The inaugural TEDxTokyo last Friday was an absolute success. In fact, it kicked some serious butt (oshiri). Sure, not all the talks were home runs from a delivery standpoint — but most were — and everyone on stage certainly made a memorable contribution that day. TEDxTokyo was an inspiration. Patrick Newell and Todd Porter and the scores of volunteers — such as Jason Wik on the tech side — did a fantastic job to pull this off. The long day at TEDxTokyo (though it seemed short) felt just like being at TED in California...with a Japanese twist. It was an amazing collection of presenters and 200 thinkers and doers from around the world who set aside a day to come together to reflect, share, and engage in Tokyo. The LIVE showing of TEDxTokyo (2500+ were watching live online) went very well (I received emails from viewers around the world on my iPhone in between talks with comments such as "hey, I can see you!" and "Barry rocks!"). In future some of the talks (all were professionally recorded) may appear online for your viewing pleasure. I'll let you know (or follow the TEDxTokyo blog).
TEDxTokyo presenters get naked Part of "presenting naked" means taking a bath in the onsen with your new TEDxer mates the night before. Of course, the best part of the hot bath is what comes after: the delicious food, cold beer, and great conversation with your friends. In this photo below from the Animoto slideshow, you can see best-selling novelist Barry Eisler and executive and environmental preservationist Bill Werlin and me at the Ooedo-Onsen-Monogatari the night before the event. (See what it's like inside.)
We really all had a great time and feel blessed to have been part of it. What an experience. Looking forward to continue creating new ideas and sharing them.
Thank you for my blog mention (socialevangeli.st), appreciated.
Looks like it was a lot of fun. Shelly's talk was quite interesting. I'd been thinking of bringing TED style talks to Tokyo since 2007 but looks like I've been beaten to the task. Who should I get in touch with about speakers for future events? Any idea?
By the way, are you still involved with the design related events? I'd tried to contact you last year about it but your mail kept bouncing for some reason.
We really all had a great time and feel blessed to have been part of it. What an experience. Looking forward to continue creating new ideas and sharing them.
Thank you for my blog mention (socialevangeli.st), appreciated.
Kind regards.
Posted by: Paul Papadimitriou | May 27, 2009 at 02:42 PM
Great report. It was an intensive, exhilerating and memorable day.
Looking forward to seeing TEDxTokyo as a big agent for change and innovation in Japan.
Posted by: Andrew Shuttleworth | May 27, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Looks like it was a lot of fun. Shelly's talk was quite interesting. I'd been thinking of bringing TED style talks to Tokyo since 2007 but looks like I've been beaten to the task. Who should I get in touch with about speakers for future events? Any idea?
By the way, are you still involved with the design related events? I'd tried to contact you last year about it but your mail kept bouncing for some reason.
Jeffrey
Posted by: Jeffrey Rowe | May 27, 2009 at 11:43 PM