theme for 2012 is IMPACT

Whoever has all the marbles wins (Wikimedia Commons)

The theme for #wtf12 is IMPACT.

The 14th annual media conference hosted by CPUT (formerly Cape Technikon) will be about the impact of technology and the impact of social media.  According to all the pundits…this year 2012 is the year that technology is going to have an impact on our lives.

Whether or not it will rival the impact of the toaster, the electric kettle, the computer, fax machine, matches, zippers, barcode, batteries, ballpoint pens, buttons, credit cards, robots, condoms, pencils, ploughs, sticky tape, telephones, thermometers, velcro, rubber bands, radios, disposable razors and the wheel remains to be seen.  But it would be wise to be reminded that although we treat these preceding items as everyday things.  They weren’t always taken for granted.  If fact, at one point in time, they were considered revolutionary and technologically advanced and cutting edge.

But not all the experts consider this impact to be good for humanity, that is the people of the world.  Jim Clifton (The Coming Jobs War) predicts that the next war will be the war for jobs.  With technology replacing people who used to have formal jobs (paycheck and 30 hrs per week meaningful work) and the world already facing a global 50% unemployment rate, whoever controls the jobs, wins the war.  And it will be a war for all the marbles according to Jim Clifton.

Date for WTF 2011

The date for the WTFmediaconf 2011 is Friday September 23, 2011.  It is part of a five-day conference which includes the inaugural Design, Development and Research Conference (DDR 2011), hosted by the Faculty of Informatics and Design of Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

Suggest a speaker

With so much admiration for what TED has achieved, I am going to be inspired by this greatest, but on a much much smaller scale.

As you know WTFmediaconf 2011  is themed  It is a smarter world.  It is going to have 24 speakers, who will only speak for 10 minutes or (15 minutes without Q&A).  This will be timed very strictly. (This limit makes it quicker and easier to load to YouTube; and makes the speakers focus on what they want to say – only the important stuff).  I would like to say that there will be no Power Points – as these are usually extremely boring – and that there will be intimate engagement with the audience.  Connect with the audience – a little Open Mike Night style.

Now we have 12 speakers confirmed… we are looking for the 12 new kids on the block.  People doing exciting things that no-one knows about yet.  Any suggestions…. please email wtfmediaconf@gmail.com  Looking forward to hearing from you.

Format for 2011 is TEDlike

There is no doubt that WTFmediaconf 2010 took the conference to a new level.  It was informative and the speakers were impressive.  Impressive in delivery and impressive in their innovation.  The just under 40 speakers were briefed to WOW the audience and that is what they did.  Each speaker had a 30 minute slot.  Matthew Buckland, a regular speaker at WTFmediaconf, suggested “You should make this the TED South Africa Conference.”

As good suggestions should always be investigated I found more about TED and speaking at TED.

A bit of background:  TED was first held in 1984 and featured early demos of the Mac and Sony’s compact disc.  Chris Anderson acquired the curatorship of TED in 2001 from its founder Richard Saul Wurman.  TED search for presenters who “will inform and inspire, suprize and delight.”  TED presenters, they boast “run the world’s most admired companies and design its best-loved products; they invent world-changing devices, and create ground-breaking media. They’re trusted voices and convention-breaking mavericks, icons and geniuses.”

Well, I have watched enough TED videos to know that is true.  According to the website “TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. And in fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline.  The format is fast paced: 50+ talks over the course of four days (to say nothing of the morning and evening events). This immersive environment allows attendees and speakers from vastly different fields to cross-fertilize and draw inspiration from unlikely places. This is the magic of TED”  The result, also according to the website is “Unexpected connections.  Extraordinary insights.  Powerful inspiration.”

There are three TED events:  TED Conference, TEDGlobal or TEDActive.  (You can find out more about each at http://www.ted.com/)  I also found out that you cannot attend TED without an invitation.   TED invites (and you can apply to be invited) 1’000 of the world’s most remarkable people.  And that you can to apply to be a speaker.  It is also interesting to note that TED limits their speakers to an 18-minute talk.  The idea is that the speakers only communicate their best ideas.   I must admit that I like this idea very much.  Neither does TED pay speakers – apart from covering travel costs and accommodation.

So WTFmediaconf  2011 is going for shorter talks and vibrant speakers who we will continue not to pay.

Now how can I get myself invited to TED in February 2012.

Theme for 2011

The theme for the media conference is WTF! Its a smarter world.
What does that mean. OK I know everyone knows what WTF means, but its a smarter world. We are a smaller world. We are back to being small town people with a big city lifestyle. Everybody knows our secrets, but like any small town, they are too discrete to tell us they know or to talk about them.
But secrets are not the conversations we will be having at the media conference. We will be talking about the applications that make it possible to know our secrets. Collaboration – do you think that in small towns collaboration was another word for gossip – and for greater knowledge. We all know everything know, but at one stage the more you knew the more valued you where. How do we find value now?
If sharing is caring how come we care less, but share more? Is information knowledge or is it just gossip? What is knowledge in today’s world? I can be an expert in minutes, but can I use that knowledge to the greater good of all people? Or just for me?
Think about the applications and the tools and the wow of them all. I only want to hear about the WOW. Do you have a WOW you want to share?