Why the secrecy?
I have no idea. My thought is that TED (without the x) is an exclusive brand and Lincoln was aligning themselves with that elite group. Lincoln surely delivered on the slick event; it was top shelf.
The usual pre-event buzz wasn’t their priority. Instead they had many local Detroiters in the twitterverse scratching their head in a “how did I miss this” type of way.
To be fair, it is my understanding that the invitation was sent to the entire TEDxDetroit database. So, why weren’t those that were planning on attending talking about it? A simple line in the invitation reads:
Also, please, no blogging nor tweeting this invitation/event before it takes place.
TED@MotorCity and Lincoln proved that an event doesn’t need the “this event is going to be so cool” buzz to, in fact, be cool.
Detroit is on a precipice and the people and their actions and decisions are going to decide which way it goes. Our “New Tomorrow” is up to us.
Feedback, makers, reinvention, connection, and sharing. That is our “New Tomorrow.”
TED@MotorCity not only delivered world-class speakers but it was world-class all the way around.