AED and Forum One Host a Sold Out TedxChange Viewing and Discussion

On September 20, 2010, AED and Forum One  hosted a sold-out, energetic gathering of over 200 of the Washington, DC’s international development thought leaders. From the Globe Theater in Dupont Circle, we watched a live webcast of Melinda Gates and TEDxChange guests talk and inspire us about what the future holds, and how we can play a role in reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  

We followed the webcast with our own interactive discussion about the MDGs and the ideas that had been presented. Our discussants, and some of the highlights and points they made, were:

• Geeta Rao Gupta, Gates Foundation: We must focus on development of girls and women. We must also capture the energy of our youth. She cited a relatively new Global Health Corps that has been created by young people and is connecting outstanding young leaders to promote global health equality.
• Carol Lancaster, Georgetown University: To achieve the MDGs, we need economies that will grow, so that the change we implement is sustainable; If we don’t achieve the MDGs by 2015, that’s OK — as long as we are making real progress.
• Steve Moseley, AED: We need to target our development programs to include those we are serving, and focus on developing strong partnerships with and for them.

The event was exciting in its content and prestige (Ted Turner was spotted in the audience in the NYC auditorium), but also because 82 other local organizers banded together to provide venues, meals, experts, and energy, to watch the webcast simultaneously.  And on top of viewing, they hosted discussions and other events to commune locally around the ideas that were shared globally -- all with the common thread of generating ideas, focus, and energy to help us solve the world’s most pressing development problems.

TEDxAKL hosted a pajama party as they tuned in live from New Zealand. They were commended for their perseverance in watching the event during the wee hours of their night, where “pajamas were optional...but the future is not.”

The event has generated a significant amount of attention across the web, and highlights include a nice synopsis of the speakers broadcasting live from New York, numerous YouTube videos about the event and the MDGs that will speak to lots of viewers into the future, and a Flickr stream of “The Future We Make,” including lots from our own TEDxDupontCircle event.

Twitter conversation was on fire during the event. Tweets using the event’s hashtag, “#TEDxChange” was one of the top ten “trends” on Twitter, a phenomenon more commonly associated with discussions of the World Cup or Lady Gaga.

Here are some interesting tweets that capture the sentiment and the voice of the speakers:

TEDxChange has provided a video archive of their event, and our own event is archived at www.tedxdupontcircle.org.

Live events of this magnitude have rarely been held before, but the technology — and the will — both exist. This tweet from @technoshaman sums up well what we can pursue in the future with this kind of collaborative spirit:

One can imagine the excitement — and potential impact — of connecting world leaders together for future in-depth idea exchanges!