Recently, TEDx Organizers from 11 different cities in Asia (Taipei, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia) descended upon Taipei for the incredible event that was TEDxTaipei. The event itself, whose theme was "Big Hope" and centered around nine questions for the future, featured talks by 20 inspiring speakers, including the former CTO of One Laptop Per Child, a spiritual guru from India, and native Taiwanese folk singers. We all walked away from the day-long event, our hearts and minds filled with wonderful new ideas - but that was only the beginning of the fun.

Jason Hsu and Kevin Peng, the curators of TEDxTaipei, organized a three-day tour of Taipei and surroundings, specially for the TEDx Organizer family, along with the speakers and other honored guests, including Salome Heusel from the TED office. The jam-packed itinerary, which left little room for sleep (but ample opportunities for coffee), consisted of:

Culture  - Though the entire trip was about culture (most of us were, after all, in Taiwan for the very first time), we got to experience Taiwanese culture firsthand through visiting a traditional tea house in the Maokong Mountains, enjoying a private performance by the drumming group U-Theatre at their mountaintop theater space, and touring the Flora Expo, which exhibited many elements of Taiwan's natural resources and potential through its exhibits and pavilions.

Technology - Taiwan, as we learned, actually manufactures about 40% of the world's consumer electronics. We had a chance to tour the campus of Quanta Computer, the world's largest notebook computer manufacturer, as well as play with some of their newest technologies that haven't yet hit the market, and discuss ideas with their CTO and other Quanta leaders. We also sat with the CTO of ITRI, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, a Taiwan-based international research group that whose ethos involves mixing scientists with designers and industry leaders in order to create new technologies for the market.

Development & Entrepreneurship - We met several local business leaders, such as Ping Chu, head of AVEDA Taiwan, and exchanged ideas of social enterprise and business ethos. We went to Field Office, an architectural station in the agricultural Yilan County, where a team of young architects work together to bring creative ideas for cultural buildings to the community. We talked to professors at local universities about creativity and entrepreneurship in education, and how to inspire the next generation towards prosperity and social responsibility.

Food - Our gustatory senses were constantly tickled by local delights, and we had a bit of everything - from dinners made of completely fresh and local ingredients, to Taiwan's famed street food from the ubiquitous nightmarkets.

Decompression - Of course, no extended gathering in Asia would dare exclude karaoke, and we all had a chance to break the ice through mutual embarrassment and rousing off-key choruses of A Whole New World. A morning walk and yoga session in the mountains of northern Taiwan also helped get us back to our element.

TEDx (Ex)change - Our ultimate goal was to convene as a group of TEDx Organizers and share our thoughts about how we organize events in our own cities. We had structured discussions, sharing all of our questions and hopes for our own events, as well as our strategies for how to continue the dialogue. We all share the same goal that is embodied by TED, but we found that we also shared many issues in adapting our TEDx events for our own audiences, from the big framework such as how to make events more locally-oriented to the details of how to deal with language barriers between speakers and attendees, and having four wonderful days to spend with each other gave us the chance to understand how everyone made their own events work.

The best part? We all came away with over 30 new friends, confidants, collaborators, and now know expert tour guides when we visit any of Asia's major cities. But it wasn't just about us - even though we deepened our understanding and formed new relationships, the greatest takeaway was about how we all, as purveyors of TED and TEDx, hope to bring these sorts of experiences of idea and culture exchange to our own home communities, and to encourage these friendships and to spread the positive energy amongst our own peers. It was about how we're all going to make the world a better place, one TEDx at a time.

Written by Cindy Wang