Local Policy and Grassroots Discussion Panel #1
A Dialogue About Mobility : WI-FI Rollout and the San Francisco
Sponsored by the Theme program
Saturday May 26, 2007
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
No Charge Registration is encouraged but not required
Limit: 200 Persons
Location: San Francisco Hilton
Description:
In an effort to be forward thinking or at least to keep up, municipalities large and small are undertaking wireless initiatives as Wi-Fi and wi-max gains momentum. While wi-fi hotspots have been growing in availability for a number of years, the recent trend has been to deploy citywide or regional networks. Municipalities are looking to wireless internet access to enhance public services, boost economic development and provide internet access to citizens. Muni-wireless systems are being introduced in over 150 municipalities throughout the United States, in cities like San Francisco. Our host city, San Francisco, is being looked at as a model for using Wi-Fi in creative ways in order to meet the needs of global business and education while promoting the city as a hub of technology. Public/private partnerships are being explored such as the Google--EarthLink proposal. The mayor has discussed broadband and Wi-Fi rollout in terms of communication "rights."
This discussion panel will bring together representatives of local government, community and academic worlds who will discuss the challenges and forward thinking policies of Wi-Fi today
This discussion organized by the Urban Communication Foundation is an attempt to link activities of communication scholars with the current activities of the host city, an endeavor introduced at the 2006 ICA conference in Dresden
Participants:
Gary Gumpert, Urban Communication Foundation
More TBA
Grassroots Discussion Panel #2
Participatory Models and Alternative Content
Sponsored by the Theme program
Saturday May 26, 2007
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
No Cost Registration is encouraged but not required
Limit: 200
Location: San Francisco Hilton
Description:
Whether concerned with social movements, civic engagement, aesthetic production or personal expression, alternative-content production embraces participation as core value as well as a structural possibility. This theme event examines attempts to develop, use, augment and promote structures for participation in production processes. Discussion will compare content creators' strategies for social inclusion, democratic involvement and technological literacy by looking not only at technological or political imperatives but institutional ones as well. Key practitioners also address what is meant by participation, who participates and how, and what alternative-content producers gain and lose from participatory design.
Participants:
Ryan Junell, Webzine
JD Lasica, OurMedia
Ronda Hauben, OhMyNews International
More TBA
Chair: Benjamin De Cleen, Free University of Brussels (VUB)
Grassroots Discussion Panel #3
Alternative Journalisms
Sponsored by the Theme program
Sunday May 27, 2007
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
No Cost Registration is encouraged but not required
Limit: 200
Location: San Francisco Hilton
Description:
What are the many faces of alternative journalism today? This theme event explores the role of alternative journalists in speaking to power and creating social change and contemplates journalists' adaptation and/or resistance to new social, economic, political and technological pressures in the field. The discussion will center on the practice of alternative journalism as it has existed in the past and in the present. Panelists will also treat alternative journalism's successes and failures and the challenges of working in a media- and information-saturated environment. The event will end by reflecting on ways to enhance alternative journalism's critical capacities.
Participants:
Shinjoung Yeo or James Jacob,Radical Reference
Bob Ostertag, artist and author of People's Movements, People's Press
Don Hazen, Alternet
More TBA
Chair: Nico Carpentier, University of Brussels (VUB)
Grassroots Discussion Panel #4
Civil Society and Regulation
Sponsored by the Theme program
Sunday May 27, 2007
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
No Cost Registration is encouraged but not required
Limit: 200
Location: San Francisco Hilton
Description:
As media, communications, and information systems become more complex, civil society has become increasingly concerned with their just and ethical control and management. In this event, advocates working for change in regulatory regimes review current debates, illuminating the ways in which media, communications, and information policy intersect with citizens, communities, and constituencies at the grassroots level. Both practical and hypothetical intersections will be explored. Panelists will also discuss citizens' ability to inform decision-making about government and governance of media, communications, and information as well as advocates' ability to monitor and contribute to policy debates.
Participants:
Todd Davies, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and Labortech
Danny O'Brien, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Jeff Perlstein, Media Alliance
Pete TriDish, Prometheus Radio
Malkia Cyril, Youth Media Council
Chair: Seeta Peņa Gangadharan, Stanford University
