ROFLcon, which takes place today and tomorrow, is a conference dedicated to Internet popular culture. Viral memes, from lolcats to rickrolling, will be exhaustively, if not mirthlessly, explored. A video feed and a twitter stream will be available. A *mystery event* is scheduled for 3pm Saturday.

Schedule

Thursday, April 24th, 2008 — PRE-CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES

7 PM — Laughing Squid Pre-ROFLCon Drinkup! (The Asgard)

9:30 PM — “Second Skin” @ the Somerville Theater! (film site)

Friday, April 25th, 2008 — ROFLCON DAY ONE

10:00 AM: Registration Opens (W20: Sala del Puerto Rico)

12:30 PM: WELCOME & OPENING KEYNOTE (W20: Sala del Puerto
Rico): David Weinberger — “Famous on the Web” (Sala) —
Fame has been something done to us, a consequence of
broadcast media’s chokehold on our attention. What
happens when we’re all famous to fifteen people? What is
fame like outside of mass culture?

1:00 PM: YOU CAN GET PAID FOR THIS?: MAKING SOME BUCKS
(W20: Sala del Puerto Rico): How do you make money? Are
you making lots of money? Has all that money corrupted
you? How about now? Are you a fluke are you
generalizable? What are some other ways the rest of us
can make money? Please?

Moderator: David Weinberger

Panelists: Kyle Macdonald (One Red Paperclip), Joe
Mathelete (Joe Mathelete Explains Marmaduke), Ian Spector
(Chuck Norris Facts), Andy Ochiltree (JibJab.com), Andrew
Baron (Rocketboom), Alex Tew (The Million Dollar
Homepage)

2:00 PM: LUNCH BREAK

3:15 PM: BREAK OUT

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Track One: Room 34-101

3:30 PM: PANEL: LOLCATS: I CAN HAZ CASE STUDY?: How do
you see the development of the LOLCat? What do you think
people will think of the LOLCat when they look back in 30
years? (Room 34-101)

Moderator: Alexis Ohanian Panelists: “Cheez” (I Can Has
Cheezburger), Martin Grondin (LOLCat Bible), Ryan and
Arija (LOLSecretz), Stephen Granades (LOLTrek), Adam
Lindsay (LOLCode)

5:00: PWNING FOR GOOD OF MANKIND: How did you start doing
what you do? What motivated you to use internet culture
against established forces? What allowed you to mobilize
attention against the non-internet world? Did it happen
unintentionally? (Room 34-101)

Moderator: Lana Swartz, Comparative Media Studies, MIT

Panelists: Dino Ignacio (Bert Is Evil), Leslie Hall (Gem
Sweater), Justine Ezarik (iJustine), Ji Lee (Bubble
Project), Eric Schoenborn (ACLU)

—————————–

Track 2: Building E15: Bartos Theatre

3:30 – BEFORE THE LOL with Jason Scott

As ROFLCon celebrates the recent explosion of Internet
memes, a bit of history is in order. Starting over 100
years ago, computer historian Jason Scott walks through a
couple dozen examples of the roots of memes, their
effects, and even a few early net-based memes now
obscured by the sands of time. (Bartos Theater)

5:00 — SURVIVING INTERNET FAME with Jay Maynard and Matt
Harding

Jay Maynard, the Tron Guy, and Matt Harding, of
wherethehellismatt.com, discuss their experiences in
surviving unexpected fame on the Internet and offer
suggestions on dealing with the disruptions it can cause.
(Bartos Theater)

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6:45 PM: “Second Skin” @ the Somerville Theater! (film
site)

7:00 PM: BIRDS OF A FEATHER (BOF) Dinners

9:00 PM: THE MUSIC SHOW OF THE MEMES (The Middle East
Upstairs, Cambridge, MA)

Artists: Lemon Demon, Group X, Leslie Hall (Leslie and
the LYs), Trocadero (Red vs. Blue), Denny Blaze (the
Average Homeboy) and possibly a surprise guest.

