— Ch. 1 · The Compact Disc Demo —
TED (conference).
~3 min read · Ch. 1 of 5
Richard Saul Wurman and Harry Marks launched TED in February 1984 as a technology conference. The first event featured a demonstration of the compact disc, which had been invented just two years prior in October 1982. Mickey Schulhof gave this demo to an audience gathered at the Monterey Conference Center. The mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot also spoke that year alongside Nicholas Negroponte and Stewart Brand. The event was financially unsuccessful and six years passed before a second conference took place. Only one other gathering occurred between 1984 and 1990. Wurman led these early events while they remained focused on technology and design.
Anderson's Acquisition And Relocation
Chris Anderson acquired TED for $14 million in 2000 through his UK media company Future. He transferred ownership to his non-profit Sapling Foundation in November 2001 for £6 million. Anderson delivered a TED Talk in February 2002 explaining his vision for the organization. The main conference moved from Monterey to Long Beach, California in 2009 due to growing attendance numbers. It then relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia in 2014. The venue became the Vancouver Convention Centre where it has held annual meetings since that time. Anderson served as curator until July 2019 when control shifted to the TED Foundation. The organization now operates with about 180 staff members split between New York City and Vancouver.Streaming Millions Of Views
June Cohen joined TED Media as Director in 2005 after Chris Anderson hired her. She proposed a television show based on lectures but networks rejected the idea. In June 2006 TED began posting selected talks online under Creative Commons licenses. Only a handful of videos appeared initially to test audience interest. By January 2007 the number of available talks had grown to 44 and viewership exceeded three million times. The organization invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into video production operations. A new website launched in April 2007 developed by Method design company. TED.com won seven Webby Awards and received a Peabody Award in 2012. Combined viewing figures surpassed 500 million by June 2011. Netflix announced a deal in March 2012 to stream an initial series of 16 two-hour collections.