The burden of TED

If you've read any of my past writing you probably know that I watch a lot of TED videos.  One day I said to Shiree "we should take the family to TED some day.  I'd tell my kids one thing as we went...  'Work to make a life for yourselves like these people.  If you take away nothing else from these talks take away the hope of making a life like that.'"

I was a little disheartened to find out how apparently challenging it is to even be ABLE to pay the $4,500 registration fee.  I don't have any illusions that I'll ever grace the stages of TED as a presenter (though I hope that my life would someday be that inspiring to others) but I didn't expect that I wouldn't have done enough to even go to TED.  Check out their registration form (you may have to create a TED account first).  You have to answer all of the following questions and they consider them in your candidacy as a TED participant.

1. If a friend were to describe your accomplishments in up to three sentences, what would he or she say?
2. What other achievements would you like to share?
3. What are you passionate about? (work, creative output, issues, communities…)
4. What do we need to know about you that we didn't ask? (Up to 300 words)
5. (Optional) Can you share a memorable anecdote from your life that will give us a further sense of what makes you tick?

So now instead of aspiring to attend TED I think I'm going to just have to aspire to be accepted to TED.  Or just cough up $1000 and be a part of the anonymous masses watching it in a webcast.