TED Community » Herb Kim

About Me

Director of the Thinking Digital Conference.

Born in Brooklyn to Korean parents, I've been living in the UK since 1997. In addition to being a devoted TEDster since 2006, I have also really drunk the TEDx kool-aid and have helped produce a dozen of them.

What TED has done for me is to help me realise how much I appreciate great ideas, great content and great presentations of content. It's had a massive effect on my professional life. With TED 2006 as a huge source of inspiration I have sought to use the spirit of 'ideas worth spreading' to re-engineer completely my company. I am the Founder & CEO of Codeworks which is a nonprofit, economic development company based in Gateshead across the river from Newcastle upon Tyne. We are working to contribute to the region's rebirth by supporting and incubating digital media technology companies throughout the North East.

Since TED 2006 we have used the TED model of brand building and content curation to create the Thinking Digital Conference, the DIBI Web Conference and the GameHorizon Conference which bring thought leaders from around the world to Gateshead annually. The provocation, stimulation & inspiration this model has generated has been a huge success as a business and as a catalyst for positive change in our region. My work at Codeworks & Thinking Digital recently earned me a spot in the 2010 MediaGuardian Top 100 and in the 2011 Wired Magazine Top 100 which was genuinely a surprise but a very nice one. I gotta lay alot of credit at the feet of TED in allowing me to become part of this amazing community.

Prior to Codeworks, I spent two years at o2 - the UK's largest mobile phone operator - in senior product development positions. I was the UK MD of QXL.com in London during the time of the company's LSE flotation. I helped found Bertelsmann's online ecommerce store (bol.com). Before Bertelsmann I co-founded Blackwell's Online Bookshop and was part of the startup team at IBM's first Internet Division.

At Princeton University. I focused on American diplomatic history in the post-WWII era. I got my MBA from The Wharton School. At Wharton, I worked on a great project with Polygram on the future of music distribution (this was back in 1996 so it was all still theoretical back then). I also lucked my way into winning the 1996 Wharton Investment Challenge.

While I work in Gateshead, I currently live in Liverpool, England with my partner (Marie) and 5yo daughter (Alice Scout). I've actually come to like the winter weather in northern England but do miss summers in the USA.