Passing on the word about Media Democracy Day - Speak for Yourself
Spreading the word
The 2008 Media Democracy Day event in Vancouver is Oct. 25th 2008 and features a batch of excellent panels and noteworthy speakers headlined by Rex Wyler, co-founder of Greenpeace.
With many critical issues affecting net users and publishers, the Media Democracy event will address 
copyright in flux, open access to the Internet, and the tension between mainstream and independent and grassroots media.
Raincity Studios' CEO Robert Scales is joining Leslie Shade – Associate Professor Concordia University, Jeff Davis - Vancouver Open Network Initiative Cooperative, Mike Tippet – Co-founder of NowPublic to discuss "The Battle for New Media and Open Communication" at 3:15 ~ 4:30.
Here's the blurb:
We stand at a crossroads in the history of communications technology, a moment when traditional media are in disarray, and a new form of communications and organizing -- more grassroots and decentralized -- is on the rise.
The Internet is upsetting conventional wisdom about "mass media" and changing media power in ways never before imagined. But change also raises new threats. Will an open Internet succumb to the same companies that control traditional media?
The new challenge for us is to organize around and develop new sets of policies, projects, and tools that will finally give us an advantage in the decades-long struggle against the gatekeepers. Panelists will discuss the fight for an open Internet, prospects for online/social media, and future challenges.
I suspect Scales will offer anecdotes and insight from the Olympic symposium and on the ground experience covering Games in Turin and Beijing.
Plus tips and tricks learned while photographing the Dalai Lama's visit to Vancouver and rock bands and tech luminaries at SXSW in Austin, TX.
Here are the event details:
Speaking For Ourselves: Media Democracy Day 2008
October 25th, 2008, 12:00pm – 6:00pm
Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia Street
FREE
With media concentrating into fewer and fewer hands, and Internet Service Providers quickly emerging as online gatekeepers, a public forum on media issues like Media Democracy Day takes on a new sense of urgency.
MDD 2008 includes a series of exciting panels, workshops and speakers, including:
*Rex Weyler - World Renowned Author and Co-founder of Green Peace
*Deborah Campbell - Award Winning Independent Journalist
*David Beers - Publisher – The Tyee
*Michael Tippett - Co-founder of Nowpublic.com
*Marika Swan - Redwire Native Youth Media
*Charlie Smith - Editor of the Georgia Straight
*Robert Hackett - professor at SFU and author of "Remaking Media"
*Andrea Hayley - president of the Epoch Times Vancouver
*Robert Scales – CEO of Raincity Studios
*Dawn Paley – The Dominion Newspaper
*Gurpreet Singh - Broadcaster on Radio India, freelance columnist for Surrey Now, freelance reporter for South Asian Post
*Matt Thompson - Campaign Strategist for FreePress, Co-Founder of SaveOurNet.ca
*Kate Milberry - Media and Technology Commentator
and many more!
Panels and Workshops include:
*Big Media Clamp Down: Taking stock and fighting back
*Free Your Computer, Free Yourself - Practical steps to get you on the
road to liberation with free and open source software
*Journalism in a time of Big Media Domination
*The Battle for New Media and Open Communication
*Community Organizing and Media
* Open Source Journalism
Full programme pasted below and more information at:
http://mediademocracyday.org/
Join the MDD Facebook Event:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/
Find info and tools to promote MDD here:
http://mediademocracyday.org/
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