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"Inspired by Nature"

Here are some of the comments we've received from those who attended TED2005.

“My mind is reeling. It is so hard to explain the scope and depth explored. My only regret is that in the past I didn't carve out enough time to attend... it is so completely worth the investment of time and attention. ”
Michael Gaw, Just Imagine

“Consensus among the 10 or so people I brought to TED: this year was the best yet. Nice work on a magical and forward-thinking event.”
-- Peterson Conway VII

“Thanks so much for making room for me at TED 2005. It was beyond amazing.... ....a mind-opening experience. If it opens anymore, I am afraid it will float past the ozone layer. ”
-- Amy Tan, Author

“Congratulations on a great TED. I very much enjoyed it and I thought that "Inspired by Nature" was the most successful organizing theme of all TEDs. ”
-- Danny Hillis, Applied Minds

“What a tour de force! It was fantastic. Even the naysayers become yaysayers. ”
-- Sunny Bates

“Where to begin? It was my first time at TED. It was a life changing experience for me and I will never miss it again. I thank you sincerely for a truly amazing experience. ”
-- Bruce Falck, Energy Innovations

“I had only heard stories of how inspirational TED was in the past. None of them did any justice. As the movie Matrix suggests -- "You cannot be told what [TED] is, you can only experience it for yourself". ”
-- Richard Yoo

“Thank you once again for an absolutely incredible event. Perhaps I'm still in my honeymoon-phase (still just having attended three times), but I feel like it just gets better and better The sessions were amazing, but what was even better was talking to the speakers afterward.”
-- Andrew Beebe, President Energy Innovations

“It was our first time. It was like drinking from a firehose. ”
-- Jay Dedman, ANT

“I was Exalted, Invigorated, Educated, Cultivated, Appreciated, Accelerated, Connected, Invigorated, Intoxicated, Elated, Enchanted, Excited, Fascinated, Motivated and Uplifted ”
-- Charles Fleischer, Comedian

“You really delivered on all the promises and expectations that were set for us. The TED community welcomed us with open arms. I was impressed, stimulated, inspired, and excited to come back to Inventables and continue our quest. ”
-- Zach Kaplan, Inventables

“Congratulations on another great TED. It’s hard to believe you could pack even more into the program than last year. A few of us were standing around commenting on how nice it is that the old TED cliques are gone. You’ve made it a hierarchy-free event, and many people appreciate that.”
-- Richard St. John

“Thank you again for inviting me to speak at TED 2005. This extraordinary group of people and array of talks far surpassed what I could have imagined, and was even better than putting together the talents of MIT and Harvard in one hall. I came away with several very important and useful ideas, and made many great contacts. ”
-- Professor Brian Farrell, Harvard

“I know you'll probably get hundreds of emails like this in the upcoming days, but I wanted to add my voice to those saying TED 2005 was a terrific success. The addition of the TED Prize added great opportunities for the community to establish deeper, longer-lasting connections. My business partner was attending her first TED and saw for the first time why I've never been able to adequately describe the experience. ”
-- Tom Guarriello, True Talk

“To all of you amazing, talented, geniuses at TED!!!! You are amazing! I am speechless! I am in awe! I am inspired and enlightened!”
-- Natalie Markoff, Vosges Chocolates

“You do brilliant work. You sew everything together in a way that is so skillful and smooth. I want to thank you and your staff for the year of brutal work you must have put in order order to assemble such a remarkable series of speakers and attracting an equally remarkable group of attendees. See you next year. ”
-- Wyman Bravard, Frost & Sullivan

“CONGRATULATIONS on yet another great event. it was a real pleasure to take part. Even bigger congratulations on the successful launch of the TED Prize: really well executed; fed perfectly into the conference agenda; Bono was even better than my expectations; people seemed so energized. ”
-- Mark Hurst, Creative Good

“Such a wonderful few days. This TED was a mind-expander; like going back to college for a few days except that you get to hear from only the very best professors and happily don't have to take any tests. The evolution of both the conference and the community has been most impressive. This isn't the same TED as it used to be. You've transformed it from a fabulous 3 day event into a year-round intellectual call to arms. Pretty darn cool. ”
-- Lise Buyer, Google

“Last week was one of the greatest times I've had in a long time. The many many conversations I had with the people gathered together for that week was amazing. I can already say I met people that will become friends and I will be keeping in touch with for a long time. Not to mention everything else that I got from the conference. I will definitely be attending next year. ”
-- Keith Shacht, Inventables

“I was blown away by the TED Conference! What a fantastic experience. I was spellbound by the great speakers you had lined up, and also met quite a few interesting people at the conference and during those great parties. I even got to play drums with Mickey Hart! How cool is that. Thanks again for inviting me to display my mobile sculpture, and for all the great memories that will last my lifetime."
-- Bruce Gray, Artist

Excerpts from press and blog coverage of TED2005

Animal Magnetism
A technology conference takes cues from nature.
Reviewed by Julie Lasky
I.D., May 2005

A number of frankly revolting creatures turned up for TED 2005—earthworms, tarantulas, and scorpions by the tankful. This year the theme was “Inspired by Nature,” and dramatic examples of her handiwork were never far from the stage. Chris Anderson, led the conference, which is held over four days every February in Monterey, California, hugging a giant snake one day, a massive iguana the next. Speakers ranged across the natural sciences, from the Nobel Prize–winning molecular biologist James Watson to the Canadian surgeon Mehran Anvari, who performs operations with the assistance of telerobotic technology. (That is, he manipulates scalpels and needles on the bodies of patients who may be hundreds of miles away.)

TED is nothing if not eclectic—the acronym stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design—but even speakers who arrived from worlds without test tubes had something to say about biology. “I am known as ‘Captain Organic,’” declared the industrial designer Ross Lovegrove, whose work includes a gorgeous staircase modeled on a DNA molecule. (Dr. Watson seemed impressed.)

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TED2005
From the Bucks of Woodside blog
By Jamis MacNiven

Now, I’ve been to Burning Man, the top of the Great Pyramid in Giza and rooted through Zsa Zsa Gabor's bedroom closet and I can say that the TED Conference ranks right up there. TED means Technology, Entertainment and Design. Once a year about 800 TEDizens descend on Monterey like a bunch of high IQ butterflies and proceed to cross-fertilize. The goal is to teach and to learn about the state of things in the universe and also to explore ways to make the world a better place. When I say state of things I mean all sorts of disciplines from particle physics to architecture, from computer generated art to the theory of moleeds.

There are close to 60 speakers and their talks range from the earth shattering (the current state of genome research) to the trivial (new ways to tie a shoe) from the profane (Roman sexual habits) to the sublime (the music of Thomas Dolby). The conference is curated by Chris Anderson who has molded the conference in his own image, that being of a thoughtful, curious world citizen searching for meaning and grace. A tall order, but TED delivers.