TED Comes to Mexicali!

TEDx Mexicali

TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a nonprofit group which draws thinkers from all over the world to its conferences.

Individuals like Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Stephen Hawkins, Mrs. Bill Gates and Karla Macedo of Mexicali have spoken their minds at TED.

Now TED is coming to Mexicali!

Actually it is TEDx, which is an independent franchise of TED.

In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, TED is conducting a new experiment to support TEDx organizers who are using TEDx events to spread ideas in the developing world and unprivileged communities. Any community that does not have access to TED and TED.com qualifies; however, only those who’ve hosted at least four TEDx events will be considered for TEDx Activator Managers roles.

After just a few more conferences, TEDx Mexicali will qualify for consideration as TEDx Activator Managers with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

The theme of TEDx in Mexicali is “transformation, reality and the future of Mexicali,” according to Enrique De La Rosa, director of TEDx in Mexicali.

Mexicali, along with other major cities like Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, is one of the few to organize these types of events. TEDx was held in Mexicali in November with three speakers making fascinating presentations.

TEDx in Mexicali has grown since then, and eight speakers are scheduled to give presentations at the next conference.

One of the speakers at the conference is Karla Macedo, 33, an engineer who illustrates how geography and climate affect people perception of the world around them. During the summer when Mexicali residents stay mainly indoors to avoid the heat, they lose what Macedo calls “visual stimulation” and their senses are stifled. Even though there is money for investment in Mexicali, she said, the city is somewhat stagnant when it comes to change.

Macedo suggests that the evolution of Mexicali may come once its residents start enjoying different pleasures from the better things in life. Even though Mexicali residents drink wine on a regular basis many do not know how to recognize good wine. This is in spite of the fact that Mexico produces some great wines-the best of which come from the Guadalupe Valley in Baja California—an easy drive from Mexicali!

Cities that evolve are those who have residents who’ve learned to appreciate their environment and take notice of such visual pleasures of painting, photography and architecture.

TEDx has limited seating capacity and only about 100 people are expected to attend—not many for a Mexicali’s size of close to 700 thousand inhabitants. Still, it’s a start.

The next TEDx to be held in Mexicali is on March 22, 2012 at 9:00am at the Centro Estatal de las Artes in Mexicali.

Don’t worry, if you miss TEDx in person, you can always catch it on TEDx’s Mexicali YouTube channel. We will keep you posted.