TEDGlobal 2011 in Edinburgh, Scotland officially starts tomorrow, July 12th, but on this minus-one day and counting, the event is already well underway. Pre-event sessions started at 8:30 to hear project updates from the 2011 Ted Fellows, "...outstanding individuals who have shown unusual accomplishment, exceptional courage and moral imagination... ." Don't they sound like the coolest people in the world? TED University started at 4:00 with short talks from TEDGlobal 2011 attendees -- including Thomas Dolby, Raghava KK, Naif Al-Mutawah, Imogen Heap, among others.
I, along with about 15 other TEDGlobal participants, attended a tour and lecture on sustainable farming at the Glamis Castle Estate, a 90-minute drive outside the city. (Our tour guide apologized for the less-than-pristine condition of the vast, green lawns. Apparently they had hosted Scotland's largest vintage car rally this last weekend -- these Scots are just so cool!) The Estate's program includes humane pig-farming, which we got an up-close-and-personal look at (and whiff of -- even sustainably-raised pigs stink.) The staff were obviously very enthusiastic about their system of animal husbandry and treatment designed to raise happier and consequently healthier pigs, so you couldn't help but like them. Hundreds of uber-cute piglets running around like teenagers made up for the rain, unseasonable cold, and as I mentioned, the stink.
We moved indoors for a private tour of the castle's more intimate rooms -- the late Queen Mother spent much of her youth there -- followed by lunch in the private kitchen prepared just for us and featuring "the bounty of the estate," including (drumroll here) pork. Oddly enough this didn't disturb any of us, though a few vegetarians did pass on the pork chop.
It was a full day and my first chance to meet other TEDGlobal attendees. It's clear that these are some very smart people, who do very interesting things -- almost like some of the coolest people in the world. Several had attended previous TEDs around the world and made it clear that I was going to have a great time. Apparently I missed Annie Lennox performing at the opening session and participating as an attendee last year.
And I'm told they drink copious amounts late into each night, and still get up for the next day's session at 8:30. Tonight's Welcome Party is at Edinburgh Castle -- a whole castle done up for 700 guests from all walks of life and every imaginable background. I'm sure it will be great -- these really are some of the coolest people in the world.
More soon!
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