Now here is something that the current financial climate made me do. TED, the US-based ivory tower event for innovative thinking(and spreading of same ideas) is branching out. There will be a TED in the Netherlands, UK, etc.
For this new era, they, instead of the usual invite-only (plus a few understandingly expensive tickets) event, offer a ‘membership’, which let’s you watch a live-stream with up to 10! of your friends, in order to get the benefit of having the edge on your next water-cooler chats. Until they put all the talks online as the usually do anyways. Oh yeah its a HD-quality live-stream by the way.
Long story short, here are a few excerpts:
‘…We’re getting ready for TEDGlobal in Oxford, UK coming up in just two weeks from July 21-24th. I wanted to let you know about the TEDGlobal Associate Membership, a great program that lets you watch TEDGlobal live on line with 10 of your friends, among other great benefits…’
‘+ Memberships cost US$995. For U.S. residents, up to $500 may be tax deductible and a tax receipt will be issued at the end of the year. For residents of other countries, please consult your tax professional.’
Wowsa! That’s about £600+ for that one. It is true though that they send you book(s) and DVDs 5 times a year, but let’s say that’s £50 worth of books/DVDs each time, which still leaves a good £350 for what exactly?
Is it a book-club or the most expensive live-webcast I ever heard of?
I must admit I was intrigued by what seemed to be a conflict of philosophy. When they say the ideas are worth spreading, why put a price tag on it?
But then again, I can just as well stop being a negative nancy and just watch the talk on the website. But then again TED is sponsored by Pfizer(and others???).
