>
NEW: Video auditions are closed; thank you for entering!
This year we’re holding the first-ever audition for TED Talks. It will take place in New York in front of a live audience made up of TED staff and members of the TED community. The audition will be recorded, and the best talks could either be posted on TED.com or win an invitation for a full-on mainstage presentation at TED2012 in California early next year. Make a one-minute video to qualify for this audition. Video deadline is April 25, 2011.
We’re holding this audition to give a chance to the undiscovered talent we know is out there — and especially talent that can help us continue to reinvent the ancient art of the spoken word. At TED2012, our whole theme will be devoted to this. We’re calling it “Full Spectrum” — the rich use of technologies, formats and styles to make an impact on an audience. And that’s what we’ll be looking for in this audition.
Imagine:
– a ‘slide-blizzard,’ a presentation containing more images than words
– a talk accompanied by an imaginative soundtrack
– a talk given in front of a custom-animated movie
– clever ‘choreography’ between a speaker’s words and what we see on-screen
– improv / audience interaction
– intense campfire-style storytelling
– a brilliant performance (music, spoken-word, dance … surprise us!)
– a rant delivered at blitzkrieg pace, an intelligent comic routine, a mystery
– a remarkable new invention
– or… just an amazingly good classic TED talk with an ingenious ‘idea worth spreading’
We’d like to test some of these presentation formats and get exposed to any other innovations that may be lurking out there in how to impact an audience.
(Please note, if you submit a standard pitch for a company, concept or cause, you have zero chance of being picked.)
If you’d like to try your hand, here’s what you need to do:
1. Create a one-minute video to indicate your idea for a Full Spectrum presentation, using any of the above techniques or something brand-new. Tell us what you’ll talk about, and then show us how you’ll do it in Full Spectrum style. We’re looking for powerful presentation ideas — the video itself doesn’t need to be polished, it’s only for our internal review. It just needs to give us a sense of you and demonstrate that your presentation could have impact.
2. Upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo.
3. Then fill out this online entry form and give us your details, including a link to the video. IMPORTANT: Forms are due April 25, 2011, at 11:59pm Eastern time.
A judging panel will select the most compelling presentation ideas from your video submissions. We’ll invite those finalists to audition their Full Spectrum talks live at in New York on May 24, in front of the TED curation team and an invited audience. The actual audition itself will range from 3 to 6 minutes, so you’ll need to pick a subject that can be managed in that time frame.
We’re excited to see what you have to offer!
Important dates:
Deadline for submitting your one-minute video and online entry form: Monday, April 25, 2011, at 11:59pm Eastern time.
Finalists will be contacted by Monday, May 9, 2011.
Finalists are responsible for their own travel to New York and accomodation.
Finalist presentations in New York: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, in the evening. More details TBD.
TED2012: Full Spectrum happens February 27-March 2, 2012, in California.
Questions? Write to fullspectrum@ted.com, or post to the Full Spectrum open thread on TED Conversations.
NEW: Read our FAQ >>
— The TED team
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Duncan Davidson is the main stage photographer for TED2011 and has been working on various TED events and projects since 2009.
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We’re thrilled to announce opening of registration for TED2012: Full Spectrum. Under this theme, we are assembling our most diverse group of speakers ever, with just this in common: they have something remarkable to share, and they are able to share it in a remarkable way. We’re inviting them to develop “full spectrum” presentations: blizzards of images, new uses of music, extravagant use of under-used senses, intricate choreography between speaker and screen, new ways of involving the audience, breakthroughs in animation, and intense, campfire-style storytelling …
TED2012 happens February 27-March 2, 2012, in Long Beach, California, with TEDActive at the same time in Palm Springs, California. A regular Long Beach pass is $7,500, and TEDActive in Palm Springs is $3,750. Learn more about additional membership levels.
(Note: Applications have not yet opened to apply to be a TED2012 Fellow, but we are now accepting applications to become a Fellow for TEDGlobal 2011, with a deadline of March 11, 2011.)
How do you attend a TED? It starts here: Apply to attend. For both TED in Long Beach and TEDActive in Palm Springs, we curate an audience that is engaged, passionate and diverse. We do anticipate TED2012 will sell out, but all applications to attend received by February 7, 2011, will be evaluated with equal consideration, and will get a response by April 7, 2011.
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