A full week after the event, I can personally sit back and look at how we handled the event. Overall, I think it was a success! I have received an e-mail from overseas asking me to be his TEDx mentor, since he is organizing one in his city. It was an honour, of course, so I did respond and asked questions to help both us organize the event properly. IN addition, our student volunteers from Miriam College also plans to organize a TEDx in their college – cool, huh?

Anyway, looking back at what we (the TEDxManila team) has done, we know that we really have lots of stuff to work on and improve.

1. Sponsors. I personally think that we can get more sponsors. Whilst the event was free for the participants, we were able to get enough funds from our sponsors to cover the major expenses. Minor expenses just came out of my pocket – but no regrets.
2. Publicity. We were overwhelmed by the number of applicants to the event. We did not realize that TEDxManila, being the first TEDx with live speakers, will be popular. Marketing was by word of mouth and via the social networking sites, Facebook and Twitter. Frankly, I do not think that TEDx events need a lot of marketing – the TED brand speaks for itself.
3. Stage Design, Posters, etc. We had problems with the venue – the lighting on the stage was not sufficient, the backdrop was too big and the projection screen was not stable (kept on swaying). The posters outside the venue, however, were stunning.
4. Registration. It was disorganized primarily because some of the badges got lost – we had to re-print several dozens. In addition, with participants confirming attendance at the last minute (even if we asked them to confirm early!), it was difficult to print all the badges on time. Next time, have them confirm several weeks early and be strict in enforcing the deadline.
5. Technical Issues. Whilst some of the members of the TEDxManila team were experienced in handling events like this, some were doing it for the first time. There were a couple of technical miscues, but at the end, everything went ok. We could have hired a professional event organizer but it will add to our cost.

As it is, we are still processing the video so we can post it. Photos are already on Flickr and I am hoping that other participants will tag their photos with “TEDx” and “TEDxManila”.

Whilst definitely not (yet) as well-oiled as the TED conferences, I am sure that in time, we will be able to hold TEDx events with minimal problems.