TEDxAmsterdam

TEDxAmsterdam Live – sharing TED

TEDx fans and soccer fans in central Amsterdam

When we organised TEDxAmsterdam for the first time in November 2009, we had a waiting list of over 4000 people, all keen to attend… and of course we wanted to include everyone. So we organised a live internet stream for all those interested out there (which we’re doing again this year).

We also offered a high resolution web stream to anyone who was keen to organise a live ‘’simulcast” event, bringing people together to watch together. So as a result, in over 30 locations across the Netherlands, people came together to see TEDxAmsterdam on the big screen. Our simulcast effort was a roaring success!

Big TED, as it’s affectionately known (in Long Beach, California) is also connected to a single simulcast event called TED Active in Palm Springs. But TEDGlobal, TED’s sibling event in Oxford, took the ”Amsterdam approach” for the first time this year (ah, well, that’s what we like to think anyway…). All TEDx organizers were offered the chance to host a TEDxLive — a gathering around a live webcast of the TED Global conference.

And so we did. At Boom Chicago, a comedy club in Amsterdam, TEDxAmsterdamLive offered TEDGlobal on the big screen, combined with independent programming during the breaks. We had a few wonderful days – and our experiences at Boom Chicago absolutely confirm the value of a simulcast event.

- seeing talks on a big screen has a much bigger effect as seeing them on your laptop. Bigger image and better sound quality really do the talks more justice. (In a way, you actually have a better experience than sitting in the live audience, because you have a much better look of the speaker, although of course nothing beats being there yourself).

- seeing talks together is sweet. It’s not even so much about ”networking” and meeting other people, just sitting in a room with others and watching something together is nice. The sound of an audience agreeing, some people laughing, occasionally a round of applause even and so on.

- A simulcast event is less demanding than sitting in a live audience, so depending on the organisers’ views, it can be ok to check your mails, do some work on your laptop etc. Not everyone can take days off to witness an event, but getting together in a rather informal way, makes it easier for lots of people to at least spend some time on TED.

So what happened at TEDxAmsterdam Live? See the next blog post by Jim Stolze with a more detailed account.

And are you interested in hosting your own simulcast event on 30 November? Drop a line to Albert-Jan Tebbe, who will be delighted to assist you with your plans.

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