Difference between TED and TEDx?

I answer this question at least once a day.

TED and TEDx are in many ways the same, but at the end of the day, totally different things.

TED is a conference that started in 1984 and stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. Read more about TED and it’s history here – What Does TED stand for?

It’s always been exclusive, expensive, and until July of 2006, zero TED Talks had ever been released to the public. Just six talks were posted online and two months later they had reached over one million views. They were such a hit that TED relaunched it’s website around these talks, providing a global audience through their platform, amplifying the ideas shared on the TED stage.

As of 2009, anyone around the world could apply for a free license to produce a TED-like event in their city. TEDxLondon, TEDxNewYork, TEDxBerlin – you name it. TEDx starting popping up all around the world.

You just must follow all the content rules, like no politics and no religion, make zero money, and a series of other branding and policy positions that make the community uniform and great.

The benefit that TEDx organizers, events, and speakers provide to TED, is that is amplifies the growth of their community, spreads the brand, and TED owns the content. There have only been 2,500 TED main stage talks and over 130,000 TEDx Talks.

TED never expected it, but in many ways, TEDx has eclipsed TED in terms of awareness and idea spreading.

So the next time you tell someone about a “TED Talk” you watched, make sure that’s really what it was. Because it was probably a “TEDx Talk”, so get it right! You’re suppose to be a TED junkie 🙂

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