Five Things I Saw at Contactcon

Host Doug Rushkoff on the stage at Contactcon (via Flick user Steven Brewer)

On October 20 I had the luck to join a group of some of the brightest and most creative people from every part of the tech spectrum at Contactcon. Held at the beautiful Angel Orensaz Foundation Center (see above), the conference was a flurry of energy and excitement, never lingering on one point of focus too long. As befits the format, below are five events or situations that caught my attention at Contactcon:

1. Unendorsed sharing. Wifi was provided in the center by KeyWifi, which had set up eight or so networks and handed out pieces of paper with passwords to one of the hotspots. They hoped to evenly distribute them among participants to keep all the networks running. When I went to the table to get my password, it was clear that wasn't working: "Just please don't tell anyone the passcode!" a poor Key employee asked me. People were giving out their codes and overloading the access points. I guess you couldn't stop them from sharing with those in need.
    
2. Unattempted procedures. The structure of the conference -- though I'm sure a lot of participants would object to that word -- was based on a series of short provacations and then a series of project meetings established on the spot. I'm always skeptical that people come to events like Contactcon ready to work and think outside their comfort zone, but the attendees really were. The board quickly filled with great ideas, from an alternative currency for Occupy Wall Street to new ways to dodge internet censorship. People grouped with whatever proposal they liked and got started. Judging from the list-serv I'm on, they're very much still at work.
    
3. Unparalled hosting. In addition to being one of the most original minds working on questions of technology and society, as well as one of the most radical thinkers to crack the mainstream media, Doug Rushkoff is incredibly good at keeping people on track. With an open format and people suggesting different workshops, Rushkoff kept things moving by making sure anything too vague or self-serving got passed by, with a good sense of what the group did or did not support. Plus, you could hear the bile dripping from his voice when he had to announce the Pepsi sponsorship. The man is a dynamo.
    
4. Unexpected radicals. Occupy Everything and Occupy Wall Street in particular had a big impact on participants' thinking. I was surprised to see a group project on getting people to pledge collectively not to pay their student debts attract wide support at the conference level. Some of the participants who would have been in a small tech bubble a couple years ago are now actively looking to use their talents and ideas to support global social movements. There was a big focus on technologies that used international networks to overcome parochial restrctions to access. And a few of these tech-minded folks have better political imaginations than I've seen in policy circles. Contactcon showed me that their are not just people, but communities out there waiting to meet each other.
    
5. Unlikely bedfellows. I've heard Contactcon described as a meeting of the top pro-human technologists, and that turned about to be the case. A campaign based around food justice was one of the most popular projects at the conference, and all the participants anchored their thoughts and projects in very human problems. That is, except for the Makerbot printing out plastic shells for homeless hermit crabs. Apparently people like collecting shells they use as housings, and now crab populations are in need of some man-made assistance. 3D printing isn't exactly made for problems like this one, but it could have been. And maybe the next generation of tech solutions will be.

C'est une première depuis trente ans : ce week-end, entre les roses des jardins de Babour, sur les hauteurs de Kaboul, un festival de rock rassemblait plusieurs centaines d'amateurs afghans et internationaux, pour près de six heures de concerts de blues, rock indé, musique électronique et death metal.

Le festival, Sound Central, était organisé par un photojournaliste australien, Travis Beard, membre du groupe local White City et fondateur du Kabul Knights Motorcycle Club. Il rassemblait des groupes australien, ouzbèke, kazakh et afghans.

Dans un pays où la musique était interdite sous le régime des talibans et où les disquaires et les chanteurs restent la cibles d'attaques et de railleries, le festival de Kaboul revêt un caractère tant historique que symbolique.

The first summit, to be held October 20, 2011 as a MeetupEverywhere and centered at the historic Angel Orensanz Center in New York City, will be a participatory festival for ideas and action, consisting primarily of meetings convened by attendees. Featured participants will deliver brief "provocations" on stage, sharing the greatest challenges they are facing in their particular fields. But their primary contribution to the day will be to join in the meetings convened by other participants, sharing their experience, insight, and even connections to help bring these ideas into reality.

