[Air-l] Invitation to the Santa Barbara Forum on Digital Transitions

[Rob Patton]

Greetings from Santa Barbara.

The Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS) <www.cits.ucsb.edu>
at the University of California Santa Barbara is pleased to announce a
workshop for leading technology researchers, designers, users, and
commentators to examine technology's role in promoting social engagement and
participation improving the quality of community life, both online and off. 

The 2006 Santa Barbara Forum on Digital Transitions will be held the evening
of April 9 and all day April 10, 2006.  On behalf of the Forum's Organizing
Committee, I am pleased to invite members of the AOIR community to join us
for this special event. 

Registration is limited, in order to encourage substantial interaction among
all participants.  We have lined up a diverse and knowledgeable group of
presenters to launch the dialogue at panel sessions, and have designed the
event to encourage additional informal conversations and idea sharing
throughout.  For more information about the event and participants, see the
information below and visit <www.sbforum.cits.ucsb.edu>.

Registration fees are $490 for corporate participants, and $190 for
academics and others.

Please feel free to contact me or Cathy Boggs, CITS Research Communications
Coordinator, at <cboggs at cits.ucsb.edu> if you have questions about any
aspects of this event. We recommend registering soon at
<www.sbforum.cits.ucsb.edu> to ensure a space.

We hope you can join us in April.  

Sincerely, 


Rob Patton
Program Manager
Center for Information Technology and Society
University of California, Santa Barbara
<www.cits.ucsb.edu>
<patton at cits.ucsb.edu>
805-893-5910 voice
805-893-7995 fax


************************************************
2006 Santa Barbara Forum on Digital Transitions
************************************************

Come explore the evolving nature of community and collaboration in the
digital age.

The 2006 Santa Barbara Forum on Digital Transitions will engage a select
group of approximately 100 technology innovators and thought-leaders in
lively discussions about the processes and challenges of using technology to
improve the quality of community life and collaborative efforts, both online
and off. 

This day and a half workshop features a mix of formal and informal
activities and technology demonstrations maximizing participants'
opportunities to explore ideas and to create new outside-the-norm
collaborative relationships.

Panels will address issues of self-regulation in online communities;
coordinating people online; factors that sustain engagement in online
communities; lessons from developing countries about technology's role in
community emergence and transformation; and emerging trends in the use of
mobile social software.   

Participants include: 

. creative and business leaders from information technology companies and
service providers

. academics from the social sciences, humanities, sciences and engineering

. foundation officials and others who fund or sponsor research addressing
information technology and society issues

. representatives from NGOs and non-profit organizations that research or
use technology in building communities of interest

. government policymakers from local, state, and national levels

. media professionals and bloggers who write about technology trends and
their social consequences. 

The Santa Barbara Forum is sponsored by the University of California Santa
Barbara's Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS), a diverse
coalition of more than a dozen scholars in the social sciences, engineering,
and the humanities, is sponsoring this first in a series of annual meetings
to explore cutting-edge trends and long-term social transformations
resulting from people's use of information technologies.

Registration fees for the Santa Barbara Forum are $490 for corporate
participants, and $190 for academics and others.  For further information,
visit our website at <www.sbforum.cits.ucsb.edu>, or contact Dr. Cathy
Boggs, CITS Research Communications Coordinator, at <cboggs at cits.ucsb.edu>.



Members of the Santa Barbara Forum's Advisory Board and Forum speakers are
listed below.

***************
Advisory Board
***************

W. Lance Bennett - Professor of Communication and Political Science,
University of Washington

Andreas von Blottnitz - Venture Partner, BV Capital 

John Seely Brown - Former Chief Scientist, Xerox, and Director, Xerox PARC

Charles House - Director, Intel Research Collaboratory

J.D. Lasica - Author, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Ourmedia.org

Ellen Levy - Director of Industry Collaboration and Research, Media X,
Stanford University

Doc Searls - Author, Senior Editor, Linux Journal 

Marc Smith - Community Technologies Group, Microsoft 

David Toole - Co-Founder & CEO, Outhink.com


**********
Panelists 
********** 

Kevin Almeroth, Department of Computer Science, UC Santa Barbara

Angela Beesley, Vice President, Wikipedia Foundation, Co-Founder Wikicities

Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science & Communication, University of
Washington

Supratik Bhattacharyya, Principal Member, Sprint Advanced Technologies
Laboratory

Bruce Bimber, Professor of Political Science & Communication, UC Santa
Barbara

John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist Xerox, and Director, Xerox PARC

Noshir Contractor, Professor of Speech Communication & Psychology,
University of Illinois

Anil de Mello, CEO, Mobuzz

Jennifer Earl, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara

Kirsten Foot, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of
Washington

Sheeraz Haji, CEO, GetActive

Eszter Hargittai, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies & Sociology, 
Northwestern University

Amir Hasson, Co-Founder, First Mile Solutions

David Lockton, President, Lockton Ventures

Geert Lovink, Founder & Director, Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam

Madhavi Mallapragada, Professor of Communication & Culture, Indiana
University

Kevin Matthews, President & CEO, Artifice, Inc.

Lisa Parks, Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies, UC Santa Barbara

Howard Rheingold, Author, Founding Executive Editor of HotWired

Clay Shirky, Consultant, Adjunct Professor, NYU Interactive
Telecommunications Program

Josh Silver, Executive Director, Free Press

David Toole, CEO, Outhink.com

Mena Trott, Co-Founder and President, Six Apart

Myles Weissleder, VP Public Affairs, Meetup.com