From September 2005 to June 2006 a team of thirteen scholars at the The University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for Communication explored how new and maturing networking technologies are transforming the way in which we interact with content, media sources, other individuals and groups, and the world that surrounds us.

This site documents the process and the results.

Networked Publics Conference and Media Festival April 28 + 29

This two-day event will bring together new media scholars and practitioners to exhibit and discuss the roles of audiences, activists, and producers in maturing networked media ecologies. The event is organized by the Networked Publics fellowship program at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for Communication.

The conference includes a media festival and an academic program.

• “Do-It-Yourself: Emergent Networked Culture,” is an experimental news and entertainment media festival featuring new kinds of viral, remixed, and amateur media works enabled by current networked ecologies. Categories of curated work include: political remix videos, the digital handmade, anime music videos, machinima, alternative news, network hacks and hacked networks.

• The academic program is dedicated to three topics: Politics, Infrastructure and Place. For each of these topics, netpublics fellows will convene a session to interrogate current issues and controversies related to emergent networked ecologies. The format of the event is designed to promote interaction and dialog across a diverse set of participants. Our goal is to facilitate conversation on topics of shared concern and a mixture of formats that include screenings, debates, and interaction around computer kiosks.

Please RSVP by April 14 athttp://www.annenberg.edu/calendar/invite/acc_network.php if you would like to attend. Space is limited. Feel free to forward to individuals who you think would be interested in this event. The preliminary schedule is below.

Academic Program Organizers: Francois Bar, Wally Baer, Julian Bleecker, Anne Friedberg, Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, Mark Kann,Merlyna Lim, Fernando Ordonez, Adrienne Russell, Kazys Varnelis

Festival Organizers: Shahram Ghandeharizadeh, Mimi ItoMerlyna Lim, Todd Richmond, Adrienne Russell, Marc Tuters, Kazys Varnelis

Conference Coordinators: JoAnn Hanley, Elizabeth Harmon

NETWORKED PUBLICS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE (in progress)

Day 1: April 28, Friday

8:00 am: Continental breakfast
8:30 am: Welcome by Jonathan Aronson, Executive Director,Annenberg Center for Communication;
Conference Introduction by Kazys Varnelis, Networked Publics senior fellow
9:00 - 10:30 am: Academic Session I: Politics

  • Organized by Merlyna Lim, Mark Kann
  • Participants: James Fishkin, Harry Cleaver

10:30 - 11:00 am: Break; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections
11:00 - 12:30 pm: DIY Festival
Session I: Political Remixes and The Digital Handmade
Political Remixes:

  • Curated by Steve Anderson, Merlyna Lim, Marc Tuters
  • Commentary by Iman Foroutan, Jonathan McIntosh

Digital Handmade:

  • Curated by Steve Anderson
  • Commentary by Holly Willis

12:30 - 2:00 pm: Lunch at ACC; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections
2:00 - 3:30 pm: DIY Festival
Session II: Alternative News and Network Hacks + Hack Networks
Alternative News:

  • Organized by Adrienne Russell
  • Moderator: Xeni Jardin
  • Presenter: Hossein Derakhshan
  • Panelists: Sean Bonner and Joi Ito

Network Hacks + Hack Networks:

3:30 - 4:00 pm: Break; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections
4:00 - 5:30 pm: DIY Festival
Session III: Anime Music Videos and Machinima
AMVs:

Machinima:

  • Curated by Paul Marino
  • Commentary by Michael Nitsche and Tracy Fullerton

5:30 - 6:30 pm: Cocktail Hour; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections

6:30-8:00 pm: Dinner at ACC

Day 2: April 29, Saturday

8:30 am: Continental breakfast
9:00 - 10:30 am: Academic Session II: Infrastructure

  • Organized by Francois Bar, Wally Baer, Shahram Ghanderharizadeh, Fernando Ordonez
  • Participants: Paul Symczak, John Seely Brown, Simon Wilkie and others, TBA

10:30-11:00am: Break; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections
11:00am-12: 30pm: Academic Session III: Place

12:30-1:00 Wrap-up discussion John Seely BrownJoi ItoKazys VarnelisMimi Ito

1:00-2:00 pm: Lunch; kiosks available for viewing of festival selections End of public program.

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