A full house at TEDxABQ 2010
I am one of the volunteers with TEDxABQ. I’ve been with the organization since its inception. Many weeks, I spend about 25 hrs outside of my full-time job working to help make our annual event a reality. I’m pretty familiar with TED (the national organization), as well as our local incarnation of the TEDx experience. With this post, I’ll aim to answer some questions we’ve recently received, as well as field some critical comments that recently appeared on our Facebook page regarding our speaker selection process. This is a part of TEDxABQ that we’re more than happy to share. We’ve received a lot of support from the community, and these people are greatly important to us. I think some transparency will help clear up our intentions.
As best I can gather, the young man who posted these comments (on our page and others) is a new follower of TEDxABQ on Facebook. I’m not sure how long the writer has known about TEDxABQ in general, but I’m going to venture a guess that he may not be familiar with our organization, our mission, our volunteers, or the ways we’ve made it possible for volunteers to get involved. Our goal is to convey an openness to working with the community to integrate their suggestions to improve the event over time. I realize that, in addition to one local man’s concerns, others who are also new to our community may have questions. I hope this post will help explain a bit more of our planning process for those who may not know much about us.
Who organizes TEDxABQ?
Before I talk specifically about the speaker selection process, I’d like to take a moment to share the mind-set of the volunteers who organize TEDxABQ. First, and most importantly, we love New Mexico. We would do anything to help support the success of people in this state. As individuals, we make an effort to get out of our bubbles and explore New Mexico’s beautiful geography, pueblos, festivals, farmers markets, museums, restaurants, and stunning architecture. We work actively to preserve our precious culture, which we know is one-of-a-kind, and unlike anything we’ve found elsewhere in the world.
I can count our core volunteers on one hand. Total active volunteers range closer to 20, with most of them only helping occasionally at local events or with specific projects.
Money, money, money, money…MONEY!
Something else worth mentioning is our budget. We are on target to spend thousands of dollars on this fall’s event. Last fall, when we began the planning process for TEDxABQ 2011, we had $0. Over the course of the year, we have slowly raised funds in the form of sponsorships to pay for the associated costs. None of our organizers or speakers receive any payment for their role in TEDxABQ.
I mention our budget because, as a nonprofit, we do not have the ability to pay for large-scale marketing campaigns as we would like. It means that, when we put out a call to action (usually online), our reach is limited to our existing audience, and anyone with whom our supporters choose to share the message. This also means that awareness of TED, not to mention TEDxABQ, is a process that builds slowly over time. This process is showing steady results, as we watch more and more of the community reach out to our friends and neighbors.
Okay, let’s move on and talk about the speaker selection process.
So, who exactly chooses the speakers for TEDxABQ?
This is arguably the most important part of our event planning. The curator of our event, Tim Nisly, wants speaker selection to be as objective as possible, so he separates himself from this duty. First, our organizers choose 3 people from our community who understand both TED and issues unique to New Mexico. We keep our committee anonymous so as to prevent applicants or others from attempting to sway them during the selection process.
It’s worth noting that attempts at persuasion were made, anyway. At local Meetups and events where we were in attendance, speaker applicants could be seen attempting to glean support from our volunteers. Keeping the members of this committee anonymous has proven very helpful. It protects the objectivity of the process, and helps ensure that these people can make a decision on the merit of the idea itself, without concern for the political ramifications or unhappy parties who might not make it onto the final list.
What exactly goes into the speaker selection process?
Early this Spring, we began soliciting speaker applications. The primary method for marketing our need for applicants was through social media, namely Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, our volunteers contacted supporters throughout the state seeking their suggestions for speakers worth contacting to request that they complete an application (more on that below). We closed the application process after 3 months.
At the first speaker selection committee meeting, no applicants were reviewed. They took that time to set goals for the selection process. They decided they were looking for the following:
1) A practical idea that has potential to improve New Mexico or inspire our audience without a feel of “selling” from the stage
2) Residents of the state or speakers whose ideas were applicable to New Mexicans
3) Diversity among the speakers
At subsequent meetings, the committee reviewed each of the more than 75 applicants. It took two months to complete the selection process.
Who applied to speak at TEDxABQ 2011?
We received applications from speakers across the country. Common applications were from professional speakers with specializations in business coaching or self-improvement. Many applicants were authors. Some applicants seemed to have an interesting idea, but lost the committee in very long and winding applications. With talks this fall an average 9 minutes in length, brevity was seen as something that would translate to a polished, succinct talk. This quality ended up being very important.
