# Monique Ruff-Bell TED #DESIGNtoCHANGE Year +2 with Ruud Janssen Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302/monique-ruff-bell-ted-designtochange-year-2-with-ruud-janssen Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302/monique-ruff-bell-ted-designtochange-year-2-with-ruud-janssen.md Podcast: [Event Design Collective PODcasts](https://stenobird.com/podcast/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302) Published: 2026-05-14T13:48:47+00:00 Episode link: https://soundcloud.com/eventdesigncollective/monique-ruff-bell-ted Audio file: https://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/2320534841-eventdesigncollective-monique-ruff-bell-ted.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302/episodes/monique-ruff-bell-ted-designtochange-year-2-with-ruud-janssen Duration seconds: 3074 ## Resource In this #DESIGNtoCHANGE Podcast series, Monique Ruff-Bell, TED's Chief Program and Strategy Officer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/moniqueruffbell/ ), joined Ruud Janssen (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruudwjanssen/ ) to discuss TED's strategic evolution and its impact on event design. Reflecting on TED's 40-year history and Chris Anderson's 25-year stewardship, Monique highlighted the organization's commitment to fostering meaningful change through its flagship conference, specialty events, and global TEDx network, which now spans 4,500 annual licenses, surpassing pre-COVID levels. The conversation explored TED's thematic evolution, including the shift from "Ideas Worth Sharing" to "Ideas Change Everything" and the recent theme "All of Us," central to TED 2026 in Vancouver. After 12 years and 11 conferences in Vancouver, TED announced its move to San Diego, a decision shaped by a two-year selection process. Monique emphasized San Diego's unique attributes, including its biotech industry, military presence, and borderless ethos, as well as the community's enthusiasm, exemplified by engagement with the mayor and local business leaders. The move aims to refresh the conference experience while maintaining TED's core values of fostering hope, optimism, and emotive experiences. Monique shared insights into TED's specialty conferences, such as TED AI, TED Sports, TED Food, and TED Health, which provide deep dives into specific topics. She expressed optimism about integrating AI into event design, noting its potential to enhance efficiency and creativity while addressing societal implications. Upcoming initiatives include the climate change conference and the Content Institute, a new educational program led by Sal Khan, TED's Vision Steward, focused on AI and business principles.… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302/episodes/monique-ruff-bell-ted-designtochange-year-2-with-ruud-janssen/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/event-design-collective-podcasts-6462302/monique-ruff-bell-ted-designtochange-year-2-with-ruud-janssen.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.