It's great to be here today.

This is actually the second TEDxBoston
I've been privileged to attend.

It's actually
the third annual TEDxBoston.

It was one of the very first
TEDx events –

two years ago - 
which happen anywhere in the world.

It's sort of incredible that the TED team
and I are constantly in awe

of what has taken place
over the last two years

and of these incredible teams of volunteers
like this incredible TEDxBoston team

that is putting on events
like this one here today.

So, I wanted to show you
a few of the statistics.

These are
some of the numbers.

While it launched
just under two and half years ago,

we've had almost 2,000 events
around the world.

We have another 1,000 plus
TEDx events planned

in over 104 countries
and in 46 languages.

So, while the statistics are amazing,
we do analyze and share them.

What me and my team have become
more and more obsessed by

are these human stories, the memes,
the themes, the connections

and the projects that are emerging
from these amazing TEDx events

that are happening sometimes
5, 10 times a day

around the world and live streaming.

It's sort of a truly spectacular thing
to think of,

that you are
part of this amazing global,

and I like to call it,
a tribe of interconnectivity.

Around ideas,
people are motivated

just by passion and ideas,
but nothing else.

So, I'd encourage you –

actually we have a blog,
where we're trying to capture

some of these stories,

to go to the TEDx blog
and read some of the stories happening

from a shanty town in Kibera
to a floating hotel

in the middle of Amazon forest.

If you have any of your own stories
that've emerged from TEDxBoston,

please consider
contributing your story

to this global picture
of story tellings around ideas.

And so, I wanna just play
a quick video

that sort of gives you
a slightly deeper picture

of what has transpired
over the last few years.

(Music)

(Applause)

(Music)

(Women sing)

[42 Languages]

[96 Countries]

[1403 Past Events]

[812 Upcoming Events]

TEDxAmazônia was set in a place
where life's a bountiful,

hoping that ideas would blossom
in the heart and mind of each attendee

and then be [unclear] on the globe.

Over 700 people
from 70 countries

gathered in the Floating Auditorium
surrounded by alligators,

during the worst Amazon drought
in the past 100 years.

Every day I meet people

whose lives, jobs, and companies
were transformed by these events.

I can't really believe
that it only took 18 months

for all those 55 TEDx events
to take place in such a small country

like South Korea.

It was almost like a wildfire.

It's been giving hope to people,
making them cry, and making them laugh

and making them
inspired and excited.

I can't really wait to see
what's going to be happening this year too.

I started TEDxChange

because there are phenomenal people
doing great work across the globe,

and so often, we don't get
the change to hear from them.

TEDxChange gives us a platform
so that we hear all of those voices.

It's amazing to watch
this global conversation

happening at the local level

where real solutions are actually
taking place.

TEDxYouthDay, 60 events,
[unclear] around the world

over a period of 24 hours.

These events –
all have one common goal

to ignite new ideas in the minds
of the world's future leaders.

I really enjoyed the fact
that TEDxAmsterdam is not just an event.

It's really safe
to call it a movement.

There are almost 5,000 people

who care what's on the program,
who want to be involved

and who would try and see
how they can help

the ideas of our speakers even further.

(Music)

Lara Stein: As you go through today,
you're all an incredible group of people

that is interconnected to these
other groups around the world

that believe the power of ideas
can change the world.

I just want to
take this opportunity again

to thank to TEDxBoston team

for this amazing job
that they've done.

Thank you.

(Applause)