TED2014: Bill Gates, Sting, and Chris Hadfield to speak in Vancouver
A magician, a firefly specialist, a user experience master, jugglers, and a "relentless mind" are on the speakers list for Vancouver's TED2014 conference.
Today (January 30), TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) released the conference line-up on its blog, stating:
TED2014 is our 30th-anniversary conference, and the speaker lineup is — in a word — thrilling. Speakers will touch on topics ranging from technology, entertainment, design and education to climate change, architecture, music, physics, parenting, typography, fireflies and the Golden Gate Bridge. Randall Munroe of xkcd will talk about his passion for What If questions. Yoruba Richen will talk about the fastest-moving social justice campaign in history. Wendy Chung will offer a scholarly overview of what we know right now about autism. And Chris Hadfield of NASA will put down his guitar long enough to talk to us about life in space — and back on earth. Some speakers on the lineup will look back and reflect on things that have happened over the past 30 years. Other speakers will look forward and predict: where are we headed next?
Here's the full list of speakers:
Session 1: Liftoff
- Nicholas Negroponte, tech visionary
- Chris Hadfield, astronaut
- Geena Rocero, model and activist
- An education reformer
Session 2: Retrospect
- Bran Ferren, technology designer
- Marc Kushner, architect
- Raspyni Brothers, jugglers
- Yoruba Richen, documentary filmmaker
- Mark Ronson, music producer
Session 3: Reshape
- Michel Laberge, plasma physicist
- Amanda Burden, urban planner
- David Kwong, cruciverbalist
- Matthew Carter, type designer
Session 4: Wish
- Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist
- Melinda and Bill Gates, philanthropists
- Zak Ebrahim, peace activist
- The 2014 TED Prize winner
- Sting, musician and activist
Session 5: Us
- Nancy Kanwisher, brain researcher
- Rob Knight, microbial ecologist
- David Epstein, sports science reporter
- Jon Mooallem, writer
Session 6: Wired
- Chris Kluwe, punter and author
- Margaret Gould Stewart, user experience master
- Randall Munroe, cartoonist
- Avi Reichental, 3D printer
Session 7: Why?
- Jason Webley, musician
- Wendy Chung, geneticist
- Helder Guimarães, magician
- Hugh Herr, prostheticist
- Allan Adams, theoretical physicist
- Jim Holt, writer and philosopher
Session 8: Hacked
- Keren Elazari, cybersecurity expert
- David Chalmers, philosopher
- Marco Tempest, techno-illusionist
- Ed Yong, science writer
Session 9: Emergent
- Deborah Gordon, ecologist
- Sara Lewis, firefly specialist
- Del Harvey, security maven
- Will Marshall, space scientist
- Andrew Connolly, astronomer
Session 10: Passion
- Mellody Hobson, investment expert
- Masarat Daud, rural education campaigner
- Ben Saunders, arctic explorer
Session 11: Unstress
- Simon Sinek, leadership expert
- Jennifer Senior, writer
- Sarah Jones, polymorphic playwright
- Kevin Briggs, Golden Gate guardian
Session 12: Onward
- Joi Ito, relentless mind
- Andrew Solomon, writer
- Julia Sweeney, actor, comedian and playwright
TED2014 will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre from March 17 to 21.
Tickets for the sold-out event cost US$7,500.
Comments
1 Comments
bobo
Jan 30, 2014 at 11:20am
Perhaps sting will speak about how he can be so hypocritical about his statements regarding carbon footprints. He travels all over the world, has multiple residences, and uses probably more gas to get around than most villages in the developing world. But hey, he can write a pretty good song. Perhaps he should stick to songwriting until he can see clearly. Otherwise, I think the TED conference is fantastic and I welcome them to Vancouver!!