TEDxWomen lunch brings the international community together in Edinburgh
Day three at TEDGlobal was especially fun because we hosted a lunch on TEDxWomen and had a chance to connect with many friends, old and new, about our third annual gathering. Pat Mitchell, our visionary curator, gave an overview of the history and future of TEDxWomen, and Lara Stein, Director of TEDx and, newly, the TED Prize, contributed the larger TEDx perspective.
We announced the theme, “The Space Between,” which came directly from TEDx organizers in Doha who attended the summit there last April, and encouraged everyone to recommend speakers and topics, host TEDxWomen satellite gatherings in their own local areas, and be in touch via social media (we live-tweeted the lunch, so check out @TEDxWomen for the play-by-play.)
Pat also announced that there would be “duets” or dialogues on stage at TEDxWomen 2012 and plenty of girls’ voices, both popular sessions in the first two years as well as sessions that explore the space between fate and faith, war and peace, and the current debate about work and life and how we find, as women and men, a balanced space between. We were thrilled that organizers from Latvia, Soweto, Saudi Arabia and Brazil–among so many other international locations–offered their perspectives, suggestions, and questions.
June Cohen, the co-host for the original TEDWomen meeting and the Executive Producer of TED Media, chimed in on why this particular part of TED’s ecosystem is so important to her: “The byproduct of TED is that there is an extraordinary community of women that have become friends & colleagues.”
Pat ended by saying: “My biggest wish is that TEDxWomen will create a global community of women and men united to reach our full leadership potential.”
