EFTA00406589.pdf

From: Lesley Groff To: Epstein Jeffrey <jeevacation@gmail.com> Subject: Fwd: WWW Conference Conversation Guidelines Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:36:56 +0000 Attachments: WWW_SCHEDULE_Aug16.docx; WWW.WWW_MenuiRevised_8.3)_(1).docx Begin forwarded message: From: Richard Saul Wurman Subject: WWW Conference Conversation Guidelines Date: August 16, 2012 3:28:52 PM EDT To: REBECCA REX To WWW Conference participants, sponsors, team members and guests: As most of you are aware, I created TED in 1984 and ran it through 2002. During that time I created TEDMED in 1995 and the eg Conference in 2006. For all those meetings I developed an 18 minute talk and a series of rules called the Ted Commandments. Several of you have asked 'well what are the new guidelines as they relate to the WWW Conference'? I. Participants have all been sent the schedule listing the person with whom they have been paired, attached again below. 2. If you go to the participants page on the web site HERE, you can click on that person's name and link to his or her biographical information. 3. I have developed a list of 30 different premises or postulations that will begin you in improvised conversation. 4. I have tried this and it works. 5. You will be facing each other on comfortable couches and not the audience. 6. There will be approximately 180 people in the audience, which will be comprised of fellow participants, guests, individuals invited by sponsors and a few paid attendees. 7. You can click HERE to see photographs of the beautiful auditorium in which we are holding the conference and HERE to see photographs of The Mission Inn. 8. Absolutely no preparation is necessary. 9. You will not be selling a book, charity or project. 10. As long as the conversation holds my attention and my perceived attention of the audience, you will be in conversation. At the conclusion, I will with reasonable politeness call up the next two individuals. 11. If the conversation is fabulous but goes on so long as to potentially cause us to miss our lunch, I will also end it and the two of you can continue it over lunch. 12. There will be no lectern but there will be a side table for a cup of coffee or glass of water. 13. There is no strict time schedule but I will attempt to keep the order of the final schedule. 14. On occasion I might take the liberty part way into a given conversation to add a third person, another participant or simply another member of the audience, whom I know can add constructively to the conversation. 15. The entire meeting will be filmed as inconspicuously as possible from the far left and right of the stage and with one small camera in the audience. EFTA00406589 16. At this moment there are no plans to live-stream any of the conference. There will be an app with access to a server to hold the conversations. It is planned that this will be available on 1 December and will include a running line of translation into several languages. 17. The app will also contain a large body of curated personal information about you. Further explanation about this will come to you next week. 18. I have personally worked out the breaks, lunches and dinners and I believe they will be of the highest quality and in rooms that will delight you, both at ESRI and at The Mission Inn. 19. Attached are the menus for the three dinners at The Mission Inn which, I hope will be accented by good wine, vodka and sake. 20. Obviously there is a lot of risk about the conversations, particularly the quality, spontaneity, clarity, improvisation and surprise. 21. The goal is to find some threads that have not emerged before as you speak with your partner, which will encapsulate a type of honesty and a non-predicted path in response to each other. 22. This has happened in my several tests of this idea. 23. To repeat, I am endeavoring to make the filming, ambiance, location and lack of press all focus on your comfort and the quality of your experience. This above all is my concern and my goal. 24. Improvised conversation in this manner is a new form but a wonderful conversation is perhaps the oldest human media for creative discourse. So in that sense, this is a great leap backwards 25. It will be a wonderful salon and an absolutely immersive experience with extraordinary people. If the participants reading this have additional questions about the format, please call or e-mail me directly. RSW RICHARD SAUL WURMAN EFTA00406590