(note: You can look at the slides and text here; video will be posted as soon as I get it.)
A week and a half ago, I received an email asking me if I'd be willing to do an Ignite talk for the March 4 NYC event, part of Global Ignite Week. If you're not familiar with Ignite, here's the deal: You have 5 minutes to give your talk; you create a PowerPoint presentation to go with the talk, but here's the kicker: You must do 20 slides, and the slides will advance automatically every 15 seconds. Talk about creative restraint inspiration! Not only is it an amazing challenge and a great place to flex your speaker muscles, but the Ignite platform also reaches far and wide into multiple communities, and can be a huge opportunity to reach lots of audiences with your message. Was I up for it? Sure.
Then the panic set in. Oh my God, what I have I signed myself up for?
This was shot in June 2009 in Toronto for GetInvolved. It was a really fun conversation with the producers… I talk about free-for-all organizing, how influence is changing, the importance of authenticity–and I start the first Twitter Anon meeting, to boot.
On Saturday, I gave a the closing keynote talk at Organizing 2.0 here in NYC, a one-day conference designed to bring together labor folks, community organizers and netroots people to work on strategies for integrating online and offline organizing. A fun time was had by all! Here's the video (thank you, Sum of Change!), and below are my notes from the talk.
As I mentioned on Twitter, it's just getting too hard for many of us to keep track of all the awesome conferences that happen every year. I've missed so many this fall, even ones happening in NYC, just because I hadn't done any curation. Conferences can be a drag, but as a freelancer/consultant/author without a formal organizational structure, they're often where I make the best connections and have the most fun with my colleagues.
So! An early New Year's resolution: I'm gonna try to get on the ball for next year. Already thinking of SXSW, Allied Media Conference, US Social Forum, Personal Democracy Forum, Women Who Tech, America's Future Now, NonProfit 2.0, NTEN and more; what do you recommend in the social tech, media, politics, activism, and social justice fields? Conferences & unconferences, big 'n' small. Leave 'em in the comments (links to conferences would be helpful), and I'll publish a big list in the next few days.
BK wanted me to add a "how do you know the author" question to the survey, so of course, my friends decided to have a wee bit of fun. Here's a roundup of my favorite response so far (with necessary comments from me in italics):
She's a pal.
From the bar
The series of tubes
In college, we were making beds for the football team NY Giants. ask her. (true!)
We share an ex-boyfriend, ha ha.
It's complicated, but I've been a fan for years! (See: "We share an ex-boyfriend." No kidding, there's more than one)
We went to psychic healer school together.
She designed my site, and saved my life. (check is in the mail, Alice)
I am her indentured servant (You are? Where's my dinner, muppet?)
Schmoozing
I mistook her for Jill from Jack & Jill Politics (true story, Cheryl.)
We met in in jail. Or was it the Army?
Her very favorite Uncle out of all her uncles living in NC (there's just one)
Hair bleach and naughty conversations
Osmosis (not far from the truth, on the Bowery)
UPDATE: More funny friends have chimed in…
From a movie set, it's a long story (god help us, this one)
secret president of her fan club (that check is going in the mail now)
Sister; knew her before she got a sense of humor :) (thanks, bro!)
friend/dog scratcher/chef (need you FT, see "indentured servant" above)
great serendipity (the meaning of life, after "42" of course)
It's that time of the year where SXSW asks us to garner mega amounts of attention for the panels we're proposing for next year's Interactive conference. This is a Big Deal, and I'm joining forces with all the other fabulous people around me to co-promote everyone's hard work. So, take 3 minutes to register and vote for us!
Thanks in advance for helping to keep social cause stuff on the plate at such an influential conference. It means a lot to us out here on the front lines!
(note: You can look at the 
Friends, Tube-izens, citizens, lend me your ears!
