{"id":4621,"date":"2014-03-19T22:05:42","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T05:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=4621"},"modified":"2014-03-19T22:09:48","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T05:09:48","slug":"ted-conference-finds-a-new-home-in-vancouver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/03\/19\/ted-conference-finds-a-new-home-in-vancouver\/","title":{"rendered":"TED conference finds a new home in Vancouver"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ted\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo: Facebook Page of TED<\/em><\/p>\n

After five years in Long Beach, California, TED conference moves to Vancouver\u2014dates to mark on your calendars, March 17 to 21.<\/p>\n

On these days, 1,200 of the brightest minds in the world will gather again to share life-changing lessons. For 30 years now\u2014TED, which stands for technology, entertainment and design, has been touching lives of people around the globe.<\/p>\n

And now that it has found a new home in Vancouver, numerous innovations are to be expected.<\/p>\n

TED\u2019s shift to Vancouver<\/b><\/p>\n

It was in 2013 when TED expressed its intention to leave Long Beach\u2014the same year, it knocked on the door of the tourism commission and Tourism Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Negotiations for a minimum two-year deal were kept private\u2014Mayor Gregor Robertson was not even consulted.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, the Vancouver Destination Hotels Association, the tourism commission and Tourism Vancouver agreed to underwrite part of the cost of relocating TED, including helping with the specially designed stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we paid them was to partner with them. And what we got was that we can call ourselves TED host country and TED host city,\u201d Greg Klassen, the senior vice-president of marketing for the tourism commission said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve stamped that on all of our collateral, so that when we are international markets trying bring in conventions and meetings to Canada we start by saying \u2018we are the ones who brought TED to Canada. If we can do TED, the world\u2019s coolest conference, we can do your conference,\u201d Klassen added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TED Preparations <\/b><\/p>\n

To fit into the standards set by the conference organizers, the Vancouver Convention Centre was transformed into a cozy, incubation chamber\u2014similar to what Long Beach provided for the past five years.<\/p>\n

The 227-metre aerial piece of art by Janet Echelman, titled Skies Painted With Unnumbered Sparks <\/i>was also installed in front of the convention centre. It will be lit on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, the construction is well advanced\u2014massive amphitheatre was designed by New York architect David Rockwell.<\/p>\n

Chris Anderson, TED\u2019s curator, got the inspiration of designing an all-wood stage and seating from Vancouver architect Michael Green\u2019s TED talk.<\/p>\n

All the preparations will be completed on Sunday.<\/p>\n

A simulcast version called TEDActive will operate in Whistler.<\/p>\n

There are also many firsts in this year\u2019s TED conference. Firstly, TED will provide a free live broadcast of its talks to schools, universities, community centres and libraries. Secondly, it is feeding a jumbotron screen on the outside of BC Place at Terry Fox Plaza.<\/p>\n

TED attendees<\/b><\/p>\n

Venture capitalists, philanthropists, scientists, architects, engineers and professionals\u2014these are the folks who are most likely paying $7,500 for a TED ticket.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Tourism Commission and Tourism Vancouver estimate that conference attendees will bring more than $4.5 million into the Vancouver economy.<\/p>\n

TED\u2019s impact on Vancouver\u2019s economy and tourism<\/b><\/p>\n

Surely, the TED conference will bring huge revenues to Vancouver, but the Canadian Tourism Commission and Tourism Vancouver don\u2019t want to measure the event\u2019s success solely on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat our theory is that when these world billionaires, philanthropists, engineers and scientists come and see Canada, they will have a very warm view of what it offers as a business community,\u201d said Klassen explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we have at the minimum two years, with 1,200 delegates a year eating at restaurants and staying in our hotels,\u201d Klassen said. \u201cBut to call that an economic impact on our country and city based purely on the investment they will make next week is too trite. It is the long-term impact we are looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Rick Antonson, Tourism Vancouver\u2019s president, said bringing TED to Vancouver is about more than direct spending in the local economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA gathering like this becomes a profound catalyst. There is a really interesting social alloy at play here. Much, much good can come out of it,\u201d he said. \u201cTrying to measure it with a simple cash register ring is wrong. This is about social, technological and entertainment change.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Reports from Vancouver Sun and Straight<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Facebook Page of TED After five years in Long Beach, California, TED conference moves to Vancouver\u2014dates to mark on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":4622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1198,572],"class_list":["post-4621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ted-talks","tag-vancouver","mauthors-katherine-marfal-teves","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}