The second morning session at today’s TEDxBoston 2010 event in the World Trade Center Boston was as exciting and engaging as the first. Topics ranged from how the way we depict things graphically teaches us to the role batteries will play in future sustainability.

We caught up with State Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki during lunch, and he gushed about how great it is to have TEDx in Boston today.

Secretary Bialecki

“I think there’s a couple great things about what they’re doing today. One is just for the community here. I’ve always felt that one of our great strengths is not only that we have a lot of great people with great ideas, but in so many different areas. If you look at where we have done really cool things, it’s really at the overlap of those areas. For example, we have a great robotics cluster. That’s part technology and software but it’s also part precision manufacturing. This event really capitalizes on our strengths and makes sure people with good ideas from different sectors are aware of what each other are up to,” Said Bialecki.

“Just sitting in the chair, you could see how the ideas that one speaker was advancing could help the ideas of another speaker,” he continued.

Here’s a quick recap of the TEDx talks that happened during the second morning session: (more…)

Back in 1984, the TED Conference launched as a non-profit aimed at bringing the most brilliant minds in technology, entertainment and design (hence the ackronym name) together to talk about the cutting edge.

Today, TED has become one of the best sources for emerging theory and its practical application online. TED conferences are happening all over the world and each one is all about the propagation of inspiring new ideas. The organization now provides a free lecture series delivered in the form of short videos. TED posts new video content featuring “ideas worth spreading,” the organization’s slogan, every weekday on their blog.

Recent “TED talks” have been delivered by people like marine toxicologist Susan Shaw, who talked about the effects of the BP oil spill on marine wildlife, and Dimitar Sasselov, who explained how his research group has been able to identify 700+ potentially Earth-like planets.

With the popularity of TED arose a spin-off known as TEDx, where the “x” signifies that the event is independently organized outside of TED, but is dedicated to creating a TED-like experience.

Tomorrow, a TEDx conference of local thinkers — business people, journalists and scientists — will be held at the Seaport World Trade Center in the Innovation District. Twenty-seven presentations will be given, each 20 minutes long. All of them are expected to reveal some of the most interesting and enlightening ideas and projects currently underway in Greater Boston. (more…)