If I had to describe my experience last week in Atlanta at the first-ever TEDNext event in five words or less, here’s what I’d say: inspiring, exciting, cool, welcoming, and delicious. (I had to throw that last one in there because whoever picked those food trucks was speaking my love language. More on that later.)
This was my first time attending a TED event, and the experience went beyond every expectation I packed with me on the plane from Raleigh. Featuring the retro vibe of a vinyl bar, the modern touch of meditation pods, and a visual design that says “rustic meets chic,” the TED event team created an experience at the historic Pullman Yards that was extremely cool.
After a quick flight to the most visited airport in the world, I was quickly introduced to Atlanta’s Plane Train, which was a lot like the monorail at DisneyWorld without the whole happiness thing.
Day one at TEDNext
I arrived at Pullman Yards early to grab my badge and received what is possibly the nicest swag bag I’ve ever gotten. My gold canvas bag from Bellroy was perfect (very on brand for AAE too) and as an additional swag move, Bellroy offered patches at their booth that they ironed on for you. As a marketer, I love a great booth traffic idea and I definitely filed that one away. My bag also had a retro multi-color pen from uniⓇ, a nice hardcover notebook, a magnetic charger, samples of delicious snacks, a Stasher reusable silicone storage bag and a S’wellⓇ reusable water bottle. Score.
First order of business? Getting my photo with the iconic TED sign, of course, located directly inside the Pullman Yards main building.
After a quick intro session led by Monique Ruff-Bell, Chief Program & Strategy Officer for TED, I was on my way to the very first session of the inaugural TEDNext, a panel discussion on the impact of AI from both humanity and scientific perspectives. The Next Stage was a chill theater-in-the-round style room with bean bag chairs surrounding the stage. This session titled “Expand” was moderated by futurist and speaker AC Coppens, who graciously gave me a brief overview of this session featuring Kasley Killam, an expert in human connection, and Apolinário Passos, an innovator and software development expert on the forefront of AI.
Here’s what AC Coppens had to say about his TEDNext session:
This session mirrored my own thoughts on AI. People are hesitant to trust it, although we all know we are basically living with it today. We’d all like some guardrails for how AI gets used and we are largely not ready for AI to replace human interaction on a personal level. In the right hands, however, the potential advancements that artificial intelligence will bring to our world will be a game-changer for many industries.
The second session of the day was about sustainability and featured interviews with both Pinky Cole, founder and CEO of Slutty Vegan, and Jasmine Crowe-Houston, founder of Goodr. Pinky shared her non-traditional path to success through first experiencing multiple failures. Jasmine’s passion for solving the issue of food insecurity and food waste made me think differently about what impact each of us has on solving this challenge. Both are true trailblazers.
Each main stage session was grouped by theme. The first session on the main stage was on “Wonder” and included author Malcolm Gladwell, who stunned the audience when he apologized for his broken window theory as detailed in his best-selling book, The Tipping Point. My favorite presentations of this session were from Leo Villareal, an accomplished light artist whose work has been featured on San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, on bridges along the Thames in London, and in various other art installations. My other favorite session was from Adam Munder, founder of Intel-backed OmniBridge. Adam, who is profoundly deaf, has developed an AI-driven platform that can read and translate American Sign Language (ASL.) His live demonstration of this technology restored my faith in AI as a means to improve the lives of so many people in this world.
The second main stage session called “Reveal” was a take on the world-renowned Ignite Talks. Speakers were given 5 minutes and 20 slides to present their topics with auto-advancing slides every 15 seconds while getting their point across. My easily distracted brain loved this idea, and wow, these speakers did not disappoint either.
When I asked other attendees which session was their favorite, the session by Franziska Trautmann was unanimously mentioned all week. It might have been because she started her presentation talking about the overflow of glass bottles at her boyfriend’s fraternity house, or that they were initially recycling those bottles into sand one at a time with a grinder machine. But, when she showed the satellite photo of the impact that their current operation has had in her home state of Louisiana, the audience erupted. The sand they created from recycling of bottles and returned to the land is today visibly restoring the shoreline and changing the landscape of the bayou for the better. Talk about a very impactful 5 minutes indeed.
