Issue 4: Do you have a favorite TED talk?

This week’s burning question: Do you have a favorite TED talk? If you do, by all means, let us know! This issue is all about TED. I attended the 2012 TED conference this past week in Long Beach – one of the most fertile grounds for discussion about imagination and innovation. In this Weekender, we want to know the TED talks you feel the spa and wellness industry should listen to (I have a few in mind).

We’ll be sending a list of the favorites that people suggested in next week’s issue. Will yours make the A-list?

Meet TED
TED is a gathering of people, over 1,500 to be exact. With the tagline of “Ideas worth Spreading,” TED is an innovative nonprofit that started out (in 1984) as a conference to bring together three worlds – technology, entertainment and design. Since then, it has become massively successful, especially since it took on the innovative philosophy of “radical openness.”

TED Today (aka all-grown-up)
Today, along with TED’s annual conferences and regional events, the organization has all sorts of projects going on, including an award-winning video site that makes these inspiring and content-rich TED talks available to anyone for free. The website has had 700,000,000 views over the past five-and-a-half years, and the videos have been translated into 86 languages – talk about far reaching.

Lucky Number 18
What makes TED so special is the format: Each speaker talks for 18-minutes – no more, no less. There are no breakout sessions. According to TED.com, “Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected.”

So what does this mean for the spa and wellness industry? These 18-minute videos have the potential to be a huge help as we embark on understanding innovation and imagination. Take a look at TED’s video library, select a few in your area of interest and let us know the ones you love.

Also, check out the list below of our favorites, covering everything and anything about innovation: from medicine and wellness, to education and personal “genius.”

Daniel Kraft: Medicine’s Future?
Innovations impacting medicine and wellness.

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring On The Learning Revolution!
One of the most-viewed TED talks ever.

Elizabeth Gilbert: On Nurturing Creativity
We all have a “genius.”

Trust me – each of these 18-minute talks will be worth your time this weekend.

Check out the GSWS team’s picks:

GSWS team pick:
Daniel Kraft: Medicine’s Future?
A quick and encouraging glimpse at innovations impacting medicine and wellness.

Susie’s pick:
Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!
One of the most viewed TED talks ever. It is about innovation in education.

Dulcy’s pick:
Elizabeth Gilbert: On Nurturing Creativity
Shares the radical idea that we all have our own, personal “genius.”