TEDxBilkentUniversity

Last Thursday, December 1, "TEDxWomen," an independently organized event licensed by TED, was livestreamed from Bilkent University.

TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. At TED Conferences, speakers are given an 18-minute limit for their presentations to try to capture the attention of the audience present at the event, as well that of online viewers. Since TED is based on a multidisciplinary approach, the topics span a variety of subjects. Each and every speaker has his/her own area of expertise - the writer Elif Şafak, for example, spoke about "The Politics of Fiction."

In the spirit of “ideas worth spreading,” a program named TEDx has been introduced. TEDx, in which "x = independently organized TED event," enables local individuals to hold TED-like events. The event that took place last week was called "TEDxBilkentUniversity," at which "TEDxWomen" was livestreamed, followed by intense discussions among the participants. For more information about TEDx, you can go to www.ted.com/tedx.

The coming year's event, TED2012, is expected to be a landmark in TED's history. "From dazzling technology and leading-edge science to the richest veins of human creativity and interconnection, we are assembling our most diverse group of speakers ever for TED2012," proclaims the event website. For more information about TED2012, or for inspiration on any subject that might interest you, visit http://conferences.ted.com/TED2012.