TED, the acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design, is an LLC that was founded in 1984 and presents free talks online, under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.

TED has initially focused on technology, because its founders have started their business in Silicon Valley, but later on it has expanded its focus, including talks that address a broad variety of topics.

The main TED conference is held at the Vancouver Convention Centre each year. People can view about 3,000 TED talks on the official TED website.

TEDx is the independent, community-based version of the larger TED. It is supported by a group of volunteers, who want to create TED-like events in their communities.

Often times, TEDx events include a mixture of live presentations and several TED talks. It’s a guaranteed way of sparking insightful conversations, and then helping professionals connect at a local level.

TEDx events are independent, under a free license granted by TED. Event types fall into one of these categories:

1. Standard events. These are general-purpose events, which give their organizers the possibility of addressing a broad range of subjects. It’s the most common TEDx event.
2. University events. These are TEDx talks hosted by universities, and are organized by the university administration staff, teachers and students. These talks allow universities to share their research and ideas within their communities.
3. Youth events. These TEDx talks are either organized by or addressed to kids. If you’ve ever wanted to organize a fun children’s conference, a youth event may be the perfect solution.
4. ED events. This is the perfect solution for conferences where teachers and students meet to discuss the future of education.
5. Salon events. These weekly or monthly events help keep the local community engaged, while waiting for the next major TEDx event. Often times, people attending these meetings watch TED talks that focus on a single subject, and then discuss them.
6. TEDxLive events. These events center around the official, annual TED conference. This way, the official conference is able to have a significantly bigger impact, reaching a huge audience.
7. TEDxWomen events. These events are organized close to the TEDWomen conference date, and consist of inspiring TEDWomen talks.
8. Business events. These types of events help energize company culture, fostering new ideas and innovation throughout companies.
9. Internal events. Ever wanted to organize an event for your nonprofit organization, government entity or hospital? If the answer is affirmative, a TEDx internal event is the perfect solution.
10. Library events. These events are hosted at a local library. Organizers are instructed to choose people who are able to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way.
11. Level 2 events. These events can only be organized by people who have been in the program for at least two years. Also, the organizer should have been the host for at least two TEDx events, with over 100 attendees each. More information about Level 2 events can be found here.