NEW YORK, January 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
- Four-day stage program features 18-minute talks, music, comedy, dance, short talks, video and other surprises
TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces today its speaker line-up for TED2011, the organization's flagship conference. This year's program includes a range of explorers, storytellers, photographers, scientific pioneers, visionaries and provocateurs from all parts of the globe -- and for the first time, features sessions curated by innovators Bill Gates and Juan Enriquez. Themed "The Rediscovery of Wonder," TED2011 will take place from February 28 through March 4 in Long Beach, CA.
"For 2011, we've assembled a cast of characters capable of stirring the imagination as never before," says TED Curator Chris Anderson. "With the help of innovative guest curators, we've assembled a program that will awe attendees and remote audiences alike. And we won't be forgetting the other, harder-edged meaning of wonder -- where "I wonder" equals "I ponder." We'll be adding in strong servings of thoughtful insight, so that the possibilities we dream of are anchored in reality."
The TED2011 speakers program:
Session 1: Monumental
Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, Puppeteers
David Brooks, Columnist
Indra Nooyi, Chair and CEO, PepsiCo
Eric Whitacre, Composer, Conductor
Session 2: Majestic
Paul Nicklen, Polar photographer
Sarah Marquis, Explorer
Bobby McFerrin, Musician
Session 3: Mindblowing
Carlo Ratti, Architect and Engineer
Aaron Koblin, Data artist
Homaro Cantu, Chef
Antony Hegarty, Musician, Visual artist
Session 4: Worlds Imagined
Morgan Spurlock, Filmmaker
Beatrice Coron, Papercutter artist
Julie Taymor, Director, Designer
Session 5: Deep Mystery
Deb Roy, Cognitive scientist
Felisa Wolfe-Simon, Geobiochemist
Antonio Damasio Neuroscientist
Maya Beiser, Cellist
Session 6: Knowledge Revolution - Curated and hosted by Bill Gates
David Christian, Historian
Amina Ibrahim, Educator
Salman Khan, Educator
Bruce Aylward, Epidemiologist
Session 7: Radical Collaboration
Edith Widder, Biologist, Conservationist
JR, Street artist
Session 8: Invention & Consequence
Edward Tenner, Historian of technology and culture
Dennis Hong, Roboticist
Bill Ford, Executive chair, Ford Motor Co.
Session 9: Threads of Discovery - Curated and hosted by Juan Enriquez
Ed Boyden, Neuroengineer
Fiorenzo Omenetto, Biomedical engineer
Janet Echelman, Artist
Christina Lampe-Onnerud, Energy expert
Anthony Atala, Surgeon
George Daley, Hematologist
Session 10: Tales of Enchantment
Shea Hembrey, Artist and curator
Sarah Kay, Poet
Sunni Brown, Visualizer and gamestorming
Kate Hartman, Artist and technologist
Jason Mraz, Musician
Session 11: The Echo of Time
Jack Horner, Dinosaur digger
Rajesh Rao, Computational neuroscientist
Harvey Fineberg, Health policy expert
Stanley McChrystal, Military leader
Session 12: Only if. If only.
Kathryn Schulz, Wrongologist
John Hunter, Educator
Roger Ebert, Film critic and blogger
The complete list of speakers can be found online here (http://conferences.ted.com/TED2011/program/guide.php).
About TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at http://TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.
TED's media initiatives include http://TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED
Contact: Margaret Sullivan, ted@groupsjr.com, +1-646-833-0205
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