• TED.com launched their own version of a social discussion platform last week, called TED Conversations. At first glance it may not seem to have any differentiating features from many of the other social discussion platforms or social collaboration tools associated with large conferences, companies or publications, such as Business Week’s Business Exchange or IDEO’s Open IDEO. You could argue that they each elevate the other, as the trend of social collaboration around topics or causes continues to grow. There are two main differentiators that TED Conversations holds:
  • Thought Leaders: They have gathered a network of thought leaders on the topics of Technology, Engineering and Design around their brand over the years of their conferences. At least in theory this offers us regular folks access to thought leaders and speakers who are normally kept behind the barrier of event registration.
  • Video Content: TED has done a great job of archiving and releasing video content from their conferences at a regular cadence. They how hold a large searchable index of high quality content from speakers over the years. Ted Talks have a certain prestige, and while membership to TED.com and access to all this content is currently free something tells me they will monetize it eventually.