Another memorable moment in this session was from journalist and host of TED Talks Daily, Elise Hu. An accomplished expert on fashion and beauty, Elise gave a jaw-dropping talk on the impact of social media filters on young girls and the pressure to modify personal appearance especially in Asian culture. The most impactful moment was when she showed the collective visual impact of plastic surgery on women in Korea. I’ll spare you the visual but it got the message across loud and clear: we need to do better to take the pressure off future generations and change how we define beauty.
Here’s what Elise had to say.
At the end of the first day, I attended a Dine Around on the topic of Resilience, sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. In small groups, we talked about pre-set questions on resilience, but mostly, we talked about the day’s sessions, what brought us to TEDNext, and what we hoped to take home from attending. It was a nice end to the first day to connect in a small group format.
Day two at TEDNext
My childhood self was giddy for the first session of the day, titled “Lead” featuring an interview with the original Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. For my generation, she was the epitome of female empowerment. Before Lynda took the stage, TEDWomen founder Pat Mitchell interviewed the co-founders of GirlTREK, Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Renae. I quickly became a fan of their mission of creating communities that help Black women improve health and longevity through movement and walking. They were the perfect counterpart to Lynda Carter, who also brought the original lasso from the TV show and proceeded to wrap it around all four women in a powerful show of solidarity.
The first main stage session today was on “Work” and the speakers in this group included Kat Cole, CEO of AG1 and Tarveen Forrester, VP of People for Kickstarter. Every single talk resonated with me, but the one that I’ll remember best was from Simone Stolzoff. He spoke about the importance of balance to combat burnout at work, and how critical it is for us to take time away at least once a week to recharge. He also talked about how crucial it is that we define ourselves not by our work, but by who we are and what matters to us. He also said one of my favorite takeaways from the week, which you can see below.
“Instead of asking someone ‘What do you do?”, consider adding two little words to the middle of the question, and ask ‘What do you like to do’ instead.” ~Simone Stolzoff
Next, I attended “Achieve” where Dr. Shoshana Ungerfelder interviewed two fascinating speakers on how to improve mental health by aligning your actions with your values. Judy Sewards, brand lead from Pfizer, discussed the challenges of marketing within the pharmaceutical industry, but the most heartbreaking moment was learning she lost her own father to COVID during the early stages of the pandemic. Ethicist Ira Bedzow from Emory University had us thinking more deeply about whether our values align with our actions.
In one of the most unique formats presented during TEDNext, the session that followed titled “Imagine” featured a revolving moderator format. I can’t say I’d ever seen anything like this before, and I believe this to be a truly innovative way of sparking new life into the standard panel format for events. Scholar Amma Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin, artist Damon Davis, and quantum physicist Shohini Ghose took turns moderating the conversation, and at various timed intervals, the moderator would stand and call “time,” all panelists would pause, stand, rotate their seat to the right, and the new moderator would ask the next question. The way they presented various viewpoints in and of itself was innovative. Combined with the variety of topics they discussed around overcoming creative challenges and training the imagination made it legendary. I loved this for the unexpected pairing of speakers, its innovative format, and the beautiful cello performance at the end of the session by Paul Rucker.
The next main stage session was on “Love,” and these TED talks featured a lineup of performers, artists, business leaders, and authors, including internet filmmaker Baron Ryan, the talented singer/songwriter UMI Wilson, and @thedogist Elias Weiss Friedman, who talked on his love of dogs, capturing each personality through his camera lens. Coachtopia founder, Joon Silverstein, shared how her love of fashion combined with her passion for the environment launched an entirely new brand line within Coach. And in my favorite talk of this session, journalist Rhaina Cohen challenged us to think differently about what a loving primary relationship looks like. In her book The Other Significant Others, she makes the case that friendship is as equally important and fulfilling a relationship as is a spouse.