A common frustration throughout the selection process was that we received applications from a majority of white speakers. There’s nothing wrong with white speakers. Some of them blew us away with their idea, and now they’re part of our fall lineup. We realize that our pool of applicants did not accurately represent the demographics of New Mexico. Committee members would leave each meeting with a list of names to contact to request help eliciting applications from Native American and Hispanic speakers.
As a result, our curator met with more than 50 potential speakers from around New Mexico, and he coordinated meetings with dozens of organizations that had connections with potentially great speakers, including those that represented local indigenous populations. This is just one example of the ways we attempted to diversify our applicant pool and provide our audience with a group of speakers who truly understand New Mexico.
In spite of our legwork, we received few applications from the Hispanic or Native American populations. Those we did receive were not accepted because they did not fit the TED mission (“ideas worth spreading”) as we understood it. Back to goal #1 – The idea had to come first, and always comes first with TED.
Our Chosen Speakers
Our final speaker line-up to date consists of 9 women and 8 men. We have 2 black speakers and 1 Hispanic speaker. There are no Native Americans represented in this group. This is something we are well aware of. As mentioned, many hours were spent working to secure more quality applications from these populations.
What is a perceived lack in ethnic diversity turns out to offer a wide diversity in topics, which include:
- connecting to the farm, and farm to consumer
- the future lies in a reinvented education system that goes beyond the classroom
- making kids feel safer, more engaged and more connected through play
- pushing the boundaries of social enterprise and nonprofit social change
- disruptive and practical change to make clean water a reality
- helping meet the healthcare needs of all
- “old” technology – unearthing a trend that ‘s been around for thousands of years
- creating evocative couture sculptures from trash
- sharing a passion for science, showing a way to meaning
- teaching and learning from poetry
- creating greater local self-reliance and enhanced prosperity in a green economy
- demanding a reinvention of leadership
- lighting the way to a better world through science
- local musicians showcasing the best of their craft
- our architectural past lights the way to a green, sustainable, visually stunning future
- uncovering the link between gender and our media
As part of the preparation process, I am sending regular emails to our speakers with resources to help prepare them for what TED expects. This is a new concept for many of our speakers, and we are working closely with them to help shape their talk in a way that maximizes its effectiveness, as well as attendees’ experience.
Continuing to Grow TEDx in New Mexico
Awareness of TED in our area is growing through the efforts of our volunteers and supporters. Without a budget for a large-scale marketing and PR campaign, our grassroots efforts take a bit more time. We are dependent upon our supporters to take our calls to action (such as requests for volunteers, for participation in meetings, and for speaker applicants) and share them with friends. This is how we increase our visibility and the size of our community.
We welcome those with feedback to assist us in educating others about TED, and then work to encourage notable New Mexicans to apply to be a speaker for future events. I believe there’s a clear opportunity to help improve our process. If you feel that you have a skill that would help make TEDxABQ better in some way, then contact us.
Contact Us
Tim Nisly, Curator – tim@tedxabq.com
Carrie Williar, Communications Director – carrie@tedxabq.com
Bill Meador, Sponsorship Coordinator – bill@tedxabq.com
We do have other volunteer organizers, but I have shared the names of those who work in the areas addressed in this blog post. If you are in need of assistance from one of our other volunteers, we will be happy to connect you.
Well said, Carrie! I helped a bit this year, trying to recruit speakers, and I share some of the Facebook critic’s frustration of the lack of diversity. Unfortunately, I do think this is a reflection of our shortcomings as organizers and recruiters and not a problem with the people of this state–we need to work harder on this issue!
Personally, I learned a lot this year, and I promise to do better next year! One important lesson I learned is that the movers and shakers and people with “Ideas That Inspire” tend to be incredibly busy. Many of the ones I contacted need more lead time than we gave them this year, in my not so humble opinion. So I’m going to start next month working some of my contacts for TEDxABQ 2012!
Further, I’d encourage anyone else who wants more diversity in TEDxABQ to get involved! TEDx is all about inclusion, but if you want to make it better, you’ve got to be willing to put your time and effort where your mouth is!
Carrie and Tim, I’ve got an idea that might help this–how about we give the 2012 recruiters a bunch of comp tickets for TEDx2011 to give to potential 2012 speakers? TEDxABQ will sell itself, I predict.