Tom Rielly, TED Humorist
Tom Rielly is beloved in the TED community for his side-splitting original satires, which close the conference each year. He earns his standing ovations with a deadpan delivery that combines cerebral musings, wordplay, original props, and classic slapstick, including concussion-inducing pratfalls, bottles of olive oil drenching his head, or a dance duet with an inflatable lowlife woman. He also works with TED throughout the year on sponsorships and gifts.
Outside of the TED community, Tom is perhaps best known as the Founder and former CEO of PlanetOut.com, which joined forces with Gay.com to create the largest gay and lesbian online company with over 5 million monthly customers. Based in San Francisco, the company is now called PlanetOut, Inc. (NASDAQ:LGBT). In 2006, Rielly co-founded the Queer Film Blog with longtime friend and colleague Jenni Olson. He also served as Executive Producer for Olson's first feature film The Joy of Life, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. Before that, he was Executive Vice-President of Acronym Media, a high end direct marketing boutique agencyCurrently, Rielly is CEO of Griot Digital, LLC, a marketing, interactive and startup consulting firm. Clients include Canyon Ranch, TED Conferences, and PumpOne.
Tom is also an accomplished actor, stand-up comic and satirist. In 1980 he played the role of Reissman in the feature film, My Bodyguard.
[Tom's Complete Bio]
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