Festival2011-partnership
MEDIA = (Journalism + Filmmaking + Music + Design + Games)
The General Idea
We're gathering 500 diverse and capable people in one place. Giving them access to state-of-the art tools, the Mozilla community, and each other. And challenging them to use the open web to make and do things that solve big problems and advance the state of media.
Where other events offer exposure, Media, Freedom and the Web will provide a tangible service. A 3-day sprint of the best and brightest tackling challenges facing your industry and organization. By supporting the festival, you will:
- Help shape one of the 10 Innovation Challenges that will guide the event; and
- Sponsor the participation of key hackers, developers, designers, and other creative types able to build tools and launch new projects during the festival.
Media, Freedom and the Web is your opportunity to experience what happens when the creative power of the open web is placed at the disposal of inspired people working in common cause.
The Event
Media, Freedom and the Web is Mozilla's second annual innovation festival. Three days of passionate people using the web to bend, hack and reinvent media.
We'll solve real problems and build new prototypes with talented designers, world-class journalists, resourceful media-makers, and cutting-edge developers. The event will revolve around 10 Innovation Challenges that use the open web to build the future of digital media. Sessions will drive new ways of making media with design jams, hackfests, learning labs, live demos and parties.
More than an attempt at the next 'killer' app, we'll be building the web itself. And fostering its capacity to support new forms of creation and engagement.
The Model
We replace darkened lecture halls and 'the sage on the stage' with 5 floors of maker labs bursting with people building things in real time. All driven by Allen "Gunner" Gunn's model for group facilitation and mass collaboration. One of the largest design and hackjams you'll ever see.
- Gather the right people. Choose them for the diversity of their skills and experience. A careful balance of thinkers, storytellers, diplomats, facilitators, builders, developers, designers, etc.
- Let them inspire each other. Kick things off with with a party at a 'science fair'. Get everyone excited and seed new ideas through a heady mix of cool demos, great music, and strong drink.
- Set up an amazing space. Lay out the venue to encourage informal and accidental collaboration. No stages, few lecterns. Big maps to show where to gather around the Innovation Challenges, with room for overflow, break-off groups, and general mutation.
- Help everybody focus. Post the schedule online to be edited by everyone. Big-ticket attractions remain in place, but shift the rest to capitalize on success, need, and interest. Lean on space wranglers keep things simple, civil, and moving. Dole out heartfelt 'love-bombs' to people and ideas leading to results.
- And let them work. It's all designed to support and encourage making stuff. Labs. 3D printers. Production studios. Huge bandwidth. And on-site tech experts from key web services. Everything needed to launch new projects, prototypes, services, and tools.
Media, Freedom and the Web will capture the generativity that comes from the freedom to propose radical ideas, share them with capable people, and access the resources required to pull them off. And by partnering with Mozilla, your team and your challenges can be front-and-centre.
The People
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The Partners (So far...)
Some funding, some content, some participants. All rock stars.
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The Venue
The festival will take place at Ravensbourne College, located north of London, England. Ravensbourne is built for interaction and collaboration; a place to build things.
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Situated in the middle of Greenwich Peninsula, next to the O2 and surrounded by parks, squares, cafes, and bars.
The Opportunities
There are a number of ways to get involved in the Media, Freedom and the Web festival. Have a look and get in touch with Geoffrey MacDougall.
1.) Help Drive an Open Innovation Challenge
What:
- Work with Mozilla to shape one of the Innovation Challenges to focus on something you care about.
- Position your content as raw material for the design/build sprint. Have your people on hand to learn, guide, and help out.
- Be one of (if not the) first to implement the prototype, project, or approach that results.
How:
- Sponsor the participation of 3 or more people (not your staff) to work on the Challenge.
- Help ensure the right mix of maker/doer skills is present at the Festival.
- $3,500 per domestic (EU) participant. $5,000 per international (outside Europe) participant.
- Support 5+ people and you'll be the only logo on the Challenge.
Also:
- A blog post by each of your sponsored participants about their experience that can be cross-posted to your web site.
- Prominent mention and a profile in the Media, Freedom and the Web book that will be published after the festival. (See the book from last year's event.)
- Media coaching and support for your sponsored delegates to interact with the press, bloggers, and others covering the event.
- Free entry for up to 4 of your staff.
- Your logo displayed everywhere we display logos (which, while not everywhere, will still be a lot of places).
- Mention / inclusion in press releases, blog posts, social media, and other communications where we talk about your challenge. As it makes sense in larger communications about the Festival, as well.
- And Mark will buy you a beer.
2.) Demo at the Science Fair
What:
- A table at our opening night party and science fair. Demo the cool stuff you're doing to gain inspiration and inspire other people for the coming sprints.
How:
- The Science Fair is by invitation, but you're encouraged to let us know about your project and why you'd like to be included!
- There's no cost for participants. But if you're interested in sponsoring the Science Fair as a whole, please get in touch.
Also:
For Participants:
- Mention in the Media, Freedom and the Web book that will be published after the festival. (See the book from last year's event.)
- Free entry for up to 2 of your staff.
- Mention in press releases, blog posts, social media, and other communications as possible.
For a Sponsor:
- Prominent mention and a profile in the Media, Freedom and the Web book that will be published after the festival.
- Free entry for up to 4 of your staff.
- Your logo displayed everywhere we display logos (which, while not everywhere, will still be a lot of places).
- Mention / inclusion in press releases, blog posts, social media, and other communications where we talk about the Science Fair. As it makes sense in larger communications about the Festival, as well.
- And Mark will buy you a beer.
3.) Be a Human API
What:
- Your product or service as a featured tool at the disposal the participants as they build solutions to the Innovation Challenges.
- Your staff present, visible, and accessible as in-person technical support helping participants build with and link into your product or service.
- Your tools and ideas as raw material for the design/build sprint. Have your people on hand to learn, guide, and help out.
How:
- Send one of your best - and friendliest! - techs to the festival. They will be given a big and easy way to be found and talk about your product or service.
- $1,000 for the event.
Also:
- Profile and a table in the Human API section of the festival
- Mention and a profile in the Media, Freedom and the Web book that will be published after the festival. (See the book from last year's event.)
- Free entry for up to 3 of your staff.
- Mention in press releases, blog posts, social media, and other communications as possible.
4.) Support the Kids Digital Maker Lab
What:
- The main floor of the festival will be a giant maker lab full of kids running around and doing amazing things with technology.
- We're still working out the details, so please drop us a line if you have ideas or want to be involved.
Past Success
Last year's Learning, Freedom and the Web festival in Barcelona gathered 400+ hackers, teachers, students, and edupunks for 3 days of disruptive innovation. In addition to countless new partnerships, huge energy, and great enthusiasm, the event seeded the development of four key projects working to transform the future of education.
- Open Badges. Standards-based infrastructure for a distributed model of learning, assessment, and accreditation. Already gaining traction through the involvement of the MacArthur Foundation, White House, Department of Education, and many more.
- Hackasaurus. A program to make it easier for millions of youth to learn about, explore, and redesign the web. Currently exiting its prototyping and pilot phase, gearing up for full development and implementation.
- Open Attribute. A suite of tools that makes it simple to copy and paste the correct attribution for any Creative Commons-licensed work. Launched and in use.
- Learning, Freedom and the Web: The Book. Equal parts investigation, 'how-to', and manifesto, LFW: The Book by Anya Kamenetz lays out a vision for education based on the maker/doer principles of the open web. Will be published this fall.
The Process
Funding commitments to the festival will be provided as grants or donations to the non-profit (American 501(c)3) Mozilla Foundation. An American charitable tax receipt will be provided where possible.
