Last week TEDMed moved its annual health- and medicine-focused conference to Washington for the first time, drawing more than 1,500 leaders from the health and science communities to a four-day “grand gathering” at the Kennedy Center, with evening receptions at venues including the Library of Congress, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Building Museum. Previously held in San Diego, the meeting's relocation to D.C. was based on getting closer policymakers, not politicians, organizers said.
“The hope is to not be tucked away in one part of the country, but to be at the forefront of policy,” said Gloria Hernandez, TEDMed's director of operations and client services. The speakers for the event—which is organized independently from the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference in Long Beach, California—didn’t include any politicians or anyone affiliated with political groups, and instead focused on creating a neutral space with independent speakers from a variety of fields to inspire discussion on medicine’s greatest challenges. The move seemed to work: TEDMed will return to the Kennedy Center next year.
More than 1,200 guests attended April 11 dinner hosted at the Library of Congress’s Jefferson Building, which was dressed up with red lighting and a 24-foot bar from A Vista Events that used black and red letters to spell out "TEDMed." The venue was a natural choice given that TEDMed chairman Jay Walker is such a bibliophile that he owns his own library, the Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination in Connecticut.
Other after-hours activities included a low-key opening dinner reception for 1,000 at the National Portrait Gallery on April 10 and a 1,500-guest reception at the National Building Museum April 12.
Entertainment at the April 11 and 12 events helped bridge the gap between participants and create conversation starters, with a flash-mob-style performance from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington at the Library of Congress and two 15-minute acrobatic performances by the New York show Traces at the National Building Museum. “We want to focus on creating an atmosphere so people really connect,” said planner and producer Nicole Bumpus Finn of C to C Events.
Finn and Hernandez worked with Occasions Caterers to create a gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian-centric menu for the April 11 dinner, spotlighting creative healthy options like vegan ceviche. The menu the following day was a little more indulgent, with 12 dessert buffets designed to underscore TEDMed sponsors. Guests sampled made-to-order nitrogen ice cream, desserts inspired by molecular gastronomy, and 12 specialty cocktails as they mingled amid the contemporary decor that included furniture in sculptural and organic shapes, fabric panels suspended from the ceiling, and scientific animations displayed on flat screens throughout the venue.