If it’s not the only thing of its kind in the world, so much the better. Let’s connect, conceive, and conspire. Contact isn’t a way of competing with those efforts, but supporting them.

Topics I’m opening for discussion include:

TECHNOLOGY

• Can we build an alternative Internet that can't be turned off?
• Alternatives to top-down registries and corporate-controlled access

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

• New net-based currencies and transaction networks
• Net-enabled Local Activism and Job Creation

CULTURE

• Arts networking initiatives
• Decentralized social networking platforms

GOVERNMENT

• Proxy voting to expert friends
• open source democracy
• "Filter Bubbles" and how to prevent them

MEANING

• What Factors Facilitate Collective Intelligence?
• The Reclamation of Public Space

But please feel invited to bring your own. I may be initiating this thing, but I am by no means in charge.

PLANETE - Les Nations unies lancent la Décennie de lutte contre la désertification...

Un milliard de personnes dans près de cent pays du monde sont menacées par l’avancée du désert. Ce lundi s’est ouvert à Fortaleza, au Brésil, la 2^ème conférence internationale sur le climat et le développement durable dans les régions semi-arides, sous l’égide des Nations unies. C’est l’occasion pour la communauté internationale de donner le coup d’envoi de la Décennie de lutte contre la désertification (2010-2020), destinée à enrayer la progression des zones désertiques dans le monde.

The workshop will cover the major drivers of change set to radically impact our markets and organisations and we will give you processes and tools to help you prosper through this turmoil. Understanding the different contributions of entrepreneurs, leaders and managers within your organisation will help you make change much more profitable. Already our new profiling tool is providing executive teams with insights to help their decision-making during change.

• Entrepreneur – dreams about the future. Strong on ideas. Brilliant at vision
• Leader – plans for tomorrow. Strong on people. Brilliant at behaviour
• Manager – delivers today. Strong on process. Brilliant at capability

The innovator lives in the future, the leader plans for tomorrow and the manager delivers today. For the evolutionary process of change you need all three.

• Is your business not getting its ideas out to market? You need more leaders.
• Not making money from your ideas? Too many entrepreneurs and not enough managers.
• Revolution followed by revolution? Too many managers and too few entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists, academics, government officials, heads of investment funds focused on alternative agriculture - a ‘who’s who’ of the rapidly growing sustainable agriculture industry – met in New York for this all-day event. 

Agriculture 2.0^TM is the starting point for the next stage of growth in sustainable agriculture – bringing together top-tier capital sources, business leaders and innovators. 

It's the first time I hear about Agriculture 2.0 !
2.0 is an amazing trend ! I am currently attending the Paris 2.0 conference here in Paris !

What about World 2.0 ?!

Currently, an increasing number of local events and actions about global warming are organized by individuals or groups in different parts of the world. The efficiency and effectiveness of these efforts would be maximized only if people act together.

The aim of the non-profit, non-political web platform in the morning of a day ® is:

• to provide activists and event organizers with an opportunity to announce and promote their events and actions about global warming.
• to inform the general public about these events and actions, and give them the opportunity to participate in them
• to connect the event organizers, by informing them about each others' actions

Additionally, to strengthen and promote the idea of collective action, this platform offers a song, called in the morning of a day. Feel free to listen to it, download it, sing it and share it with others, in order to raise global warming awareness.

All the information posted on this platform is organized in detail and shared with all its users.

Finding solutions to the challenges posed by climate change will require exemplary leadership from the business community, which has a critical role to play in the transition to a low carbon economy. Companies need to be more proactive by seeking out new technologies and different, more innovative ways of working instead of waiting for regulations to force them to act. Are today’s CEOs ready to provide the kind of inspirational leadership required? How can CEOs best implement these changes, turn crisis into opportunity and keep their companies profitable?

The Marketing 2.0 Conference brings the intelligence, innovation, and leadership of the Marketing, Media and Internet industry together in one place at one time to learn from best practices and the successful use of Social Media tools like Social Networks, Online and Mobile Marketing, Internet TV and Video as well as Word-of-Mouth Marketing.

Great speakers have confirmed. Looking forward to attend.