TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com.
"TED" stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design - three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future.
The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK, and this November, the TED India Conference will be held in Mysore, India.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx - local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.