Todd Mundt

The annual TED Conference is amazing. I say that as someone who has never attended because I’ve never been able to afford the $6,000 cost. But the virtual experience of TED is worth almost as much, and the best part is, it’s FREE.

Why would you charge people $6,000 a head to attend and then give away most of the conference free, afterward? Easy - the fee is for the privilege of being there in person and networking with some of the smartest people in the world. The presentations of those smart people - that’s something you can share with everyone, and because of the wealth of ideas at TED, this is stuff people need to see.

TED offers weekly audio, video and HD video podcasts, highlighting speakers from its annual conferences. The latest episode features a talk by photographer Rick Smolan - a powerful story of a photgraph, an Amerasian girl, and her adoption.