Many people come to TED seeking something out of the ordinary. A chance to mentally recharge. A chance to step back and consider the really big stuff that’s happening. A chance to understand life in a richer way.

TED2008 will be our most ambitious attempt yet to deliver on that agenda. We’re building our program around the biggest questions there are. And because it’s TED, we’ll be seeking answers not just from the sources you might expect, but by bringing together multiple voices from very different disciplines. The “Aha” moments often come from the most unexpected connections. The questions below will give you a flavor of the incredibly rich vein of possibility in this approach. Plenty of Profundity and Challenge, for sure … but also plenty of room for Cool, Exciting and Whimsical

For the first time all sessions were streamed live over the web.

Congratulations to Chris Anderson and the TED team for choosing to do so.

This years program brought together another great lineup.

50 main speakers shared their worldviews with the 1,100 attendees.

Full coverage of all sessions will be available over on the TED blog.

This years theme was The User Revolution.

Building on last year’s high-energy discussion of the 2.0 world, FASTforward ‘08 takes that topic to the next level to examine how search-driven innovation is fueling the User Revolution, a critical shift that is placing users in all markets increasingly at the center of the information universe.

Our highlight of the sessions was John Hagel’s keynote.

With The User Revolution upon us, it increasingly becomes critical to be able to measure the potential impact of this powerful change trend on the future of your business and its role in the industry. Unfortunately, the value of many of the intangibles that power The User Revolution – skills, information, social capital, etc. – cannot be captured and measured with traditional metrics such as Return on Investment (ROI). In this session, John Hagel, widely respected author and business strategy guru, introduces us to a new set of leading indicators that can be used to measure and predict the impact of The User Revolution on your company.

Video interviews with participants and commentary are available here.

Recommended viewing, reading and food for thought.

DEMO was there when the seeds of Web 2.0 were planted in a platform called .NET, exploring some of the first Web services before we even had buzz words to describe them. We have stayed true to our mission: to find great innovation wherever it occurs, identify market trends through the lens of the products coming to market, and expose you to new ideas and opportunities.

The pool of talent was so deep this year we expanded the show. Our 77 demonstrating companies foretold the next generation of real-time, rich applications and use cases, dependent on keystone technologies and conceptual changes in every layer of the stack, from foundational protocols that deliver performance and reliability to design shifts that bring usability to new levels. Click on the buttons below to check them out!

Our pick of this years 77 elevator pitches was Sprout.

Video archives of all presentations are now available here.

OnMedia NYC is where cutting-edge technology CEOs from the back streets of Silicon Valley meet the global advertising and media establishment. This two-and-a-half-day executive event features CEO presentations and high-level debates on which forces are disrupting user behavior and creating new opportunities in the marketing, branding, advertising, and public relations industries. At OnMedia, our editors will also honor the OnMedia 100 Top Private Companies. Fifty of the top CEOs from the OnMedia 100 will pitch their market strategies to a panel of industry experts in our “CEO Showcase.”

This years program brought together some of ICT’s leading thinkers.

Our pick of the sessions was Big Media Online - now comes the hard part.

Big Media Online. Now Comes the Hard Part: Sustaining Growth

* Jeff Jarvis, Blogger, BuzzMachine
* Gordon McLeod, President, Sports Illustrated Digital
* Alisa Bowen, Reuters
* Jeff Price, President, Sports Illustrated Digital
* Caroline Little, CEO and Publisher, Washington Post, Newsweek Interactive
* David Kirkpatrick, Senior Editor, Internet & Technology, Fortune

Video archives of all sessions are now available here.

An interdisciplinary and systemic view of the major economic, political, societal and technological forces currently at work in the world form the conceptual pillars of the 2008 programme and the framework for the global agenda in Davos.

The programme was based on the following five conceptual pillars:

* Competing While Collaborating
* Addressing Economic Insecurity
* Aligning Interests across Divides
* Exploring Nature’s New Frontiers
* Understanding Future Shifts

An audio and video archive of this years sessions are available here.

One welcome addition this year was The Davos Conversation.

YouTube participants recorded their responses to The Davos Question.

“What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?”

Heres hoping it gains more traction than the Dropping Knowledge initative.

DLD (Digital, Life, Design) is Europe’s conference for the 21st century, covering digital innovation, science and culture and bringing together thought leaders from Europe, the Middle-East, America and Asia. The three-day event is chaired by publisher Hubert Burda and investor Joseph Vardi and hosted by Stephanie Czerny and Marcel Reichart.

Our session pick of this years program was getting social.

Link: sevenload.com

Video archives of all sessions are available here, here and here.

The 2007 Crunchies is our first annual competition and award ceremony to recognize and celebrate the most compelling startups, internet and technology innovations of the year. The Crunchies is a collaboration project between GigaOm, Read/WriteWeb, VentureBeat and TechCrunch. Best of all, the internet community is invited to choose who wins.

Mogulus live streamed the event - a video archive is available here.

OnHollywood is where cutting-edge technology CEOs from the back streets of Silicon Valley meet the Hollywood digital entertainment and media elite. This two-and-a-half-day executive event features high-level debates on which forces are disrupting user behavior and creating new opportunities, content strategies and monetization schemes in the video, music, gaming, search, and mobile industries. Our editors will also honor the OnHollywood 100 Top Private Companies and feature the Best of Broadband “BOB” Awards. Fifty of the top CEOs from the OnHollywood 100 will pitch their market strategies to a panel of industry experts in our “CEO Showcase.”

This years program brought together an interesting mix of speakers.

Our pick of the two day sessions was New News Media.

Video archives of other sessions are available for viewing here.