From left: audience member at TED2005; audience at TED@Aspen in 2008; Jay Walker at TED
Attendance at a TED conference has always been by invitation. But we're open to new applications for membership, and actively seek out leading thinkers and doers across a wide range of fields. Anyone online can submit an application form to attend a TED conference.
Apply for TED@PalmSprings, the TED2009 waitlist or TEDGlobal 2009 >>
Everyone can join TED.com as a website member, free. To attend a TED Conference, however, you must submit an application to be invited.
Applications are approved only if:
+ There is availability in the membership category being applied for
+ The applicant is likely, in our judgment, to be a strong contributor to the TED community and/or the ideas discussed at TED and/or the projects and TED Prize wishes that come out of the annual conference.
There are several categories of TED Conference membership: Conference, Donor and Patron memberships, as well as Reduced-Price Memberships for those in the nonprofit and education worlds, and Fellowships awarded to promising attendees -- as well as memberships to TED@PalmSprings, our simulcast event.
Read more about the categories of TED Conference membership here >>
TED Conference membership
Cost: $6,000/year
Requirements: All attendees must apply for membership. Numbers are limited.
Benefits include:
+ Attending the TED Conference in Long Beach
+ Creating a profile page and social networking with other Conference members
+ Enrollment in the TED Book Club, which sends inspired packages of media every two months (starting with date of registration). A typical mailing might include two or three books, CDs or DVDs specially chosen for TED Conference members
+ A set of DVDs from that year's TED Conference. The DVDs contain almost all the content of that conference, including introductions, short talks, etc., to show the talks in the context and order in which they were presented. DVDs are mailed within four months of the end of each conference that falls within the membership period
+ Access to occasional special offers made available by companies that support TED
+ Invitation to TED Salons (single-evening events held in cities around the world) if and when they are held during the year
TED Conference memberships last for one year, except in the case of Patrons. TED Conference memberships commence on April 16 of the year prior to the membership's major conference, or on the date the payment is processed (whichever comes first). Memberships terminate the following year on April 15, except in the case of TED Patrons, whose memberships continue for a term of 5 years. Members are not entitled to any benefits, such as Book Club mailings, that take place prior to the start of their membership. Payments for TED Conference memberships take the form of a contribution to the foundation that owns TED, the Sapling Foundation, a private 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation. A portion of the TED Conference membership is not tax deductible (value of services received). Please see our Membership Policies page for terms and details.
