Ramon Thomas

INK Conference 2011, this December in India

In 2007 I came a TED Fellow after attending TEDGlobal also known as TEDAfrica in Arusha, Tanzania. This has been a wonderful journey and many relationships have blossomed with TEDsters all over the African content. It’s with great pleasure that I share this announcement from Chris Anderson below.

Dear Global TED Community,

By now you may have heard of the annual conference in India that has lots of links to TED.

The INK Conference (which stands for INnovation and Knowledge) is being run by longtime TEDster Lakshmi Pratury, who co-hosted TEDIndia with me in 2009. We’ve signed a content partnership agreement with INK that allowed us to bring the best of their talks to TED.com. Last year’s INK Talks posted on TED.com (including Anil Ananthaswamy, Arvind Gupta, Simon Lewis and Susan Lim) have proved popular online, and we’re excited to continue this collaboration.

TEDIndia in 2009 was a thrilling experience, attracting a sold-out audience of 1,000 attendees from 46 different countries. It was always planned as a one-off to bring TED to South Asia. So we’re delighted that the momentum generated by TEDIndia is continuing with numerous one-day TEDx events around the country — and the longer INK conference hosted in association with TED.? The first INK conference was held in December 2010, and Lakshmi pulled together a fine speaker lineup spanning business, science, technology, nonprofit organizations and the arts.? And she’s done so again with the lineup for the second INK Conference, being held in the colourful Rajasthan city of Jaipur, December 8-11, 2011.

The theme is “Power of the Journey,” and confirmed speakers include the first woman private space traveler, Anousheh Ansari; oceanographer David Gallo; music conductor Itay Talgam; director Julie Taymor; and the chair of UIDAI and co-founder of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani. INK is modeled on TED, and the talks will fit the familiar TED 18-minute format.

As an organization, the INK Conference remains 100% independent of TED. They are fully responsible for the event. But we’re happy to be offering strategic advice and content distribution. ?If you want to attend a live TED-like event in India, do consider registering for INK and joining up with movers and shakers from a wide variety of industries, organizations and countries. There’s more information at www.inktalks.com.

Sincerely,
Chris Anderson
TED Curator

TEDAfrica 2008 suspended, a temporary setback for South Africa

According to an email from Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED Conference, TEDAfrica due to be held in Cape Town at the end of September 2008 has been suspended. This news has also been posted on the TED Blog where I have already posted a comment and I encourage you to do so as well. This is a sad moment for Africa and more so for South Africa, which would have been the 2nd country to host the amazing TED Conference.

Last year I was blessed and honoured to attend TEDGlobal in Tanzania as a Blogger and Fellow. There were many, many connections and friendships established at this conference. George Ayittey described it as the most important conference about Africa at the beginning of the 21st century. And I agree wholeheartedly with him on this statement because never before has so many experts NOT politicians come together in support of Africa. There was a real sense of urgency among the speakers as the the aid vs investment debated heated up over the four days in Arusha.

Anyway why is this a setback for South Africa? We need to shift the focus from all the crap from Eskom, crime, Jakob Zuma, Zimbabwe and more. TEDAfrica in Cape Town would have been a dream come true for me because it represent an affirmation in our country and continent’s direction. The momentum built with the launch of the Next Einstein event in Cape Town, is a testament to the African’s ability to cope under the most severe circumstances. The students from the AIMS 2008 graduation represent the hope for future generations. So I held my breath when I first heard of the TEDAfrica announcement. But now we need to stand together more than ever before. The people on the TEDGlobal group on Facebook and members of the TED discussion group on Google need to find ways of following up and following through with promises made in Tanzania.

Remember we are the Cheetah’s and not the Hippo’s! Cheetah’s do not ask for permission from government to create value and opportunities for others. We are entrepreneurs and we stand on our own feet and make our own decisions. My dream would be that we can finally launch the annual African Bloggers Conference and an bi-annual TEDAfrica, maybe hosting the first one again, as originally planned in Cape Town in September 2009. In the mean time spread the word about TED Talks.

Posts tagged "chris anderson"

INK Conference 2011, this December in India

TEDAfrica 2008 suspended, a temporary setback for South Africa

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