B-to-C Events

It was only fitting that TEDx would make its way to Harlem, a community in upper Manhattan that has a rich history of ideas and innovation that started in the 1920s with the Harlem Renaissance. During that period, Harlem’s community became a hotbed for theater, literature, art and music that has since become an indelible part of America’s cultural identity. And today, Harlem is seeing a rebirth once again with the renovation of entire blocks of multi-million-dollar brownstones and the constant presence of former President Bill Clinton whose William J.

On a brisk winter day this February, 400 students, faculty, alumni and local community members converged on Yale University’s neo-gothic campus to experience the school’s first-ever TEDx event. Yale had been host to other TED-affiliated events, including a livestream of a TEDxWomen conference from the TEDGlobal event in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a Salon with a guest curator from TEDGlobal. But TEDxYale 2012 was the first official TEDx event on campus wholly planned and organized by two of its students, Diana Enriquez and Miles Grimshaw, both of the class of 2013.

Global event portfolios can be a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, they give event and conference producers the ability to reach worldwide audiences on a local level by deploying fully-branded and turnkey “events in a box.” On the downside, global marketers, despite their best efforts, still struggle to make each live experience consistent with the messaging that’s being shared at the year’s anchor events.

The technology and design worlds have been all aflutter about TED since its inception in 1984, but in the last few years, it has grown exponentially, both in awareness and in thought leadership. The platform is anchored in the main events, TEDGlobal in Edinburgh every summer, and TED in Long Beach and TEDActive in Palm Springs, CA, in February. As media attention for the events has grown, so has brand interest, but TED doesn’t make it easy.

Attendees of all stripes flock to it. Brands can’t wait to get a piece of it. And the world can’t seem to get enough of it. “It,” of course, is TED, the fast-growing event platform that’s shaking up the typical conference format and showing event marketers the value of co-creating content with consumers. EM takes you inside the phenomenon that just won’t stop.