What is TEDx Talks?

by | Jan 19, 2019 | TEDx

What is TEDx Talks?

TEDx brings the spirit of TED’s mission of ideas worth spreading to local communities around the globe. TEDx events are organized by curious individuals who seek to discover ideas and spark conversations in their own community.

TEDx events include live speakers and recorded TED Talks, and are organized independently under a free license granted by TED.

The TEDx initiative started in 2009 when TED wanted a “radical opening of the TED format to local, independently organized events.”

And radical result they received.

TEDx will celebrate its 10 year anniversary in the spring of 2019. Krisztina “Z” Holly was the first person to ever be called a TEDx organizer. Her event, TEDxUSC, took place on March 23, 2009, and had 1,200 attendees.

Since their inception, TED has published 2,920 TED Talks on its website and YouTube channel (as of January 2019).

However, when TED started the TEDx program as an experiment, they never would have imagined how big it would become.

Since March of 2009, the TEDx events have produced over 126,000 TEDx Talks. 

This sheer contrast shows the reach and impact that TEDx has on the world. When most people hear “TED Talks”, they are probably thinking of a TEDx Talk they saw online.

Not a TED Talk.

The TED main conference is held just once a year in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Tickets start at $10,000 to be in the audience, and go up to $250,000 each for five years at the Patron level. Famous TED speakers include Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Sarah Silverman, James Cameron, Bill Gates, Bono, etc.

TED itself is an entirely different class than most TEDx events and should be honored as such.

However, it has become clear that most people still do not understand the difference.

However, it has become clear that most people still do not understand the difference.

So to most people, every TEDx Talk is a TED Talk. The TEDx community: organizers, speakers, volunteers, and attendees have all benefited from this status of buzz.

It is fairly safe to say that TEDx as a platform and project is not going anywhere soon.