atlxolotl:

tilthat:

TIL TED revokes your TED fellowship if you don’t attend every event of the conference, per the fellowship agreement. Writer Eddie Huang later went on to compare TED to a “Scientology summer camp”.

via reddit.com

So, from what I read, being a TED fellow is not the same as being a TED speaker. You have to apply to be a TED fellow and apparently lots and lots of people want to get it and it’s very hard to be accepted. Being a TED fellow allows you to attend the TED event FOR FREE (which otherwise would cost you $8.5k) and you get a hotel room and meals FOR FREE for the whole event. Though you do have to share the hotel room with another TED fellow and you don’t get to choose them.

The point of the TED fellowship is to allow people who are doing something for their communities or creating change in some way, to create connections with influent people, TED speakers and other TED fellows. What’s the point of going to a TED event if not to attend the talks?

He signed up to be a TED fellow, he got the chance to be in a TED event for free and had all the accommodations, for free. Why be there if not to attend the talks and make connections? That’s the whole point of the TED fellowship.

Also is super shitty of him to want people, other fellows, to attend his tañk but not wanting to sit through other people’s talk. He signed up and got accepted, he knew the rules and what he was expected to do. He wanted to break the rules he had previously agreed to. Many other people wanted to be in his position, he got it and now he’s complaining about it.

Also, apparently he is not the most reputable source of information and he does tend to ‘bite the hand that feeds him’.

I do believe TED is ridiculously expensive and some of their talks are just pointless with nothing new to add, but that’s another issue.