Contact Conference 2011 10/20 #NYC #ContactCon #Rushkoff

Conceived and facilitated by Douglas Rushkoff, Contact seeks to explore and realize the greater promise of social media to promote new forms of culture, commerce, collective action, and creativity. Bringing together technologists, artists, activists, businesspeople, funders, and other stakeholders in the networked future, this summit will hatch new ideas, connect collaborators, and forge an ongoing community for innovating social media and beyond. .

What: Contact Conference 2011
When: Oct 20 2011, 9am – 7pm
Where: Angel Orensanz Center, 172 Norfolk Street. New York, NY 10002 Tel. 212.529.7194
Cost: $295 for standard / $95 for scholarship
Register: http://contactcon.eventbrite.com/?ref=isocny
Twitter: #contactcon
Forums: http://www.contactcon.com/forums
More info: http://www.contactcon.com

From the actions of the Egyptian government to the policies of Facebook, the monopolies of central banks to the corporatization of the Internet, we are witnessing the potential of a peer-to-peer networking become overshadowed by the hierarchies of the status quo.
From the development of a new non-hierarchical Internet to the implementation of alternative e-currencies, the prototyping of open source democracy to experiments in collective cultural expression, Contact will seek to initiate mechanisms that realize the true promise of the networking revolution.

The first summit, to be held October 20 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.

Topics already in 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

Confirmed Participants so far:
Douglas Rushkoff – media theorist, author
Mark Pesce – inventor, technologist, futurist
Marc Canter – founder Macromedia, founder Digital City Project
Michel Bauwens – P2P Foundation
Dave Winer – founder, http://www.Scripting.com
Genesis P-Orridge – musician, artist, founder Throbbing Gristle
Rachel Rosenfelt – founder, The New Inquiry
Richard Metzger – founder, Disinformation and Dangerous Minds
Scott Heiferman – founder, http://www.Meetup.com
Venessa Meimis – media activist and artist, founder Emergent by Design
Eli Pariser – founder, http://www.MoveOn.org
Paul Hartzog, Founder, http://www.Panarchy.com
Steve Johnson – author, founder OutsideIn
Andrew Rasiej – co-founder Personal Democracy Forum
Micah Sifry – co-founder Personal Democracy Forum
Sam Rose – Forward Foundation