—————————-

Saturday, April 26th, 2008 — ROFLCON DAY TWO

10:00 AM — KEYNOTE EVENT (26-100): Alice Marwick — “The
Fabulous Life of Microcelebrities: The Cultural Logic of
Internet Fame”

————————–

TRACK ONE: Room 26-100

10:30 AM – MAKING IT BIG (26-100): Now that you’re a huge
cultural force in your own right, what do you think of
popular mainstream culture? Are you inspired by it?
Repelled by it? What do you draw from? Listen to anything
good lately? Any business models online that you admire?
(26-100) Moderator: JD Connor, Harvard University

Panelists: Rooster Teeth (Red vs. Blue), Brad Neely
(Superdeluxe.com), The Brothers Chaps (Homestar Runner),
Rob, Kris, Matt, Dave (Cyanide and Happiness)

12:00 PM: LUNCH BREAK

1:30 PM: INCUBATING THE MINDVIRUS: MEME INFRASTRUCTURES
(26-100): How did your community form? What do you think
is the ultimate positive outcome of your site? The most
negative? Where do you think we go from here?

Moderator: Anil Dash (Six Apart)

Panelists: Matt Haughey (Metafilter), Josh Schacter
(del.icio.us), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), David Lloyd
(OCRemix), Drew Curtis (Fark.com)

3:00 PM: KID, WE’RE GOING TO MAKE YOU A STAR (26-100):
How has the commercialization of internet culture has
affected the ecology of online community? How have
community and participatory practices online affected
commercial culture and how we understand the relationship
between consumers and producers? (26-100)

Moderator: Xiaochang Li, Comparative Media
Studies/Convergence Culture Consortium, MIT Panelists:
Benjamin Palmer (Barbarian Group), The Wexley School for
Girls, Evan White, Brett Zaccardi (Street Attack), Fred
Benenson (Creative Commons)

4:30 PM: THE INTERNET CULT LEADER (26-100): How do you
see the relationship between yourself and the community
around what you create? What was the best experience
you’ve had founding that community? The worst? What’s
your audience like?

Moderator: Chris Kelty, Rice University

Panelists: Ryan North (Dinosaur Comics), Randall Munroe
(xkcd), moot (4chan)

6:00 PM: COMMENT THREAD: Internet celebrities (and you?)
rant about things. (26-100)

Moderator: Just one giant bullhorn when you’re running
over your time

Panelists: Everyone. No kidding. First person has to yell
‘first.’

6:30 — ENDING REMARKS/KEYNOTE: Tim Hwang

—————————————

TRACK 2: Room 34-101

10:30: Evan White with THE YOUTUBE STARS: Starring
iJustine, What the Buck, Brookers, and Rhett & Link

12:00: LUNCH BREAK

1:30: SLEEPER HITS OF THE INTERNET: with Dean Jansen and
Ji Li (The Bubble Project)

Want to see some cool/weird/and/or/entertaining stuff
you’ve probably never seen before? Our fearless
presenters dredged the bottom of the internets for video
awesomeness that hasn’t boiled up to the top top yet.
Additionally, the program will open with some world
premieres of videos from ROFLCon Guests — you’ll be the
first audience.

3:00: WORK IT, MOVE IT, BANG IT, BUMP IT with Kevin
Driscoll

Why are all these people dancing in front of their
computers? How does it change the way that dance crazes
move around the world? Join us to explore the culture of
the online dance craze. We’ll be analyzing several recent
trends, and, for anyone interested, making a video of our
own!

———

Track 3: Building E15: BARTOS THEATER

1:30 — FROM WORDPRESS TO THE NEW YORK TIMES with
Christian Lander of “Stuff White People Like”

Dude, How Stuff White People Like went from just another
blog to over 20 million page views in 3 months. What
happened?

3:00 — ***MYSTERY EVENT*** — these guests have requested
to remain off the online schedule until the event itself.
—————————————

Track 4: Room 56-162

1:30 — Martin Sargent Hosts A Live Taping of Internet
Superstar

Be a part of the studio audience at a live taping of the
hit Revision3 show Internet Superstar. Join Martin
Sargent and his pal The Gator as they dissect Internet
culture with the rusty scalpels of their wit. Interviews
with online luminaries Leslie Hall, The Average Homeboy
Denny Place, Tron Guy Jay Maynard, and more!

3:00 — TOO FULL: Exploring Participatory Systems with
Josh Green (CMS)

What is the nature of YouTube? How much of it is cat
videos, clips of Family Guy, or irate vloggers? This
presentation discusses a three-month mapping of the site,
examining the mix of content and the range of uses people
make of YouTube. In short, what the flavor of YouTube
might be. It looks at how we can study dynamic,
participatory systems, and the implications this has for
the way we understand participatory culture.

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7:00 — All-Ages Reception : Bartos Lobby.

10:00 — 21+ AFTER HOURS PARTY: Everyone at a club,
rocking out, with a huge ass dance party. (Great Scott’s
Allston)