Hello,

Some participants in this forum may be interested in the conference CFP 
copied below.  The theme is mobile (technological) social networking:

"The conference will explore how we can rethink different social
spaces, remake cities, or intervene in the forces, inequities and
inequalities that shape society."


Happy <insert [northern-hemisphere] winter festival of choice> to all,

Sam Kinsley
--
School of Geographical Sciences
University of Bristol

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [plan] Final Call: Futuresonic Conference - The Social

REMINDER: CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

18th December 2007, 5pm - Conference deadline

CONFERENCE: Thurs 1 and Fri 2 May, plus linked events throughout the 
festival weekend

http://www.futuresonic.com/submissions-conference

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CONFERENCE THEME
THE SOCIAL - ONLINE, MOBILE AND UNPLUGGED SOCIAL NETWORKING

40 years after people took to the streets of Paris in 1968 calling
for society to be abolished, join us as we go in search of the social
today.

Submissions are invited that explore the new social spaces and the
social implications of technologies for the many different kinds of
people who make, use and are affected by them. Presentations might
look at the implications of specific technologies, or address broader
themes.

Today we can occupy many different social spaces at once. Social
software, online worlds, and the internet itself create an extension
of social space, and new ways for people to find the stuff that
interests them, link up with others, and share. Computers have become
social interfaces for sharing digital media and collaborating to
build online communities and folksonomies.

The conference will explore how we can rethink different social
spaces, remake cities, or intervene in the forces, inequities and
inequalities that shape society. In all parts of the globe people are
seeking to open up or hold onto places to meet and communicate
freely, online and offline. In India we see emergent kinds of
community media, in South Korea new social uses of the mobile
internet, and in Brazil the spread of 'cultural hotspots'.

Some technologies are more social than others. Social technologies
are bottom up and many-to-many instead of one-to-one or one-to-many.
They can include technologies created and maintained by social
networks, such as communities of developers and users working
collaboratively with open source tools.

But at the same time we see how electronic communication can isolate
us, as more and more people drown in a deluge of email that generates
stress, even reducing IQ. Additionally, 'online communities' are
based upon an artificial equivalence between 'users' which obscures
power relationships and issues of ownership.

The conference will bring together leading figures to broaden the
debate on the Social today, and propose and explore a critical
understanding of social technologies.

The theme of Futuresonic 2008's Art strand is Social Networking
Unplugged. It will be "unplugged" in a number of ways. There will be
artworks involving offline (or unplugged) collaborative social
experience and face to face social interaction. Other projects will
look at who is excluded and left out of the loop of Web 2.0, and so
"unplugged" in another way. Also there is the sense of pulling out
the plug in order to take the new social spaces apart, see how they
work, and put them together in new ways.

Web 2.0...
I take part
you take part
he takes part
we take part
you all take part
they profit.
(Slogan from Paris '68, remixed)

Digital culture burns bright with a vision of being not in isolation
but in groups, placing the relations between people first. Beyond the
hype lies ever greater isolation and conformity. Join us as we go in
search of the social.

http://www.futuresonic.com/submissions-conference


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FINAL CALL FOR CONFERENCE SUBMISSIONS

Futuresonic now invites submissions to the Futuresonic conference and
the Social Technologies Summit.

Proposals for talks, presentations and workshops plus also session
themes are invited. Submissions of innovative formats for social
interaction are encouraged.

Deadline for conference submissions -- 5pm 18th December 2007

For details on submitting to the conference visit
http://www.futuresonic.com/submissions-conference


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BOOKING INFORMATION

-- If you want to meet the creative thinkers, artists, programmers,
digital media experts, scientists, industry specialists, hardware and
software developers, marketers, political thinkers and activists

-- If you want to find out about new technologies and their impact on
tomorrow's society

-- If you are looking for new and exciting ways to create, do
business and interact

Then sign up early to the Futuresonic conference and the Social
Technologies Summit.

A Delegate Registration Form can be downloaded from
www.futuresonic.com/tickets/register.zip or by visiting
www.futuresonic.com/tickets

Alternatively, email Your Name, Address and Contact Details to
[log in to unmask] to receive full conference details and
priority booking options.

CONFERENCE PASS

Early Bird Delegate Pass
GBP 60 (must be bought by February 1 2008)
Advance Delegate Pass
GBP 100
Delegate Pass (on the door)
GBP 150
Students/Concessions
GBP 30

Further discounts available for group bookings, for further details
contact: [log in to unmask]

A limited number of pay-what-you-can Day Passes will be available on
each day of the conference, for further details contact:
[log in to unmask]

The Conference Pass includes access to all key festival events.


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FUTURESONIC 2008

Futuresonic has 4 strands: Art, Music, Ideas and EVNTS. Currently in
its 12th year, the festival occupies the orbits of both music and
digital culture.

A focus in recent years has been presenting artworks in unexpected
city spaces, and on social art and social technologies.

Futuresonic now invites artists, thinkers and makers to get social
and present new types of collaborative social experience at
Futuresonic 2008.

The Futuresonic festival theme is Social Networking Unplugged.

Join us as we go in search of the social today.

http://www.futuresonic.com

Futuresonic is supported by Arts Council England North West and
presented in association with Imagination at Lancaster.