Chris Anderson, TED’s curator, told us on day 1 that this would be the most ambitious TED conference yet and, for its organisers, the most terrifying because speakers had been invited to find new, powerful ways of extracting the most out of their talks. Each had been urged, said Anderson, to “find the prism that will show the full spectrum.”

Writing this at the start of TED’s last day, I’m not convinced they succeeded. A surprising number of speakers this year have read from prompt cards or even a script, not always fluently, and those amazing TED-style powerpoint presentations have been in shorter supply than usual. There’s also been a lot less innovation than I expected so far but, to be fair, the first session today, is focusing on science. And so will my next blog. more…

“Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer.” (EM Forster Howards End)

Here at TEDActive—the younger, funkier sister of California’s TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) annual conference—Forster’s 1921 theme “only connect” seems ever more relevant. more…

People in our wee country are the happiest. Unexpected, perhaps,  given the long history of violence and social unrest. But, people can be happy in the most difficult circumstances and happiness isn’t always related to the social or material environment. Almost impossible to define, we often only recognise true happiness when its gone. So, it’s great to see Northern Ireland in a positive light—we should celebrate this special feeling that we all knew and felt. Although, in truth, we didn’t know exactly what it was. more…

We are now constantly discussing the transition process and the programme of work we have mapped, which we need to follow to deliver the structural changes demanded by the reforms. This sits alongside the planning process, with the plan for 2012/13 shuttling back and forth between the SHA, PCT cluster, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), various key providers and Health and Well-Being Board. Then there are the contract negotiations, which people who have been involved will know, have a degree of all-consuming intensity at this time of year. more…