PICNIC news & weblog
Latest news about PICNIC
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Cities Are All About Difficulty
PICNIC speaker Adam Greenfield on urban savoir faire and the loss of solitude
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Adam Greenfield, picture CHI Nederland, Creative Commons Licensed
Adam Greenfield is an internationally-recognized writer, user experience consultant and critical futurist, who writes and thinks about information architectures and cities. He was happily living in New York with his wife, artist Nurri Kim, working on his new book about cities and information systems, until an unexpected invitation from Finland arrived. We caught up with Adam in mid-summer Helsinki, where the evening skies are mesmerising and all the shops are closed.
So, moving from New York to Helsinki!! That's a big step..
"Oddly enough, I've taken a job with Nokia - I am their new Head of Design Direction. Anyone who knows me, of course, knows that I've been having a ball these last few years writing and teaching and giving talks. I had virtually no intention of "getting a job" to begin with, and none whatsoever with an organization as large as Nokia.
Nevertheless, when an opportunity of this nature comes along, I think you'd have to be crazy not to at least check it out - it's something on the order of Kurt Vonnegut's proverbial dancing lessons from God."
How is Helsinki in August? What aspect of daily life so far has surprised you most?
"It's a fairly placid town to begin with, but Helsinki at the beginning of August is something like Paris at its end. Everyone is on vacation somewhere else - most likely up...
22.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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BLØF shares creative process with fans
Keynote player Bas Kennis presents 'Pickering Player' at PICNIC
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Dutch band BLØF (Picture EMI). Bas Kennis on the far right.
A new online service launched by one of the Netherlands most popular bands aims to engage dedicated fans and make them witnesses to the creative process. BLØF's keyboard player Bas Kennis will showcase the project on Thursday 25 September, during the PICNIC conference, and will also contribute to the 'Music and More' special organised by the Netherlands Music Centre. We interviewed Bas Kennis about the new release, the band's relationship with fans and the exciting new world of collaborative creative processes.
BLØF was ‘most played’ artist on Dutch radio three times in the last 4 years, and your concert tours are fully booked. Can you give an idea what role internet has played in your popularity?
"We started the band in 1992, and I think we’ve had a website up and running since 1995. In the beginning it just contained a biography, a discography, some news-facts, some pictures and a guestbook. It had this impossible URL with a lot of slashes and even a ‘~’ in the name. A friend of ours built it and kept it running. Internet wasn’t such a big deal those days, but it was a new way for fans to approach a band. For us it was a way to get to know these people who call themselves ‘fans’ and how they thought about us, mainly through the guestbook."
When did you start to consider your online presence as a serious project?
"When we had our break-tho...
22.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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Green Graffiti
Jim Bowes on a green idea for a blue planet
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Green Graffiti is being created in the streets of Amsterdam. Picture: Green Graffiti.
Jim Bowes of GreenGraffiti is delighted to partner with PICNIC.
What is GreenGraffiti?"Clean is Green!! No ink, no paper and nothing to be thrown away at the end of a campaign. GreenGraffiti is a sustainable alternative to traditional outdoor media. Using only a template, clean water and a spraying system, GreenGraffiti washes a communication message out of the dirt on surfaces in cities throughout the world while giving back to the local community."
Who are your clients?
"GreenGraffiti meets the needs of companies that have embraced sustainability as a core business strategy and are committed to using sustainable alternatives to market their products and services to a fast growing market of values based consumers. We have already done campaigns for women's magazine Elle, Universal Music, Smart and Telfort."
Why work with PICNIC?
"We are proud to be participants in Picnic'08 which will raise awareness of the important role the communication industry and on-line media in particular plays in the quest to combat climate change. I really hope that the ideas generated during Picnic'08 will result in innovative solutions for companies needing to fill the missing link in their chains of custody- a link presently difficult to fill.
Traditional media is not bad but it is time for us to move it...
22.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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Preview: Creating artistic games
New award to stimulate new game experiences
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Screenshot from Mijn naam is Haas, a new Dutch kid's game (in development).
Movies range from low-brow to high-brow, from snackfood to haute cuisine so to speak, and slowly but surely games are covering this whole range as well.
Game technology falls in the hands of artists. The audience desires new experiences. Sectors collide. In fact, the German Association of Game Developers GAME has just recently become a member of the German Arts Council, the national federation of cultural associations. (press release in German)
And in the Netherlands three leading cultural organizations, the Visual Arts Fund, the Dutch Cultural Broadcasting Fund as well as Virtueel Platform have decided to join forces and stimulate artistic game development. Innovative concepts by game developers with partners from the arts sector can receive up to 50.000 Euro in funding. Deadline for entry is 15 September – and the winners will be announced at PICNIC’08, on 26 September!
22.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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News from the PICNIC Network
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PICNIC Partners. Picture Thomas Schlijper.
More than 10.000 PICNIC Network members!
On 21 August in the afternoon, cheers abound at the PICNIC office. Someone out there in the wild wide world signed up for the PICNIC network, and that someone was number 10.000. We checked our database, who could it be? Justinas Beinorias who is blogging in Lithuania? Ayman Abdel Nour of the All4Syria online bulletin? Dr. Wolf-Dieter Ernst who researches performance and mobile networks from Munich? A warm welcome to all 10.000 of you!Now, everyone out there, if you all invite ONE additional person to sign up this week, we'll have 20.000 in no time. Let's try. And if we succeed, the first drink at Picnic is on us, promise. So, who will you mail today about PICNIC'08?
Google PICNIC and Be Surprised
Did you try and find a nice picnic spot recently, a place to spend a leisurely summer afternoon with a basket full of cold meats, tossed salads and bubbly wine? Ha! You ended up at the PICNIC’08 website, did you not? Indeed, the PICNIC network is now the number ONE search result for ‘PICNIC’ in almost every European country, and we have our web site development partner MediaMatic and search partner ClearSense to thank for that. Read the press relea...22.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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What to read? Guides to the Future of Society
We Here Comes Think Everybody...
What books should you read before heading out to PICNIC? Who has analysed our age of social media, mass collaboration and new networks better than anyone?
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Clay Shirky and Charles Leadbeater at TED Global, Picture by Kitten's Toe, Creative Commons License
www.flickr.com/photos/kittenstoe/25903444/
We would personally suggest to pack the following two tomes for your next trans-atlantic flight or day on the beach. You will be well prepared for two of the PICNIC keynotes - even better, you will be better prepared for our future.
Charles Leadbeater: We Think
We Think explores how the web is changing our world, creating a culture in which more people than ever can participate, share and collaborate, ideas and information. Ideas take life when they are shared. That is why the web is such a potent platform for creativity and innovation.Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody
Here Comes Everybody is a book about what happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures. In story after story, Clay makes the connections as to why business, society and our lives continue to be transformed by a world of net- enabled social tools.So, that’s it. The two most important books you need to read this year. Of course, you can also digest new ideas the 21st Century way… read their writers’ blogs….follow their twitters… do a Youtube search….
But after all those blog items and e-mails you consume each day, there is something wonderfully soothing in reading on and on and on. List...
17.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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360-Panorama of PICNIC
Seductive Pictures of the PICNIC venue
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What makes PICNIC so special? Don't discount the venue! The Westergasfabriek on the edge of the vibrant city of Amsterdam oozes a unique mood of adventure and energy, and is the ideal backdrop for your business and creative conversations. Not convinced?
Check out the marvellous 360-degree panorama pictures made at PICNIC'07 by Henri Smeets of Lookaround. Move your mouse to the left and the right, up and down, to get a full 360 view of PICNIC! Visit the main conference room. the Come out and Play tent, Woody Harrelson's yoga class, the PICNIC Club or take a look at the spectacular interior of the Zuiveringhal - our central venue for PICNIC'08.
06.08.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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Radiohead Music Video on Google
Interview with PICNIC Speaker Aaron Koblin
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Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke captured by laserbeams
Google has premiered a first-of-its-kind music video for Radiohead's "House of Cards". The video was shot without the use of any cameras, only using lasers and scanners. The video and a ‘making-of’ documentary are posted together with an interactive component where you can manipulate the technology.
We met up with PICNIC Conference speaker Aaron Koblin, without a doubt one of the hottest artists around, and talked about his contribution to the project, shooting Thom Yorke with lasers and the use of technology for expression. “I think it's exactly this form of risk-taking and experimentation that lead the band to creating great music, and I see it fitting very well with the song itself”.
How did you get involved with the Radiohead video?
I was talking with the Director, James Frost, about another project and ended up showing him some of my previous work. His eye was caught by some of the images I created from laser scanner data while working at CENS (The Center for Embedded Networked Sensing at UCLA). In the same conversation I had mentioned how much I enjoyed Radiohead... the rest is history!
What was your role? Why did Google get involved?
My role was Director of Technology. Basically I researched and suggested the technologies and then provided translation and interface between th...
24.07.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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Singapore and PICNIC
Asian delegation to visit PICNIC'08
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PICNIC is pleased to inform you of its partnership with Red Dawn Communications (RDC), Singapore's first cross media entertainment marketing agency. RDC will bring creative minds from the Asia Pacific region to PICNIC as part of the agency’s initiative to promote collaborative creativity. Feel free to join their delegation if you are from the area!
Red Dawn Communications is Singapore's first cross media marketing agency for entertainment and lifestyle companies with specialty on entertainment content including movies, television and video gaming. RDC works for companies like 20th Century Fox, Electronic Arts, Games Convention Asia, the Motion Picture Association, and United International Pictures.
Interested to represent PICNIC in your own region? We love to hear from you. Contact Claire Powell, PICNIC's Marketing Director at , tel +31 20 320 5813.
21.07.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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Kevin Wall Joins Green Challenge jury
Save the Planet... and win Euro 500.000
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Kevin Wall
PICNIC Speaker Kevin Wall will be part of the 2008 jury of The PICNIC Green Challenge, the annual international contest for the best product or service to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
What is the PICNIC Green Challenge all about? Dream up a greenhouse-gas-reducing product or service and send us your idea. The entrant with the best idea will win €500,000, expert coaching, and a contact list with possible business partners….
Other confirmed members of the jury are H.R.H. Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme, Bill Moggridge (Co-founder of the Silicon Valley-based design firm IDEO), Liesbeth van Tongeren (Executive Director of Greenpeace Netherlands), Steve Howard (CEO of The Climate Group) and Nicky Gavron (London Assembly Member and former Deputy Mayor of London).
See a dedicated video with Sir Richard Branson for a fun and entertaining explanation, or read all about it on the Green Challenge website. Entries are welcome until July 31st 2008!
Kevin Wall is the founder of SOS, the ongoing messaging campaign and larger movement behind Live Earth. The 7-continent, 24-hour music extravaga...
17.07.08, Monique van Dusseldorp Read more
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