If you attend or speak at a lot of conferences in your industry like I do, after a while they all start to look the same—a bunch of people giving speeches, attendees skipping out on sessions to
catch up on work, and everyone eating like they've never seen food before. If you're looking for something different and you want to hang out with the movers and shakers of the world, the most exciting conference of all is TED, the brainchild of Chris Anderson. It's the place to be every spring in Long Beach, CA, but you’d be hard pressed to get an invitation because it sells out a year in advance at $6,000 a ticket. For that you get to schmooze with the likes of Bill Gates and Gen. Stanley McChrystal and become part of an exclusive network of TEDsters.
catch up on work, and everyone eating like they've never seen food before. If you're looking for something different and you want to hang out with the movers and shakers of the world, the most exciting conference of all is TED, the brainchild of Chris Anderson. It's the place to be every spring in Long Beach, CA, but you’d be hard pressed to get an invitation because it sells out a year in advance at $6,000 a ticket. For that you get to schmooze with the likes of Bill Gates and Gen. Stanley McChrystal and become part of an exclusive network of TEDsters.Whenever an idea gains huge success, there are lots of copycats and TED is no exception. For example, I give you BIL (Bilateral Intellectuals Luminary), the unconference started in 2008 for the rest of us. It’s taking place this year on March 5 and 6 in Long Beach, CA (popular place for conferences) on the Queen Mary. BIL bills itself as an “ad-hoc conference for people changing the world in big ways.” The co-founder, Cody Marx Bailey, claims that the secret to a successful conference experience is to have “low expectations” and bring your own lunch. Oh, and by the way, BIL is a free event that attracts about 600 people. Where TED attracts high-achieving baby boomers, BIL targets their gadget-crazy offspring. But recently BIL has begun to act like a stalker, mimicking everything TED does. As Erica Orden wrote in the Wall Street Journal, after TED licensed a medical conference, TEDMED, BIL followed with BIL:PIL. It’s getting a little creepy. BIL is now planning a new conference venue next year in Afghanistan. We'll see how that goes. If you want to check out BIL, head for the Queen Mary this Saturday, March 5 and let us know what you think.
