Vancouver marks a decade of TED talks
CBC
When Sunny Bates visited Vancouver the first time the city hosted the TED conference in 2014, one word came to mind.
"Beautiful," said the executive recruiter visiting once again from New York City for this week's event.
Bates first started attending TED conferences in 1992 when they were held in Southern California and has now been to every iteration in Vancouver.
The city's sparkling waterfront, framing mountains and welcoming nature make it a perfect fit for the world-renowned conference, Bates said.
"This combination of hotels, beauty, great theatre, great venue, enough density so people can run into each other as serendipity," said Bates. "I think, for the flagship for TED, I think that's hard to duplicate. Where else would it go?"
The success of the Vancouver TED conference — known for its short, often inspiring talks on technology, entertainment and design — is due in part, say organizers, to the city's beauty but also the willingness of the Vancouver Convention Centre to play along.
"They use the space exceptionally well and I think their attendees love Vancouver an awful lot," said Craig Lehto, the convention centre's general manager.
"I think the best way to put it is we've grown with them. Simple? Never," he said. "But I think good things like this are never simple. They're a challenge."
One challenge was the design and implementation of a custom-built theatre set up every year using 8,000 pieces of Douglas fir timber from the Pacific Northwest.
"We're a small show with a big footprint," said Monique Ruff-Bell, TED's chief program and strategy officer for the past two years.
Indeed, TED's 2,000 attendees fall far short of the number of people at some of the other 400 events the convention centre hosts each year, some of which have up to 12,000 attendees.
Tourism advocates say TED punches above its weight.
"TED, in bringing the kinds of people that it attracts from around the world ... it's not just about tourism. It's about connecting those decision makers hopefully with people in our city who are trying to make this city a better place," said Royce Chwin, president and CEO of Destination Vancouver.
Ruff-Bell says many of TED's influential speakers and attendees have only become fonder of Vancouver over the years and often extend their trips to take in more of the city or other parts of B.C.
