TED is one of the most significant annual gatherings you may never have heard of. About two decades ago, Richard Saul Wurman starting bringing groups of smart, interesting people to Monterey, California each February for an ongoing conversation on the synergy of Technology, Entertainment and Design.

The conversation grew in both intensity and influence thanks to presenters that ranged from Bill Gates, Frank Gehry, Jane Goodall to Larry Ellison, Herbie Hancock and Billy Graham. In 2003 Chris Anderson picked up the reigns of the event and, to his credit, protected the DNA even as he continued developing TED.

I’ve had the opportunity to attend several TED conferences over the years and I have to tell you the event has had a profound effect on how I see the world and how I do business. TED has, in effect, become one of my worldview shapers.

The reason I bring this up now is that, last week Chris Anderson began opening the archive of TEDTALKS for free download as fully searchable(!) audio and video files. This is not a marketing tool for TED 2007, which already has a long waiting list (as TED does every year because they continue to limit the number of participants to 1,000). Mr. Anderson says they are releasing the TEDTALKS because of a passionate belief that they deserve a much wider audience.

I hope you’ll become part of that audience – not because you’ll agree with everything you hear (you won’t | I don’t) – because it will engage you in a conversation about making the world better through business and private sector innovation to replace what’s broken and create great things in the world.

All this is part of a larger conversation that includes worldview and the concept of new wineskins. People with biblical convictions are already in that conversation. I hope we’ll be joined by thousands more who act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.