Pullman Yards then transformed into the coolest hotspot in Atlanta after a day full of inspiring speakers. Leaving the main stage, attendees were treated to an authentic New Orleans brass band experience as they walked or danced towards the food truck area and back towards the main music stage.
The check-in area by day transformed into a dance floor and roller rink by night. Party tunes played and lights twinkled overhead as the sun went down on day two. The highlight of the night’s celebration was guest DJ D-Nice who had the crowd dancing and cheering well into the night.
My final day at TEDNext
I made the most of the half-day I had left during the event by arriving early and grabbing coffee before the first session with Harry Corin, a speaker and business executive who speaks on suicide awareness, mental health, and his entrepreneurial journey. I also had the privilege of talking with Lane Gardner, a speaker and performer who merged her love of music, her experience as a teacher, and her mission to help those who have experienced trauma, to develop a unique approach to healing. I encourage you to check out her TEDx Boston talk where she shares how she helped survivors from the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to find their voice and heal through musical expression.
In my final session on “Play,” I took a nostalgic trip through my childhood as toy historian Chris Byrne invited all of us to remember the joy we felt as kids playing with our favorite toys. He reminded us to find time to bring play back into our lives. President of EA Entertainment, Laura Miele, opened up my eyes to the misconception that video gaming is a means of isolation. Her TED talk clarified the immense power of community that video gaming together can bring. And, comedian Shalewa Sharpe’s stand-up set that wrapped up this session had me laughing right into tears.
The TEDNext experience is like no other
A TEDNext event is no ordinary event. Right from the welcome session, TED organizers were intentional and clear that we were not there to network; we were there to connect. This created a low-pressure and welcoming environment that focused primarily on the people we were and not the jobs we do. This concept of connection was woven through every session, in the layout of the venue, and within small group activities like Braindates and Dine Arounds.
Another way this event was different was that we were encouraged in every session to put our phones away and to be present in the moment. Photographers were available in every session and high-quality photos and recordings of each session would be made available for us after the event. We know that having flash photography during a live event can be distracting to both speakers and other audience members, as can having a phone screen light up in a dark room. By putting my phone away, I relaxed more than I would otherwise have during the conference, empowered to observe, listen, and absorb what was happening in the moment rather than through my phone screen.
Let’s talk for a moment about the food experience. The TED organizers brought in food trucks with every type of cuisine including Hawaiian bowls, vegan burgers, Greek specialties, and my personal favorite, crepes. Options for vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free diets were available, and there was something for everyone. Snacks were also everywhere you looked. And, every single food truck item was covered by the conference, making it an even better attendee experience because I didn’t have to worry about tracking my expense receipts. Plus, food trucks are trendy and cool which also aligned perfectly with the vibe of the event.
I was so inspired by Pinky Cole’s story and her passion for her Atlanta-based vegan restaurant chain, Slutty Vegan, that I had to try the Fussy Hussy, and wow, it did not disappoint. In fact, every single meal I had while at the conference was delicious and flavorful. I have to give props to the TED event planning team for carefully selecting the best possible food vendors in the area to provide great options during the entire conference. The restaurant for my Dine Around experience, Delbar, is listed in the MICHELIN Guide. I could not have had a better foodie experience if I’d planned my visit to Atlanta myself.
TEDNext has changed the way I think about events, speakers, and even my place in this world. My respect and awe for the cohesive execution of this 3-day event has been nothing short of inspiring. The speakers and sessions were crafted to maximize impact. Sitting in sessions alongside attendees from the U.K., Singapore and Brazil, the world felt just a little bit smaller. The entire event left me wanting to be part of making both this industry and our world a better place.
Our event industry is on the verge of change. With an increased focus on connection and collaboration, instead of competition, our clients who plan events and the speakers they book all benefit. I’m thankful for the small part I play in making this transformation happen, one event at a time.