Innovative Speakers Gather at TED 2012

California is once again the sunny location for the most innovative and exciting conference on the planet, where speakers with ‘ideas worth spreading’ gather to share their thoughts on technology, design, science, media, politics, the arts, and other insights on how to shape a better word.

TED was founded in 1984 with an emphasis on design and technology, but the events now address an increasingly wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture.

TED's mission statement:

‘We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.’

2012 TED Programme:

Session 1: Critical Crossroads
Don Tapscott
Shyam Sankar
Robyn Meredith
Jason Silva
Raghu Dixit
James Stavridis

Session 2: Tinker Make Do
Ellen Jorgensen
Massimo Banzi
Catarina Mota
Matt Mills and Tamara Roukaerts
Antony Gormley
Kathy Hinde
Boaz Almog

Session 3: Building Blocks
Daphne Koller
Shimon Shocken
Beau Lotto
Amy O’Toole
Eddie Obeng
Karen Thompson Walker
Macy Gray

Session 4: Globality
Pankaj Ghemawat
Robert Neuwirth
Andreas Schleicher
Natasha Paremski
Alex Salmond

Session 5: Shades of Openness
Malte Spitz
Ivan Krastev
Gerard Senehi
Gabriella Coleman
Leslie T. Chang
Neil Harbisson

Session 6: Misbehaving Beautifully
Sarah Caddick
Read Montague
Elyn Saks
Ruby Wax
Vikram Patel
Wayne McGregor
Robert Legato

Session 7: Long Term
Vicki Arroyo
Jonathan Trent
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Susan Solomon
Jamie Drummond
Usman Riaz
Preston Reed

Session 8: Talk To Strangers
Rachel Botsman
Robin Chase
Jane McGonigal
Jason McCue
Marco Tempest
Amy Cuddy

Session 9: The Upside of Transparency
Parag Khanna
Beth Noveck
Sanjay Pradhan
Heather Brooke
Sarah Slean
Marc Goodman
Deyan Sudjic

Session 10: Reframing
Laura Snyder
John Maeda
Michael Hansmeyer
Ramesh Raskar
Hassine Labaide
Keith Chen
Hannah Brock

Session 11: Taking Another Look
Maurizio Seracini
Becci Manson
Mina Bissell
Imogen Heap
John Wilbanks

Session 12: Public Sphere
Kirby Ferguson
Clay Shirky
Michael Anti
Andrew Blum
Margaret Heffernan
Daria Musk