TED Talks launch today

I've been working on TEDTalks for the last couple of weeks and they finally went live today.  Check them out!

TEDTalks bow today Tuesday
Today for the first time, we're releasing some of the best TED talks to the world. They're available as a podcast series, TEDTalks, in both audio and video, at http://www.ted.com/tedtalks and http://tedblog.typepad.com. We're launching with six talks, and will add more weekly. They'll be fully searchable, and absolutely FREE.

This is a big moment for us: Until now, TED has been an invitation-only experience, limited to 1,000 people each year. But these talks are so powerful, we felt they deserved a much wider audience... So we partnered with BMW to bring them out to the world. 

To ensure the widest possible audience, we're publishing TEDTalks across multiple formats (Flash Video, QuickTime, MP4 video, MP3 audio) and locations (TED.com, TEDBlog (via VideoEgg), iTunes, GoogleVideo, RSS feeds...). They're being released under a creative commons license, so non-commercial sites are free to re-post them, in their entirety. Simple instructions for this will be included in each entry on the TEDBlog.

About the sponsor:
Thanks to the support of BMW, we're able to release these talks for free, and distribute them widely. We've really been struck by the passion with which they got behind the idea. Partner-wise, they're a perfect fit, both because of their history of innovation (Chris Bangle, head of BMW Group Design, was a 2002 TED speaker) and their legacy of supporting ground-breaking media (think BMW Films).

About the speakers:
TEDTalks will launch with 6 inspired presentations: Al Gore's sage advice on living a carbon-neutral life, Hans Rosling's inspired interpretation of global statistics, Ken Robinson's vision for an education system that values creativity; Majora Carter's commitment to environmental justice; Tony Robbins'  roadmap for reaching your potential; and David Pogue's software-inspired show tunes. We'll add more talks weekly, pulling primarily from TED2006 and TEDGlobal, but also dipping into previous years.

About the search:
Powered by Podzinger's speech-recognition technology, it allows you to find keywords or phrases within individual TEDTalks, and then play the video from the moment they're mentioned. (Try searching for "South Bronx" or "carbon neutral"). The transcripts generated aren't perfect — punctuation is often missing, and many of the small connecting words are lost in translation — but they're extremely effective for keyword searching and precision playback.

About the production:
The TEDTalks video series was created in-house, and edited specifically for the micro-screen (closer shots, faster cuts...) Our audio series was produced with podcast pioneers WNYC/New York Public Radio, and is also edited specifically for the medium, with crisp edits that cut out extraneous elements (prolonged introductions, AV problems, commentary on visual information the listener can't see, etc)

About the goal:
I think it's worth emphasizing that our goal here isn't to profit or even to drive interest in the conference (TED2007 is already sold out), but simply to find the widest possible audience for these talks.

About our partners:
Along with BMW, we partnered with Adobe, Apple, Clickability, Feedburner, Google, Podzinger, StreamGuys, Typepad, VideoEgg, and WNYC (New York Public Radio) to bring TEDTalks to life.

Wish us luck!

Tom

Press Release follows:
--------------------------
For Release:
June 27, 2006

Contact:
Andreas Klugescheid
Corporate Communications Manager, Western Operations BMW Group
805-271-7311 / [email protected]

Laura Galloway
Galloway Media Group (TED)
212-260-3708 / [email protected]

PODCASTING INNOVATION:  TED AND BMW TEAM UP TO SHARE THE POWER OF IDEAS WITH A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

New York, NY and Woodcliff Lake, NJ - June 27, 2006... Once a year, 1000 people are invited to the TED Conference in Monterey, California, to exchange something of incalculable value:  their ideas.  What happens there has never been shared until now.  TED and BMW today announced they will team up to provide a ground-breaking, free video and audio podcast series of the best talks delivered at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference. Starting today, the public can download the talks - which will feature Al Gore, Bono, and more than 30 other distinguished speakers in a format specifically edited for a wide range of media at www.ted.com/tedtalks or at www.bmwusa.com/TED.

Independent Thinkers and Great Ideas Worth Spreading
"BMW is a natural partner for TED because of their commitment to innovation, their nurturing of great ideas, and their history of supporting ground-breaking uses of new media. We're delighted that they're supporting this project," said Chris Anderson, Curator of the TED Conference. "At the heart of TED is a belief that ideas can change the world. For years we've witnessed powerful, inspiring talks there. They've had huge impact on those who've heard them. Now, thanks to the take-off of online video and podcasting, we can share them widely for the first time. This is incredibly exciting. Each of these unique voices has the power to inspire, to change someone's views, or even someone's life."

