Abreu Fellows at TED2010
A brief look into the Abreu Fellows‘ recent experience at TED2010…
Wednesday morning. The sun was shining in California, as five of the ten Abreu Fellows walked down the promenade to the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. Feeling cool in our shades and sandals, we realized: We are not in Boston anymore. We walked into the theater, and those 1,500 seats looked like 15,000. Hearts racing, palms sweaty, we imagined what it would be like to get up in front of so many people. And then Thomas Dolby and Ethel started to rock out on “Bittersweet Symphony.” Deep breath. As we ate up talks on behavioral economics and solutions to poverty and reveled in some sweet ukulele music, we thought: Maybe this is going to be okay.
Wednesday afternoon. Hanging out with DeeDee in the hair and make-up room made the wait much more fun. And she made us look fabulous in hi-def. Thanks to the AV guys too for all their help! From our front row seats, we got so caught up in Frank Drake’s, Daphney Singo’s and Peter Knight’s talks that we were surprised when we heard Amy saying: “And here from Boston are five fellows…” And there we were! Nerves gone, we grooved to our little speeches and got down to our version of Marquez’s “Danzón No. 2.” It was amazing to share that experience with each other… and with all of TED! What a trip.
Wednesday night. Fueled by adrenaline from our performance and from watching Jamie Oliver and Sheryl Crow close the show, we sauntered over to Pine Street, where we had a great dinner, meeting so many of the folks who have supported Dr. Abreu’s TED Prize Wish. We were thrilled to see some of our “professors” at the block party, too: Carl Haney, Jeff Walker, Natalie Markoff, Michael Melcher, Don Jones and of course, our beloved director, Mark Churchill. We were up until far too late, chatting with our new buddies…
Thursday morning. Up bright and early for breakfast with some good friends of the Abreu Fellows Program. Many thanks to Amy, Anna, Chris Anderson and the entire TED team for making our time in Long Beach possible—and so much fun!
Photo Credit: TED / James Duncan Davidson
