Last week FutureEverything collaborated with BBC Backstage and Codeworks to stage TEDxManchester, one of a series of “TEDx” events around the globe, which are “local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.”
On all objective criteria, TEDxManchester was a solid success, some great talks, some not so great talks, packed hall with +/-350 attending, all staying for the full seven hours of talks – we believe it is the biggest TEDx event to date in Europe.
And yet afterwards it took some criticism, mainly because some of the speakers did not live up to the incredible standards set by the speakers many of us have come to admire so much on the TED.com site.
Great comments were made on many blogs, an overview from bbcbackstage is here.
TEDx Manchester
OK, so here’s the scoop, someone needs to get on to @TEDchris here, as if what is (probably) the most successful TEDx to date is seen in a negative light, then the model needs a refresh.
There is a big issue here, one close to my own interests, which is how we can change the way events are run, embracing a more open, bottom up approach, without sacrificing the quality and characteristics that come with something highly authored and centrally designed.
There is a fundamental difference in nature and culture between a highly authored, highly produced, highly programmed conference such as TED, FutureEverything and Thinking Digital, and events which are more bottom up and emergent, such as TEDx or our own EVNTS. You can mix the two – we always have open, participatory strands in FutureEverything – but they are still not the same.
We have got round this with the EVNTS strand of independent events in the FutureEverything festival, running since 2005, as all the “EVNTS” take place in Manchester at the time of the festival, and because we offer mentoring, and limited amounts of funding, to help nurture the next generation.
Trust in the ability of strangers is a marvelous thing, and sure enough EVNTS quickly established itself as one of the most vibrant strands of the FutureEverything festival, and has grown into a community who meet regularly year round, and return each year to give the festival an extra edge.
TEDx, like EVNTS, is not of course entirely bottom up, it is programmed. But it depends on, and absorbs much of, the open character of digital culture in calling for people to “do it together.”
Most good open systems need some serious engineering behind the scenes in the rules that govern the system. TEDx is similar, and to run a TEDx event the organisers need to apply and meet the criteria.
But TEDx is not TED, and the main lesson from TEDxManchester is about managing expectations. There were some very strong talks, others less so, and yes it is true some failed to set the roof on fire. I was glad to see some new faces in the coffee breaks, many no doubt drawn by the “TED”x brand, and expecting the full TED roadshow to roll through town.
All the people involved in running it knew what to expect. A lot of effort went into TEDxManchester, but nothing to compare with our own big annual events, when we have the luxury of funding and the ability to work on programming all year round, devising topics with speakers, and engaging deeply in the content with individual contributors months in advance.
Another interesting comment by Kim at globalsocialite was that too many talks at TEDxManchester were on digital technology, not enough looking outside the digital space for inspiration.
I replied that at FutureEverything too we dont focus just on digital, in fact we stopped using ‘digital’ when talking about what we do many years ago, and now just say we are a “festival of art, music & ideas.”
More widely, I think you can see this in two ways.
On the one hand, drawing on speakers from “anywhere” means that we can listen to, say, an astrophysicist amaze us with insights, many of which would be mundane to an audience of astrophysicists. This gives speakers the freedom to really let rip, and deliver something profound and inspiring, that draws on the full wealth of their specialist wisdom.
On the other hand, focusing on one specific area, say digital culture, means that you can have many different perspectives, and because the speakers are speaking to an audience of their peers, you tend to get more nuanced contributions. You are less likely to get “this is the one insight that motivates me” but more likely to genuinely break new ground, and raise the bar in understanding on a particular topic.
Add unmanaged expectations with one brand, TEDx, to politics around another, BBC. The other noticable thing about TEDxManchester was how the association with the BBC polarised people’s opinions. During the event the BBC speakers took a lot of hard arsed questions, which frankly made me mad, as this was politics imported from outside the room unrelated to the content of the talks.
I will stand up for the BBC, because despite the issues that come with being a bureaucratic monopoly, they have made a major new commitment to my home city, Manchester, and I am determined that they will find a welcome that is genuine and heartfelt.
Its always good for an event to generate debate, and TEDxManchester generated more than a little. Now the dust is settling, evnt geeks like me can learn the lessons for next time.
Tags: FutureEverything