Hi everyone, and welcome to the TED Active Health project! I’m very much looking forward to the tidal wave of conversations that will come naturally from a week at TED, and really interested in seeing what this crowd can generate through the Projects. Our topic is a HUGE one, and surely will bring out all sorts of really diverse thinking about what it means to actively engage in one’s own health and longevity. This question is pretty timely, too. So much in the world around us has changed. Deeply rooted institutions that we’ve counted on for so long have all shifted in ways that make navigating one’s life so different now than it was a generation ago.
Family has changed - from nuclear to non-traditional.
Careers have changed - people move not into retirement, but into renaissance.
Communities have changed - people are finding more and more connections that stretch way beyond the things you’d expect, like family and faith.
One could even argue that aging itself has changed - no longer something to be dealt with, but something to be valued and made the most of.
This all makes for such an interesting and challenging backdrop to the question we are wrestling with in this project: How can we use collective wisdom around health and longevity to improve every stage of life? As the project Facilitator, my hope for this week is, frankly, to keep up with as much of the dialogue going on around the topic as possible. The Facebook group feed is already pretty rich, and the conference hasn’t even started yet! To support this project, I’ll be joined by Tammy Gordon, from AARP playing the role of the Amplifier – spotlighting and sharing far and wide the zeitgeist of the conversation. I’ll also be joined by John Colaruotolo, from Connective Next, playing the role of the Storyteller – capturing tangibly, visually, and memorably, the core aspects of the conversations and actions of the Health team at work.
I know that everyone who has signed up to be a part of the Health project will have done so because they believe strongly about the subject for one reason or another. Have an agenda? Bring it. Have a soapbox? Jump on up. It’s only by sharing our ideas, that we’ll be able to push forward in a big way on this topic together. I can’t wait to see the unexpected mashups that will come from this week. I for one, am thrilled to be a part of the conversation, and am sure we’ll end up finding really important patterns in what this group cares about, and that we’ll see lots of possible actions to take.
Please contribute to the Facebook group (TEDActive Health), and add to the Twitter feed with #ActiveHealth. Come to the project space during breaks and leave your mark.
See you at the conference.
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