What started as a nerdy Technology, Entertainment & Design conference in California in 1984 has evolved into a four day society event where even the speakers pay a membership fee. "Ideas are the new rock'n'roll," the British Observer wrote when the conference came to Oxford. "And TED is its Woodstock."

The TED concept is simple: it offers great minds exactly 18 minutes to talk about their 'ideas worth spreading’. And spread they are.

In bars and at dinner parties fans tell others about the great lecture by writer-philosopher Alain de Botton they watched on ted.com, or the one by evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond, or by Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Bloggers link to their favourite ideas and friends email each other as soon as a new talk goes online. Some people say they watch a TED talk with their morning coffee, just to be inspired for the rest of the day. And the first addictions have been reported: aficionados who admit to having watched all the over 500 clips on the website, not just once but repeatedly.

Local TED-like experiences

TED is also physically spreading across the planet. The annual conference in California has gone global, first to Oxford in 2005 and to India later this month. And since April there are the TEDx conferences, not organised by the US organisation, but by local communities who want to create their own TED-like experience. Over 100 have so far been set up and on Friday the first major Dutch event will be hosted in Amsterdam, initiated by internet entrepreneur Jim Stolze, who himself talked about his one month detox from the web at the 2009 TED conference in Long Beach.

Jim Stolze's top 5 Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity – Western schools deliver good workers but no creative thinkers, according to political advisor Ken Robinson, who says the education system needs a drastic redesign. Barry Schwartz on the paradox of choice – Freedom of choice has not made us more free or happy, says psychologist Barry Schwartz, but paralysed and disgruntled. Pattie Maes’ demo SixthSense – A demonstration of an alternative to PC's, laptops and mobile phones: a wireless device that can be used to call, photograph and listen to music, and projects its interface on walls and hands. Brian Greene on string theory – The physicist explains the string theory, the universal theory that tries to bring together all the fundamental forces of nature. Dan Ariely - Dan Ariely on our buggy moral code – A behavioural economist uses classic visual illusions to show how our decisions are not as rational as we think.

Other Dutch speakers also put in an appearance in Long Beach. Siegfried Woldhek, a biologist and NRC Handelsblad cartoonist, last year deduced that three paintings by Leonardo da Vinci were actually self-portraits of the artist - although his claim has since been disputed. Professor and sustainability advisor Louise Fresco baked bread on stage to illustrate solutions for world food problems.

At Friday's one-day event the 15 speakers include Kevin Kelly, the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, Dutch minister of European affairs Frans Timmermans, astronaut Wubbo Ockels and Mabel van Oranje, the wife of prince Friso, the second son of queen Beatrix. Van Oranje is also an economist who worked for George Soros' Open Society Institute, co-founded the ngo War Child, co-chairs the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, and is the ceo of The Elders, a group of elder statesmen and peace and human rights activists set up by Nelson Mandela. As at the real TED conference, famous politicians and opinion makers will share the stage with obscure scientists, web entrepreneurs and visionary artists.

Whereas attending the original Californian edition costs a 6,000 dollar membership fee, even for the speakers, the Amsterdam event is free, albeit by invitation only. Organiser Stolze said he received 2,700 requests for the 400 available seats. Those who didn't get in can watch a live stream of the event online.

Saving the world can seem like child's play

It is in any case on the web that TED has gained most of its following. What was once an elitist event became accessible to all when the first TED videos appeared on the web in 2007. But what makes a website with taped powerpoint presentations so magically popular?

First of all, TED usually meets its promise that only ideas worth spreading can be presented. The bar is high: only authoritative research and genuinely new insights give access to the stage.

But it is not just the content of the presentations, much is in the optimism of the speakers. In one video recently posted, inventor Michael Pritchard presented his 'lifesaver bottle', which easily purifies polluted water – a cheap an easy way to bring drinking water to children who have no access to it. The viewer instantly wonders why we aren't getting the bottles to people who need them already. Saving the world can seem like child's play when you watch TED.

A temple for advancement

The 'lifesaver bottle' was only one of many technical gadgets shown at the conferences that radiate promise for the future. In July Eric Willer gave the first public demonstration of wireless electricity with a flatscreen tv and mobile phones without cords or batteries.

All this explains TED's worldwide appeal: it is considered by many to be a temple for advancement where leaders show the way to a better world. Many people want to see a shimmer of that utopia, either at a conference or from behind there computer screen.

But does TED yield actual results? For one, it brings rich benefactors and projects that need financial backing together. Bill Gates, for example, uses the annual conference to decide how he spends his philanthropic dollars. And the organisation points out another effect: people who visit ted.com leave it more aware of the problems in the world and inspired by developments in science.