TED Women

I love TED talks.  The short 10-15 minutes talks provided by experts in their respective fields are incredibly enlightening, sometimes serious, sometimes funny and always inspirational. My favorites include talks on how happiness creates success (confirmed what I already knew), how stress can be good for you (that's a relief) and the taboos of parenting (which helped set my expectations before Oskar joined the family).  

So when I found out in May that the TED Women's conference was going to be held in San Francisco in October and the theme was "It’s About Time" I was interested!  Given the financial and time commitment coupled with the unknown of Oskar I checked with Martin before submitting my application online.  And yes, this was a conference you had to apply for; questions included: “What is your principal occupation” and “If a friend were to describe your accomplishments in up to three sentences, what would he or she say?”

The conference took place last week and it was incredible.  The list of speakers was perfectly curated and the topics ranged from time management to why it is time for women to lead.  It also focused on things and issues it is about time to face and resolve such as racism, gender inequality and xenophobia.  

During the breaks I made my way to the “lactation room” to pump for the day.  And it was during these breaks that I was able to meet a group of incredible women all with young babies.  As one woman pointed out it was our "red tent" of the conference.  And I had to agree, I had more meaningful conversations and felt more connected to those few women than any other time spent in a networking environment.  

And while I normally leave these types of conferences energized and excited to get involved and participate in meaningful changes to society; instead I left with a new found sense of responsibility to raise a well-rounded, responsible and respectful young man.