TEDGlobal 2005

Dear TEDizens,

Welcome to Oxford, and to an important and exciting new chapter in the TED story!

TEDGlobal is designed to be like TED but with an even stronger focus on really big world-changing ideas: memes and dreams from the intersecting worlds of science, architecture, technology, business and nonprofit, global creativity and local ingenuity -- seasoned, as ever, with inspirational performance art, music and comedy.

During these four days we will hear visionaries and doers; discoverers and builders; front-page names and less-known but equally extraordinary characters; brilliant optimists and insightful pessimists. All united in the belief that true understanding comes from looking broadly at the world and seeing how disparate pieces fit together, all searching for and working on Ideas big enough to change the world.

Oxford is a uniquely inspiring environment that for centuries has championed the power of reason and discovery and art, of open-minded discussions and the common search for great ideas. Here is where William Morris founded the Arts & Crafts movement and another William Morris built the first mass-marketed car; where Henry James and Oscar Wilde wrote their oh-so-different “portraits” (of a Lady, and of Dorian Gray); where JRR Tolkien and Lewis Carroll imagined whole new worlds (Lord of the Rings and Alice in Wonderland); where some of today’s most advanced research is performed.

That’s why we choose to be here, and TEDGlobal will be weaved into the Oxford atmosphere. We will attend most sessions at the Oxford Playhouse, the city’s wonderful, atmospheric theatre, and other special events and moments at the Sheldonian Theatre, at the stunning (even for spoiled TEDsters...) Museum of Natural History, at the unconventional QI Club and at Keble College -- not to mention that we will go punting down the river Cherwell.

Of course, much of what makes TED gatherings special are the connections with the other attendees and the time spent with other remarkable people. You’re one of them.

Thank you for being here, for sharing your ideas and your time, for making TED an even better community. Enjoy the conference!

Chris Anderson, TED Curator
Bruno Giussani, TEDGlobal Producer