The way TED’s organizers “use physical space for meet- ings and for conveying information is very creative.”
is very creative,” he said. As a result, Long Beach has adopted several of TED’s ideas tomake its venue offeringsmore attrac- tive to a greater variety of groups. TEDparticipants, who must apply to attend, come as much
to talk to each other as to listen to presentations.Conference organizers bring in living-room-style furniture—picture big, round sofas and comfy chairs—to create a variety of spaces that support conversation and dialogue between attendees. “We loved the concept of mini-meeting spots,” Goodling
said, and followed in TED’s footsteps by rethinking the use of space in the convention center’s Promenade, a long, light-filled area that connectsmeeting rooms. The Promenadewas beauti- ful,Goodling said, but had all the coziness of an airline termi- nal.Now it’s furnishedwith sofas, tables, chairs, and a line of palmtrees, dividing the space into a series of intimate conversa- tion areas. The seating areas also are equipped to serve as recharging stations for the smartphones and other devices that attendeesmay be using.
TEDalso ramps up the glamour for its celebrity-studded din-
ners and receptions, using lights, draping, and color to drop the ceiling, hide the rows of seats, and otherwise transform the cen- ter’s 13,500-seat Arena intowhatGoodling calls an edgy “loft- style” environment.Aproposal for funding thatwould permanently add the equipment—including a truss, curtains, and a stage-lighting system—thatwould allow other groups to more easily create similarly sophisticated effects is expected to be approved by the city. “What I am hearing from associations and corporations
is a desire to create a more theatrical and ‘wow!’ experience,” Goodling said. And TED, he added, “ is definitely ahead of the curve on the coolness factor.”
The Allen & Company SunValley Conference— SunValley, Idaho
Each summer, following the Fourth of July, approximately 500 media and tech titans and their families—including, in years past, marquee names suchas Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Eisner, and Mark Zuckerberg—descend on Idaho’s Sun Valley Resort for what’s become known as “summer camp for moguls.” The conference, which next July will turn 30, is organized
by the boutique but heavyweight New York City investment bank Allen&Co., which is so private it doesn’t even have a
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website. And the weeklong meeting, which traditionally has been a place where big deals and mergers are hammered out, is closed except in the most perfunctory way to the media. As a result, very little is known about what goes on during the conference, except to the participants themselves. What is clear is that SunValley itself is integral to the confer-
ence’s summer-camp ambiance. “I think the destination is one of the reasons they come here,” Jack Sibbach, SunValleyResort’s director ofmarketing and PR, said in a recent interviewwith Convene. “They could stay inNewYork City, they could be all over the country and have big convention centers. Butwith the