Not An Alternative

Clay Shirky on Open Source Principles in Art and Activism

Thursday, June 18, 6:30 - 8pm (free)

Please join us this Thursday, June 18 for the next installment of the 2009 Upgrade New York programming series.

This month’s featured speaker is internet theorist, consultant and author Clay Shirky. Clay will discuss the concepts of fork and failure in the open source process, and will open them to discussion in the context of activism and the creative process.

If you can’t make it in person, tune in to the live-stream at http://www.livestream.com/notanalternative

Clay Shirky is a writer, educator, and consultant on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. He is an adjunct professor at New York University (NYU) in their graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program, where he teaches courses on the interrelationships of social and technological networks, particularly how they shape culture and vice-versa. He consults to a variety of organizations on network technologies, and is an acknowledged expert on collaboration tools, social networks, peer-to-peer sharing, collaborative filtering, and Open Source development. Clay has spoken and written extensively on the Internet since 1996, with regular columns in Business 2.0, FEED, OpenP2P.com and his own shirky.com blogsite. He has appeared in The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, and others. In his new book, “Here Comes Everybody”, Clay explores how organizations and industries are being upended by open networks, collaboration, and user appropriation of content production and dissemination.

Upgrade! is an international network of autonomous nodes located throughout the world that are united by art, technology, and a commitment to bridging cultural divides. Upgrade! NY is a monthly programming series co-produced by Eyebeam and Not An Alternative. The 2009 curatorial theme explores open source activist and creative practices.