JED Conference (Jewish TED-style Conference )
Submitted by: Rabbi Category: Engaging in Our Community
The Big Idea
A TED-inspired conference dedicated to contemporary Jewish civilization, held in Los Angeles, including spreadable digital videos in the TED-style.
The TED conference, by its charter, cannot hold religious oriented events, or events dedicated to a specific religious/ethnic group, yet many of the TED speakers identify as Jewish. TED conferences and videos light up the internet and live events with fascinating speakers, across the spectrum of technology, entertaining, education, design and more.
In the first year we would concentrate on new media, technology, and the drive to Create.
Los Angeles is a crossroads of new media with great thinkers and practitioners.
The Impact
Producing a world-class arts and technology event, inspired by the Telluride Film Festival and TED. The conference will draw movers and shakers in the Jewish world as well as the secular world for captivating presentations and inspiration from those on the cutting edge in a variety of creative and innovative fields. This will be a city-wide cultural event, drawing the Los Angeles Jewish community together and inviting many newcomers to the community.
This Is A Great Idea Because
There has yet to be a conference of this kind in the Jewish community. ConverJent and Rabbi Owen Gottlieb bring unique skills and relationships to the table to execute this idea.
Rabbi Owen Gottlieb spent twelve years on the staff of the Telluride Film Festival, working directly with the festival co-founder and is experienced in what it takes to create a world-class arts and entertainment event. Rabbi Gottlieb is now a Jim Joseph fellow and PhD Candidate in Education and Jewish Studies at NYU specializing in digital media including digital games and simulation for education.
With a background in software development (clients including Royal Caribbean and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center), writing for film and television in Los Angeles (member, Writers Guild of American West), Rabbi Gottlieb brings connections to the multiple world necessary to bring a TED-style conference to life. Rabbi Gottlieb holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College, an M.A. from USC School of Cinematic Arts and was ordained in 2010 from HUC-JIR in New York. Rabbi Gottlieb's new organization, ConverJent, dedicated to spreading Jewish wisdom through new media is incubated with Clal and has received a PresenTense fellowship.