About TEDx Santa Barbara

When TED introduced its independently organized TEDx program in 2009, longtime TED community members Mark Sylvester and Kymberlee Weil saw an exciting opportunity. They wasted no time in bringing a TEDx event to Santa Barbara, launching TEDxAmericanRiviera in 2010 at the Bacara Resort. From 2010 to 2012, the event thrived under this name before taking a brief hiatus. In 2016, it returned with a new identity—TEDxSantaBarbara—and found a new home at the Victoria Theater downtown, where it continued to grow.

Over the next nine years, TEDxSantaBarbara became a powerful platform for ideas, hosting 100 live talks with over 35 million views. The event was known for its thought-provoking themes, such as 2017’s Outside In, which tackled topics ranging from ocean conservation and human trafficking to the delicate balance between invention and innovation.

When the world shifted in 2020, TEDxSantaBarbara adapted with Making Waves: Conversations with Innovators and Disruptors—a virtual series focused on hope, resilience, and real-world solutions. These 176 conversations covered crucial subjects like food supply, biotechnology, psychology, and environmental challenges, ensuring the platform remained relevant and impactful.

Beyond TEDxSantaBarbara, Mark Sylvester extended his mentorship to Laguna Blanca School, helping them launch TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool in 2019. Six years later, the program continues to thrive. In January 2025, students took the stage under the theme Limitless, encouraging them to push boundaries and embrace bold ideas.

Now, TEDxSantaBarbara is returning to live events. Beginning in 2025, a new series of Salons will take place at the Santa Barbara Library’s Faulkner Gallery. Each gathering will feature a guest curator and invite the community to engage in meaningful discussions on pressing local topics.

Through continuous evolution and a deep commitment to spreading ideas, TEDxSantaBarbara has cemented itself as a hub for transformative conversations—both on its own stage and in shaping the next generation of speakers.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized. (Subject to certain rules and regulations.)

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago, TED has grown to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes or less. Many of these talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Sal Khan and Daniel Kahneman.

The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Vancouver, British Columbia, along with the TEDActive simulcast event in nearby Whistler. The annual TEDGlobal conference will be held this October in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TED Talks are posted daily; the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as translations from volunteers worldwide; the educational initiative TED-Ed. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world get help translating their wishes into action; TEDx, which supports individuals or groups in hosting local, self- organized TED-style events around the world, and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED.