This Article was previously published on the i_beta/blog

TEDxEutropolis is back! SocialBeta is taking the second edition to Hasselt on the 4th of February. There it will be realized with CreativeClass and a group of TED enthusiasts. When we started in Heerlen in 2010, TED was an insider movement, only a few were aware of it’s impact and potential. Even after big TEDx events as TEDxAmsterdam, TEDxFlanders or TEDxBrussels and quite some media attention, TED is rising, but still foreign ground for too many!

TED Who?

If you start about TED in the Netherlands someone will probably ask you “TED who?” first. after this there probably will be a remark on Ted de Braak (and his moustache) or Ted van der Parren (and his muscles). Hopefully after that I get the time to explain what TED and TEDx are. For some it is the new source of knowledge and learning. For others a daily inspiration, food for your brain or a likeminded community of thinkers and doers. TED is a (social)brand that changed my life and that of so many others. With video’s, the so called TEDtalks that got you started, that got you inspired to get active yourself and be a change-maker.

What’s TED?

A short recap from the TED site.. “TED started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Edinburgh, bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). Most talk can be seen on the video portal TED.com Where more than 900 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks are subtitled in English, and many are subtitled in various languages. The TEDx youtube channel has some 11K+ uploads!

TED's Chris Anderson says the rise of web video is driving a worldwide phenomenon he calls Crowd Accelerated Innovation TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices. Famous talks include the speech that lead to an inconvenient Truth, The 6th Sense by Pattty Maes, education innovator Sir Ken Robinsson and Steve Jobs. The video's of TEDxEutropolis 2010 are here.

Setting up a TEDx

In 2009 I first heard about the upcoming opportunity to host an own TED event. Which would from then on would be known as a TEDx event. Together with Maurice Hermans I immediately realized this would be a great counterbalance to the i_beta/event which was more of a hands-on event for creatives, social design and new media. TED was much more, but the format very strict. This proved to be it's strength. TED is a brand that stand for quality, this quality is reflected in it’s branding and the outreach to the community of independent organizers around the world as I experienced myself at a meeting with European counterparts in Amsterdam last November. These locally organized events are a true global movement that has grown exponentially since 2010. A whopping 382 TEDx events took place in 78 countries last month! There are 'strict' guidelines on how to organize your event, not because of wanting to boss you as an independent organizer, but to support you in creating a TEDlike experience. Visiting a TED event is costly (about $6000) so a TEDx event can be a nice local substitute. With great support from several young entrepreneurs we made TEDxEutropolis a succes. A hard but rewarding work.

TEDxEutropolis

What started as a static map from Maurer United Architects, has started to live as an idea in the Euregion. It makes sense to a lot of young entrepreneurs, change makers with a worldly attitude. Though it stays a solid Utopia, (try to get from Aachen to Hasselt with public transport..) The idea transforms and expands, people start to embrace it. It is embedded in presentations on Brainport2020 or within the Creative Drive project. We even made an open-data prototype of it during the i_beta/event in 2011. With TEDxEutropolis we merge two fascinating worlds of TED and Eutropolis. With a ‘ideas make borders fade’ tagline we offer some great cross-border connections and borderless ideas! Registration is opened...