TEDActive 2012: Day 1 Recap

TED 2012: Full Spectrum, live in Long Beach
and simulcast to TEDActive in Palm Springs.

Last night, I overhead someone say, "Don't worry about it, what happens at TEDActive stays at TEDActive."

Yeah...that. Allow me to let you in on a little secret: what happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but what happens TEDActive ends up on Twitter. And Facebook. And Instagram. And Pinterest.

As it should be, really. TED's tagline is "Ideas Worth Spreading." The beauty of TEDActive is that you never know if that idea is going to come from one of the mainstage talks in Long Beach, from a TEDYou talk here in Palm Springs, during a picnic basket lunch with new friends, or during a late night fire pit conversation with old TEDsters.

Today was the first day of TED 2012 talks. I'm not gonna lie, it felt a little like Christmas morning when I woke up -- but instead of presents, we were all getting new TED talks. When Chris Anderson took the stage and said, "It's time for TED," cheers and whoops simultaneously went up in Long Beach and Palm Springs (where we're watching the simulcast of the mainstage talks in more relaxed, chill, laid back environs).

TEDActive 2012: Arrival Day Recap

After a wonderful day in the desert with 250 TEDx organizers, we slowly began to welcome the rest of the TEDActive attendees to the Riviera Palm Springs Resort and Spa. As the hotel started filling up, the already high energy kicked it up to a new level. 

TEDActive placed attendees on a number of different project tracks (hence, the name "Active"): Health, Urbanization, Color, Progressive Ideas, Giving, and Community + Commerce. On Monday, we had a number of activities we could participate in, many of which included some facet of one of these tracks.

Here's a photo essay of the day:

I'm on the #ActiveGiving track, so we decorated TOMS shoes,
which will be donated to local boys and girls clubs. 

TEDActive 2012: TEDx Organizers Workshop Recap

Left the beach house in San Diego on Saturday, and tweeted this pic:
"Car: packed. Current view: ocean. Song: Rusted Root "Send Me On
My Way." Destination: Palm Springs. TEDActiveOrBust" 

250 TEDx organizers from around the world descended upon Palm Springs, California—by plane, train, and automobile—to attend the TEDx Organizers Workshop.

These TEDxers represented 61 countries and came together a day before the official kickoff to TEDActive 2012 in order to share ideas and best practices. (New to TED or TEDx? See below for description.)

Found this quote on travel, and thought it applied perfectly to the coming week at TED:

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
– Henry Miller

Arrived in Palm Springs a quick 2.5 hours later. Tweeted: "Car: unpacked.
Current view: mountains. Song: Jazz funk fusion by the pool DJ.
Location: Palm Springs for TED Active."

TEDActive or Bust

Car: packed. Current view: ocean. Song on radio: "Send Me On My Way" by Rusted Root. Destination: Palm Springs, Calif. for the live simulcast of the TED conference, TEDActive.

On Being Creative: Trying to Be Good

At my job I work on the creative team, surrounded by insanely talented and wicked smart people who challenge me every day to be the best creative I can.

Here's Ira Glass, host of This American Life, with his take on creativity and the creative process. I heart him.

And the video with a lovely typographic treatment for those of you who've never heard his melodic, yet neurotic, cadence.

Super Bowl 2012 Commercials Live Blog (Includes All Commercials)

Source: National Football League (NFL).

It's been a tradition of mine for years to live blog the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, and Golden Globes. (Plus Will and Kate's wedding, for good measure.) This year, I decided to throw in the other pantheon of entertainment: the Super Bowl commercial.

No where else does $4 million for 30 seconds make any sense, unless you're talking a Kardashian wedding, of course. And to think, 9 years ago I was working on the Super Bowl Halftime Show...now I'm watching the commercials so you don't have to. Let the snark commence!

2:40 p.m. Thanks NBC for making me cry my eyes out. #TeamGleason #ALSsucks

3:18 p.m. Dammit GE, for making me cry with your cancer survivor commercial. (I see a trend of me crying today. You'd think the fact that I don't have ovaries anymore would help negate the tears, but no.)

3:20 p.m. And THAT Ms. LaBelle, is how you sing the National Anthem.

3:27 p.m. DAMN YOU, RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE! *sniffles*

3:38 p.m. A futuristic beer commercial. Very Star Trek meets the Apple store meets hipster central. But at the end of the day, you're still just Bud, dear.




3:39 p.m. In absolutely no way capitalizing on the Twilight trend, Audi slays it in this headlight commercial. Wait, no they didn't. Unless you're 16. Then it's dreeeeeeeeeeeeeamy.

Simba From The Lion King Appears In...Camden, NJ?

For all my Jersey friends...

Source: Unknown.