PICNIC'08 THEMES

Please note this list is constantly changing as a result of conversations we have with speakers and advisers!

Media, Entertainment and Advertising

• The Tupperware Economy. Friends’ referrals are at the heart of new ‘advertising’ programmes. Social networks are commercial ventures that interlink communication and commerce in new ways.

• Full-Circle Brands. From book to movie, TV show to merchandise, online community to theme park – some creations are forever, and some manage to come full circle.

• The Rise of Infotainment. Today more than ever, we can follow events as they unfold. The adrenaline of live reporting turns news into a game, an entertainment form.

• TV Dreams. The new TV is on-demand, interactive, distributed, personal, shared, and reimagined. Which new formats can we expect, and which new business models will prevail?

• Personality-Based Brands. There’s nothing as personal as a person. Some brands are like friends – and some of the most popular are built around people.

• The Golden Age of Books. Readers rejoice! The book is back.

Future Technology Trends

• Recognition. Recognition technology for voices, patterns, and human emotions is no longer reserved for secret services – it’s everywhere. An overview of the latest scientific achievements and mass-market applications.

• Where Are We Now? The earth is becoming an information interface; our social networks, landscapes, histories are dots on multilayered maps. Location is the new axis for collecting information.

• Interface. New technologies let us feel information. A look at emerging interfaces that make sense to our senses – from electronic paper to data gloves and sensor-based game consoles to wearable computers.

• Augmented Reality. Combining real-world and computer-generated data leads not just to surprising advertising tricks but to new knowledge.

• Omnipresent Screens. Companies are using screens everywhere, from the sides of skyscrapers to tabletops and floors. Everyday screens are becoming foldable, tiny, huge, super-high-res, intelligent and responsive.

• Day of the Media Labs. An annual expert meeting and demo session for the world’s commercial, academic and non-profit media labs developing new concepts and pilot projects around new technologies.

Creativity

• Music-Commercials-Video-Art. The short form is the densest application of talent, money and ambition we know of. This session will be devoted to visual culture.

• Creating a New Creative Industry. We’re all creators now. What are the effects of this new Renaissance?

• The Secrets of Humour. What makes us laugh? How does the creative mind work? What kind of humour appeals to which audience, and how does this play out in different formats?

• The Amsterdam Creative Tour. Delegates curious about Amsterdam’s startups – and in the mood for a canal boat ride – can enjoy the water and meet select creative entrepreneurs.

• Paint the World Orange. PICNIC invites top Dutch creative émigrés home to discuss the challenges facing the Dutch creative industries.

• PICNIC Junior. Young people participate in a week of fascinating workshops on topics like mobile technology, sensors, and working with sound and video.

• The Creativity of Groups

Being Human, Being Connected

• Why We Lie. Online deception appears to be an enjoyable activity for many. An investigation in identity in an online world.

• Life Caching. Thanks to new tools, a flood of ‘personal content’ is being collected and awaiting storage for trips down memory lane. What do users do with their stored lives?

• The City of the Future. It will be an experiment in new social forms, based on real-time information and feedback. How can we develop sustainable cities?

• Surprising Africa. Community building through mobile phone networks, the rise of services for micro-entrepreneurs, and media networks for populations across borders.

• Creative Capitalism. New thoughts about markets and what they can achieve.

• Data visualisation, information aesthetics.

• Saving the World the Cross Media Way. Campaigns for a better world combine celebrities, music, events, online pledges, interactive donations and viral marketing.

Viewpoints
We are inviting people for specific viewpoints. Anthropologists, Futurists. Investors. Observing, predicting, acting. Three panels of experts will offer their reflections on where we are heading.

Some other themes on the wish list...
Flowers, Visual Identity, Spacetime, Let There Be Light, Palpable Computing, the Car of the Future, Barcoding Life, Reality Mining, the Revenge of Geography, Cloud Computing, the New Now, Next Nature, Happiness, Being Real, Amsterdam Broadband City, Identity 2.0, India, China and Africa…

If you feel we miss an important development, or if you'd like to suggest just the company or speakers for one of the issues below, do let us know. Mail me at or add your comments below!