TED Announces Speaker Program for TED2012 Conference: "Full Spectrum"

NEW YORK, Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces today its speaker line-up for TED2012, the organization's flagship conference.  This year's program includes a range of explorers, storytellers, photographers, scientific pioneers, visionaries and educators from all parts of the globe.  Themed "Full Spectrum," TED2012 will take place from February 27 through March 2 in Long Beach, CA.

"TED speakers convey powerful ideas using one of the oldest traditions in human storytelling – the spoken word," said Chris Anderson, TED's curator.  "This year, we've invited talented speakers to take it one step further by asking them to share those eye-opening ideas in a way that reinvents the ancient art of oral storytelling.  Under the theme 'Full Spectrum,' speakers will use rich technologies, formats and styles – think custom animation, 'slide blizzards,' robotics, rants – all designed to make a lasting impact on the listener."

The TED2012 speakers program:

Session 1: The Observatory

• Paul Gilding, Sustainability advisor
• Peter Diamandis, Futurist
• Sarah Parcak , Space archaeologist, TED Fellow
• Brian Greene, Physicist
• Susan Cain, Author, introvert

Session 2: The Library

• Michael Tilson Thomas, Musician, conductor
• Andrew Stanton, Filmmaker
• Reuben Margolin, Kinetic sculptor
• Billy Collins, Poet
• Quixotic, Performance ensemble

Session 3: The Dinner Party

• Rebecca Newberger Goldstein + Steven Pinker, Novelist-philosopher + Linguist
• Jonathan Haidt, Social psychologist
• Atul Gawande, Surgeon, journalist
• Janelle Monae, Performer, songwriter

Session 4: The Lab

• Henrik Scharfe, Roboticist
• Regina Dugan, Director of DARPA
• Jack Choi, Technologist
• Marco Tempest, Techno-illusionist
• Donald Sadoway, Materials engineer

Session 5: The Earth 

• Sharon Beals, Photographer
• Wade Davis, Anthropologist, ethnobotanist
• James Hansen, Climatologist
• T. Boone Pickens, Entrepreneur, energy theorist
• The Civilians Investigative Theatre Co., Theater company

Session 6: The Crowd

• Reid Hoffman, Social entrepreneur
• Lior Zoref, Crowdsourcing advocate
• Reggie Watts, Vocalist, beatboxer, comedian
• Frank Warren, Secret keeper
• Cameron Carpenter, Organist

Session 7:  TED Prize – The City 2.0

Session 8: The Courtroom

• Jim Stengel, Marketer
• Sherry Turkle, Cultural psychoanalyst
• Tali Sharot, Cognitive neuroscientist
• Abigail Washburn, Clawhammer banjo player, TED Fellow
• Bryan Stevenson, Public-interest lawyer

Session 9: The Designer's Studio – Curated and hosted by Chee Pearlman and David Rockwell

• Chip Kidd, Graphic designer
• Andrew Bolton, Curator
• David Kelley, Industrial designer

Session 10: The Campfire

• Jared Ficklin, Visualizer
• Sebastian Wernicke, Statistics whiz
• Joshua Foer, Writer
• Philippe Petit, High-wire artist
• Jon Ronson, Writer, filmmaker

Session 11: The Classroom

• Bill Nye, Science guy
• Ainissa Ramirez, Science evangelist
• Aaron Reedy, Teacher
• John Bohannon + Black Label Movement, Science writer + Dance troupe
• Al Vernacchio, Sexuality educator
• Kate Messner, Author, educator, speaker
• Angie Miller, Language arts teacher
• Awele Makeba, Storyteller, teaching artist
• Rafe Esquith, Educator

Session 12: The Moment

• Julie Burstein, Writer, radio producer
• Cesar Kuriyama, Video maker
• Leymah Gbowee, Peace activist, Nobelist
• Brene Brown, Social work professor

The complete list of speakers can be found online here.

During TED2012, TED hosts TEDActive, a complementary conference event in Palm Springs, Calif.  Attendees watch a live HD simulcast of the Long Beach speakers and participate in special experiences and creative projects designed to bring the community together to take great ideas into action. A limited number of passes are still available to attend TEDActive. Learn more here.

TED2012 is sold out, with 1,500 people from over 40 countries expected to attend. Around the world, people can watch the conference with a TED Live membership, the annual membership that offers access to a private live webstream of both the TED2012 conference and TEDGlobal 2012 in July.  The TED Live webcast comes complete with behind-the-scenes reporting and a digital platform to communicate in real time with fellow members. Other TED Live membership benefits include one year of TED Books (short eBooks by TED speakers and Fellows) and an Amazon Kindle Fire to view them on. Learn more here.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Elizabeth Gilbert, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Sir Richard Branson, Kathryn Schulz, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dan Ariely, Nandan Nilekani, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; the annual TEDGlobal conference is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the official TED App for iPad and iPod. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; TED-Ed, dedicated to video for educators; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED

Contact: Margaret Sullivan, [email protected], +1 (646) 833-0205

SOURCE TED