BIL is to TED as BarCamp is to Foo Camp

I've actually never been to TED (which takes place this week in Monterey), though many friends and colleagues find great value in it. I'm sure they're right, I've just always ended up with work obligations around the dates -- and if $6G is burning a hole in my pocket, I'm more likely to blow it on hot shoes or a new laptop, not that this is wise. But look, you could haul the pumps and lappie to BIL, *and* be the center of attention ("Who speaks? You."), with money left over for enough quad-cappucinos to stay awake during the presentations:

BIL loves TED. TED is a great place to sit and listen to interesting ideas. Many of those ideas make it online, and millions get to experience them.

The catch for many of us is that TED is $6,000, which is too expensive for most people, including a great number with good ideas worth spreading. BIL has been created as a free space for people with ideas to come together and share them.

Our event is self-organizing, emergent, and anarchic. Nobody is in charge. If you want to come just show up. If you've got an idea to spread start talking. If someone is saying something good, stop and listen. We hope BIL can be a perfect match to TED.

I like the fact that bottom-up, crowd-organized events like this exist to counterbalance the elite top-down ones. I spent some years organizing the latter -- there's a place in the world for them. A lot of great ideas have originated from, or reached the world through TED, I mean no disrespect. But the free-for-alls are equally important. (image: Thomas Hawk; thanks for the tip hundredsofthousands)

Previously on Boing Boing:
* TED talks debut in-flight on Virgin America this week

• [lautaylo]

  Hooray for free events! I’ve never been able to understand why people would pay $6000 for a conference. That would pay off more than half of my remaining (current) school loans.

  HAWT shoes, tho. Those are the most appealing hooker heels I’ve ever laid eyes on. Mama loves shiny!

• [Gemini Gypsy]

  Wait a minute.

  “…bottom-up, crowd-organized events like this exist to counterbalance the elite top-down ones.”

  $6,000 is bottom-up???

• [eclectro]

  I disagree with Xeni on many things, but at least she has her spending priorities straight. But I can’t help but wonder if the tickets included a hot lunch date with Matthew McConaughey (or similar type) if her mind wouldn’t change suddenly;
  http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/24/ted-pass-on-ebay.html

• [arkizzle]

  #1

  Nope, the $6000 is the elite, top-down one.

• [Anonymous]

  GOOD GOD!

  Those are some wonderful shoes!

  -c

• [elsmiley]

  I want those shoes, dammit. I’m neither female nor a cross-dresser. I just want them to sit there until someone comes along who can actually wear them.

• [Jonathan Martin]

  Thanks, Xeni. As someone with a lot of high-paid geek friends, but in a much lower-paid field myself, I’ve been getting increasingly uncomfortable with the way my peers seem to drool over the whole TED phenomenon. Trying to voice my concerns over the rampant elitism of the whole thing seems a little ‘sour grapes’ at times, so it’s great to see something that aims to complement TED without taking away from the good things that come out of it.

• [Biscuit4]

  yep, sounds cool.

• [Bek]

  Points to the first blog who uses

  “BIL & TED’s Most Excellent Conference Adventure”

  to review both events and hurt everyone’s punny bones.

  (I can almost hear the sound of BoingBoing’s parcel of the blogosphere not laughing.)

  Actually, just give the points to me.

• [Pyros]

  TED costs 6 Large? Who do these pretensious fucks think they are? What an ingenious way of exluding every person with a brillant idea who has not yet been funded. How long do you suppose it will be before TED becomes irrelevant? Before it becomes a bunch a bunch of arragant VC vulture dickwads talking about their achievements and stock options?

• [Mim]

  Those shoes are neat… but the model in the red dress (a few pictures later) has a serious mole issue on her back! She really should have those checked out by a doctor. Ick!

• [arkizzle]

  #8

  beautiful :)

  (in fairness, I lost my punny bone in the war)

• [Prairie Dog]

  “Our event is self-organizing, emergent, and anarchic.”

  Yeah, no kidding, there was a BIL yesterday in my bathroom and then again today in my neighbors pool.