Why TEDxZurich does not work [edited]4 min read

Of course nobody who was invited to TEDxZurich this year is gonna dare to criticize the event, because all are afraid not to get the invite next year (which is one of the inherent flaws of this elitist, invitation-only conference model. But that’s a whole ‘nother discussion…). So I volunteer to take on the task, since I was not invited and probably never will be… Oh well…

After watching almost all the talks yesterday on the live stream – yes, i was that bored – i can confidently say, the TED format is not suited for translation into our Swiss-Germanic culture.

Let me explain. TED works really well, because it is totally embedded into California culture. Most of these guys bump into each other pretty much twice each year. Once at TED. But the second time in the Nevada Desert, most likely frying on acid, probably naked, at Burning Man. This sets the decorum. The 18 minute talks are designed for native-English speakers, California casual, eloquent, witty, who deliver their message fast and to the point.

At this years TEDxZureich most non-English speakers were struggling with the English language, and this (most shockingly) included both MCs, sorry Co-Hosts. The ideas didn’t come to live when delivered in such clunky, often clumsy English. At times I was almost ashamed to hear, how poor the English was and how thick the accent. A friend of mine had to stop watching the stream, because she was too embarrassed.

Which makes me wonder: Shouldn’t TEDxZureich allow people to speak in their native tongue? And work with simultaneous translations and/or subtitles to keep things international and English? Call it TED-DExZureich? This works very well for the Ars Electronica symposium and many other conferences.

But speaking of the MCs, sorry Co-Hosts, one of the two is a very large, very ugly very imposing man with a confusing, almost intimidating sense of humor. It’s not enough to keep saying, “It’s cool, man”. You would have to actually mean it, man. His uptight rigidity in time-keeping didn’t exactly help to make people get cheering after the talks. When he pointed out that there was a standing ovation at a TED talk shown on video, this sounded like a threat, and some people actually tried to produce that standing ovation the next round… In short, he is pretty much the exact antipole of California casual. But most importantly, [edit: all these things i just listed do not matter compared to the fact that] his English-language skills are almost as horrible as some of the speakers’. And now that is a true embarrassment.

How about the content? A few ideas were really quite inspiring, Molly Crotchett’s talk had a deep impact on me, hmmm… pills to change people’s ethical values, hmmm… I also loved Roman Gaus’ presentation of urbanfarming.ch, delivered with confidence and decent enough English. Some other talks contained nice ideas, but were delivered in such horrendous English, that they were torture. The WEF dude came and talked about the impact twitter had on politics. Seriously? That’s so 2008, man. The only two other true highlights were the talks delivered via video, one of which we have seen a million times (Mick Ebling). Isn’t that fail?

In short, yes, there were ideas worth spreading, but the language-issue and the MCs, sorry Co-Hosts, need to seriously be reconsidered for this format to work here.

edit: After feedback and some further reflection i want to apologize for calling one of the MCs large and ugly. I personally have no issue, if people should call me ugly, it does not touch me. But i understand that for some people this might be crossing the line.

In rereading what i wrote i also realize that i left out some thinking and context. My point was this: all the things i first listed about the MC, who I admittedly do not like very much personally, do not matter in the light that his English is simply not good enough for such a high profile event. You can’t on one hand host and create an exclusive, elitist, invitation-only event and then fail in such a basic thing as your English skills. So please, switch to German for future events. Also, if you create such an event, it would be very important to create an atmosphere where criticism is welcomed and invited. That’s all.

6 Replies to “Why TEDxZurich does not work [edited]4 min read

  1. “one of the two is a very large, very ugly man”
    Really? That’s your style of reviewing an event?

  2. I visited TEDxZurich yesterday and last year as well and totally agree with you that most of the speakers (including 2 hosts) can’t speak English that good and they can’t present. Sad but true. (For example the Indian guy yesterday has a bad pronunciation BUT he can present his stuff very to the point and is funny, too.)
    I truly believe every local TEDx event should be held in the local language. For example, in my home country Serbia they organise TEDxBelgrade in Serbian (without subtitles though, but I guess later they would be provided after the post-production of the videos).

  3. “Also, if you create such an event, it would be very important to create an atmosphere where criticism is welcomed and invited.”

    Ich finde das TED-Format generell schlecht. Wegen der strikten Selbstzensur und wegen dem nicht mehr zeitgemässen, elitären Gehabe, beginnend damit, dass man sich für die blosse Teilnahme als Publikum qualifizieren muss, nach dubiosen, nicht offen gelegten Kriterien. Statt die Meinungsvielfalt und -freiheit zu fördern, wird alles unternommen, um eine synchron blökende Schafherde zu versammeln um eine Horde vermeintlicher Hohepriester des Glücks der modernen Welt. Man versteht sich als Vertreter der angeblich freiheitlichen, westlichen Weltanschauung und des globalisierten Kapitalismus, zieht sich aber freiwillig Scheuklappen an und überbietet sich gegenseitig an politischer Korrektheit. Wie ein eingebetteter Journalist versteht das eingeladene Publikum den manchmal subtilen, manchmal offenen, aber stets präsenten Konformitätsdruck. Vogel friss oder stirb – Gast applaudiere oder werde nächstes Jahr ausgeladen. Dabei geht es bei TED zur Hauptsache um den rasch verpuffenden, oberflächlichen Show-Effekt statt um die Substanz. Dass es bei dieser Rhetoriklastigkeit dann ausgerechnet an der sprachlichen Souveränität mangelt, ist selbstredend peinlich. Man selbst wird den eigenen, ungerechten, elitären Ansprüchen nicht gerecht, doch auch dies geht im tosenden Applaus unter.

    Ich störe mich nicht an einem unkonventionellen Erscheinungsbild einer Person. Es ist eine Äusserlichkeit. Ich könnte auch mit schlechtem Englisch in den Talks und in den Anmoderationen leben. Mit Elitarismus, ohne Substanz und ohne eine wirklich offene, unvoreingenommene Diskussionskultur aber nicht. Zu Letzterer gehören auch konservative Stimmen und auch solche, die im politischen Spektrum ganz rechts oder ganz links anzusiedeln sind. Werner Schmutz, der Kanalarbeiter. Petra Muster, die Langzeitarbeitslose. Carlo Feierabend, der depressive Alkoholiker und Sozialarbeiter.

    Danke für diesen kritischen Artikel. Danke, dass ich hier kommentieren darf.

  4. @FelixMangold Danke für den Kommentar. Du hast eindeutig die bessere Kritik geschrieben. Je länger ich darüber nachdenke hätte ich auch vorallem Format, Modus, Abläufe kritisieren sollen, dachte aber, da kriegt man bloss ein müdes Lächeln und bin darum die Provokationsschiene gefahren. Ein ausgewogenes politisches Spektrum ist mir hier persönlich weniger wichtiger als der Wow-effekt. Der MC, den ich kritisiere, ist im übrigen wohl so rechtsaussen wie sie sein können…

  5. Pingback: TEDxBern

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