"BMW's sponsorship of TEDTalks reflects the company's deep commitment to nurturing great ideas and the independent thinkers behind them," said Jack Pitney, Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America. "TED and BMW are both independent organizations, and we truly feel that independent thinkers and breakthrough ideas are the most crucial elements in shaping our future."

"The main focus is to get these powerful ideas out into the world, these are ideas worth spreading," adds Chris Anderson of TED.

Pitney noted that BMW has a reputation for being an innovator in the areas that define the TED conference themes: Technology, Entertainment and Design. BMW as a leader in sustainable technology is preparing the paradigm shift for a regenerative hydrogen-powered world with its pioneering CleanEnergy program, which helped spark the partnership with TED. When it comes to entertainment, BMW also has a strong record in using podcasts and online videos like the industry-defining internet BMW FILMS to spread ground-breaking ideas. Not surprisingly, this is not the first time that BMW and TED have been affiliated - in 2002, Chris Bangle, the visionary BMW Group Director of Design, was one of the speakers at the conference.

Speakers Who Have the Power to Change the World
TEDTalks premieres on June 27th  with six extraordinary speakers: Former US Vice President Al Gore (giving the talk that followed his now-famous presentation on climate change), Macarthur Award recipient Majora Carter, motivational speaker Tony Robbins, New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, education visionary Ken Robinson, and founder of the non-profit Gapminder Hans Rosling.

Additional talks will be released weekly and will feature rock star Peter Gabriel on his work with human-rights group Witness, evolutionary anthropologist Helen Fisher exploring the future of love, X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis making the case for space tourism, "Ashes and Snow" photographer Gregory Colbert unveiling the idea of an Animal Copyright Foundation, Seattle Library architect Joshua Prince-Ramus explaining how great architecture is made, actress Julia Sweeney performing an excerpt from her play, "Letting Go of God," 28-year-old blogging entrepreneur Mena Trott on the personal side of blogging, and Tipping Point author Malcolm Gladwell on what we can all learn from spaghetti sauce.

18 Minutes of Technology & Media Leadership - TED and the BMW Group
The talks are perfectly timed at 18 minutes, so speakers deliver pithy presentations with astounding impact. The talks are being distributed across multiple formats to reach the greatest audience possible (Flash Video, QuickTime, MPEG-4 video, MP3 audio, VideoEgg, GoogleVideo, iTunes music store). Anyone with a web browser can watch TEDTalks online at www.ted.com/tedtalks. The audio and video podcasts can also be downloaded for playback on an iPod or other MP3 player. Viewers can also subscribe for free to receive each new TEDTalk, as it is released. In the spirit of a free exchange, these podcasts are being released under a creative commons license, allowing them to be redistributed freely for non-commercial use.

From July onwards, the ever-growing TED community can listen to the audio version of the TEDTalks in every current BMW model, all of which are available with iPod adapters.

Key Partnerships
Along with the BMW Group, TED has partnered with industry leaders to produce and distribute these cutting-edge talks, including Adobe, Apple, Clickability, Feedburner, Google, Podzinger, StreamGuys, Typepad, VideoEgg, and WNYC (New York Public Radio).

High resolutions images are available for free editorial use at www.newscastonline.com/media/

TED
TED is an invitation-only event where the world's leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration and insight. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. In fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline. Attendees have called it "The ultimate brain spa" and "A four-day journey into the future." The audience -- CEOs, financiers, inventors, intellectuals -- is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Quincy Jones, Frank Gehry, Herbie Hancock and Bono.

Each year, TED features 80 of the world's most fascinating people. TED presenters run the world's most admired companies and design its best-loved products; they invent world-changing devices, and write best-selling books. They are trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses. Collectively, they have won every major prize awarded for excellence, including the Nobel, Pritzker, Pulitzer, Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Tony and Macarthur "Genius" grant.

TED was first held in Monterey, CA in 1984, and featured the launch of the Macintosh computer and the Sony compact disc. In 2001, Chris Anderson's Sapling Foundation acquired TED from its founder Richard Saul Wurman.

BMW - A Company of Ideas
BMW has a unique corporate culture which puts a premium on constant innovation and inspiration. This is reflected in projects like BMW CleanEnergy, BMW's commitment to a sustainable future for mobility using renewable hydrogen fuel, BMW Design, which sets trends in interior and exterior styling, and the award-winning BMW FILMS. BMW believes there is nothing more rewarding than helping great ideas live on.

BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand, the MINI brand, and the ROLLS-ROYCE brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the, country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all Z4 Roadster and X5 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car centers, 334 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 80 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 ROLLS-ROYCE Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at
www.bmwgroupna.com, www.bmwusa.com, www.bmwmotorradusa,
www.miniusa.com, and www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com.

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