We are settling back in to LA after a great week out in the desert for TEDActive. What an amazing invitation it was to spend the week out in Palm Springs setting up the Poketo Shop for TED. Not only that, but to have the opportunity to listen and dive in to all of the TED 2011 talks while mixing in a little fun at the same time… it doesn’t get much better.

After three days of mind blowing talks, everyone was ready to bust out… and just in time for the TEDActive party out in the desert. We hopped on a bus, drove about 30 minutes out to the middle of nowhere, to a strange, old western town. This was not a genuine relic of the past, but, rather a town built like it was back in the dusty, saloon days. Although, with music by Dublab, a dance performance by Ryan Heffington and his crew, a karaoke RV truck on standby, jeep rides in the moonlit desert, and food galore… we experienced a world far from the wild west.

photo: Michael Brands/TED

photo: Michael Brands/TED

photo: Michael Brands/TED

photo: Michael Brands/TED

By the way, the last two days of TED and TEDActive were amazing… highlights included talks from Roger Ebert, John Hunter, Kathryn Schulz, Stanley McChrystal, Kate Hartman, Eli Pariser, Janet Echelman, and more. Last but not least, a finale that captured the attention of just about everyone… a water ballet by Aqualillies. This is probably what it was like in Palm Spring 1950. Take me back… now.

Every year, TED chooses an exceptional individual for the TED Prize. Individuals with world changing ideas, and acting on them. The prize is $100,000 prize along with one wish… a wish to change the world. Artist JR travels the world, from war torn areas to slums, JR put his brand of art in the public eye and has the power to uplift communities.

JR had humble beginnings as a street artist, throwing up his art in the streets, no intention or grand vision of becoming an internationally recognized artist and activist. He started taking pictures of people in the streets, real people in his own community. Engaging with them, asking permission to take their photos out to display them in the streets and around the world.

A defining JR photo would be a close up of a face, the eyes… you would see the humanity of the subjects in his portraits. JR would take these, make them huge and wheatpaste them to building, homes, trains, and bridges at a scale that becomes part of the visible landscape. Wherever he was, he would rely on the people of the community to help him make and install the art… literally knocking door to door or approaching people in the streets to see if they would be interested in being part of the project. Sometimes, people met him with skepticism, and often, those people through curiosity and seeing what was happening, would end up being part of what was going on. After all, this is a collaborative project, bringing people together making and working together to build something- through sweat, the making of things, and most of all, curiosity, trust and friendship developed.

TED Prize Winner JR & INSIDE OUT from TED Prize on Vimeo.

JR’s talk at TED was one of the most inspiring, visually and emotionally. JR’s TED wish for the world was this… “I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world…INSIDE OUT.”

Essentially, he is inviting us to be part of his project, asking us to take a photo, uploading that photo, and he would send us a poster to paste. A Bigger idea would be get a group of people together, work together, and paste it on a public space. There are details and you can find out how to participate at insideoutproject.net.

On stage right after, a big part of the talk was to call people to action and instantly, the TED audience were offering him everything from a studio in New York, paid trips around the globe, to a first film grant from Sundance for his next film. Pretty amazing. JR’s full TED talk below. It has been amazing being here at TEDActive… mind blowing really… especially when JR came out here yesterday here in Palm Springs, spoke more about his insideout project and just… hung out.

We are currently heading into day 3 of TED 2011 and TEDActive. Follow along with us on Twitter, we are updating frequently there and you can keep up with the conference with us. Yesterday was huge. Everyone from Bill Gates to TED 2011 prize winner and artist, JR took the stage… and a special appearance and updated talk from 2010 prize winner, activist, and chef, Jamie Oliver.

Jamie gave a passionate talk about The Food Revolution, the triumphs in the past year including community kitchens, the Emmy winning television show, and healthy Food Revolution food trucks across the country. But, challenges still exist which is why he took the stage and urged the TED community to act. One shocking thing to learn is that he and his ideas to change the food served in schools has been banned in hundreds of schools in Los Angeles school districts. Yes, banned. Learn more about what Jamie is doing here he has updated the site with a petition you can be involved in.

All of the talks at TED are broken into themes. Under “Worlds Imagined”, documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock talked about his next film, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. From what I gather, it’s a documentary about selling his film to corporations and in turn product placing those corporate products in his film. Morgan puts a magnifying glass to branding, advertising, marketing and the effects they have in our society, but, more importantly, looking inward, learning about himself…. or ourselves. In a segment of the talk, he applies corporate branding strategies to “Morgan Spurlock” and reveals his own brand… the talk was amazing, really funny, and strangely uplifting…. More on The Greatest Movie Ever Sold which premiered at Sundance this year.

In “Knowledge Revolution”, Bill Gates introduced us to Salman Khan. He started the Khan Academy, a not for profit online educational site for students, teachers, home-schoolers, principals, and adults returning to the classroom. The website has video tutorials for K-12 math, science, and topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics. Not only for learning, the site contains analytical tools to track progress for teachers. He has rolled the program out to Los Altos High School and with over a million users, it is a serious tool ready to be implemented in classrooms around the country.

In the theme “Radical Collaboration”, TED 2011 Prize winner, JR took the stage for the most amazing talk yet…. more on that a little later, I have to catch the talks now, it just getting underway, the theme is “Invention and Consequence”.

We’re here in Palm Springs this whole week for TEDActive, taking in all of the 2011 TED Talks. It has been non stop talks since yesterday and we are now taking in Day 2. As I write this, Bill Gates is introducing innovators for the Knowledge Revolution. More on that later, but, first want to give a few of our favorite, most inspiring talks from yesterday.

Designer Thomas Heatherwick shared some amazing projects, mostly focusing on his green architecture projects. This piece really stood out. Those are living plants growing out of this building!

Music conductor Eric Whitacre creates virtual choirs via YouTube. Through auditions via the web, he is currently working on a future choir of over 2000 singers which he previewed for the first time. It’s amazing to see the submissions-people young, old, amateur- all sitting in their home contributing to this project.

Polar photographer, Paul Nicklen photographs creatures of the Arctic and Antarctic, generating awareness of these isolated lands. “I am cold + I am miserable + Big animals with sharp protruding parts are staring at me” – 3 ways Nicklen knows he’s in the right spot.