A NASA Conference That No One Can Register For

By Keith Cowing on October 21, 2009 11:51 PM

TEDxNASA Space to Create - ideas worth spreading

Keith's note: This NASA/National Institute of Aerospace-sponsored event is all about facilitating interaction, fostering communication ... all that socially aware networking goodness etc. So ... I go to the website for this event to see how I can register and attend and ... there is no way to do that. The NASA Gen Y folks are all excited about a NASA-centric TED event - yet no one seems to know how the rest of us can attend and (perhaps) participate. The organizers state that "The TEDxNASA attendees will be just as extraordinary as the speaker line-up; they will include internet pioneers, local technology leaders, movie producers, architects, creative directors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, authors, engineers, investors, celebrities, scientists and leading opinion formers of every kind. Indeed, we expect all 1,700 spaces at the Ferguson Center to be occupied." Yet I cannot register online? Where are all of these amazing people coming from? How do they register? FAIL.

Keith's update: There is a poster on the website which has small print saying "by invitation only - tickets required". And Opennasa.com says that tickets will be available to the public on 16 November - less than a week before the event. So much for advance planning. These TED events can be expensive to attend - with ticket prices of $1,000 - or more. What sort of message is NASA sending when it mounts exclusive events such as this? Who decides which taxpayers can attend, and who gets the money from ticket sales?

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9 Comments

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james.w.stephens | October 22, 2009 3:55 AM | Reply

Keith,
If you go to the thing that looks like a DVD case on the right side of the web site that blows up to a graphic that says "by invitation only - tickets required" in tiny print under the "For more information ..." that you can almost read.

I guess you can always go to see George Jones at the same venue and call it good to go.

infinite-frontier | October 22, 2009 8:34 AM | Reply

According to the poster on the website it is by invitation only

infinite-frontier | October 22, 2009 8:37 AM | Reply

...but according to a post on OpenNASA.com: "Tickets will be available to the public on November 14, more information to follow."

Dr. Mikey | October 22, 2009 8:41 AM | Reply

The regular TED conference is similar. There you can apply to attend and MIGHT get selected (and there's an essay question.) And the cost is $6000!

suffolk | October 22, 2009 9:32 AM | Reply

Perhaps you are unaware as to how a TED or TEDx is run. Both of these venues are invitation only, both for the speakers and for the attendees. So, that is why one cannot simply register for the NASA TEDx. It is not really a “NASA” rule, but a “TED” rule. I think it is pretty exciting that NASA is going to host their first TEDx. Very exciting and historic!

Ken Costello | October 22, 2009 10:29 AM | Reply

I think the idea of a space related TED is interesting, but after looking at it for a while, other than the name is there anything saying that NASA is sponsoring it?

It seems more like it is sponsored by the NIA and not NASA.

Is there something that I am missing that specifically shows NASA support other than the name?

Ken Costello | October 22, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply

I sent an email to a representative at the NIA in regards to this event. Below is the reply that I received.

Hi Ken:

Thank you for your interest in the TEDxNASA event. Registration will open to the general public on November 14 on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets will be at no cost. Look for more information on how to register on the TEDxNASA site at, www.Tedx-nasa.org, in the coming weeks. As in any TED or TEDx event, speakers will not be announced until closer to the event.

I got the email contact from the TEDx-NASA facebook page which can be accessed from that web site.

Ken

suffolk | October 22, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply

BTW, maybe you should visit the TEDx website to see the rules and regulations regarding a TEDx event. The site is http://www.ted.com/tedx See the "Rules and guidelines" in the left hand column. BTW, NASA is NOT charging a penny for these tickets, so no worries about how the money will be spent, since there is none. Also, if you are unsure about the sponsor, go to the website and look at the logo again, which also has specific TED guideline: TEDxNASA

newpapyrus | October 23, 2009 12:26 AM | Reply

The Flexible path are missions to nowhere, IMO.

First, there's no legitimate scientific reason to send humans simply into lunar orbit, something we already did 9 times back during the Apollo era. This would be the ultimate tax payer wasting silly stunt!

Missions to NEOs or to the moons of Mars are going to require hundreds of tonnes of mass shielding-- especially in case a solar storm.

And unless we're setting up a space station with the proper radiation shielding, there's no logical reason to go to a Lagrange point.

NASA needs to do the next logical thing. It needs to set up a permanent and continuously growing manned facility on the Moon. This is what NASA should have done after the Apollo program if the politicians had let them.

Otherwise, we're going to end up with another Augustine-like commission 8 years from now once again debating the issue of the Moon vs. Mars. However, if we're already on the Moon then the debate will only be how to get to Mars to set up permanent habitats there!

Marcel F. Williams