Poptech

Poptech (also known as Pop!Tech) is a nonprofit organization mostly known for its annual mass media and technology conference that takes place in Camden, Maine. It defines itself as “a network of remarkable people, extraordinary conferences, powerful ideas and innovative projects that are changing the world.” [ [http://www.poptech.org Pop!Tech - The Impact of Technology on People ] ]

History

Poptech was founded in 1996 as the Camden Technology Conference, so named for the location where it convenes its well-known annual thought-leadership conference. The organization was founded by an informal group of Camden residents and distinguished technologists, including Robert Metcalfe (co-inventor of Ethernet technology) and John Sculley (former CEO of Apple). Although initially focused on the social impact of information technology, Poptech has substantially broadened its focus in recent years to include events, media and social innovation projects aimed at accelerating the impact of world-changing people and ideas."The Boston Globe", “Parley enlists participants for HIV education in Africa” [http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/10/22/parley_enlists_participants_for_hiv_education_in_africa/] ] Pop!Tech is now overseen by its Curator and Executive Director, Andrew Zolli, who joined the organization in 2003.

Annual Poptech conference

The annual conference draws 600 attendees each year and is held in a the Camden Opera House in Camden, Maine. The purpose of the conference is to bring together technology, innovation and people to tackle global problems such as climate change, poverty and disease. Conference themes change from year to year. Themes from recent years include “Dangerous Ideas,” “The Human Impact” and “Scarcity and Abundance.” [Overview of Poptech 2008 [http://www.poptech.com/overview2008/] ]

Different speakers and performers from around the world participate in the conference. Musical performances, short films and demonstrations are interspersed with brief lectures from social activists and experts in emerging technology. Past speakers and performers include Victoria Hale, Cary Fowler, John Legend, Van Jones, Louann Brizendine, Malcolm Gladwell, Brian Eno and Kevin Kelly (editor). Speakers and performers are not paid by Poptech."Fast Company", “Pop! Till You Drop” [http://www.poptech.com/files/library/FastCompany.pdf] ]

Each year, it sponsors a select group of leaders from around the world to attend the conference under the Poptech Fellows Program. [Poptech Social Innovation Fellows Program [http://www.poptech.com/fellows/] ] The 2006 fellows were leaders in the field of education, and in 2005 the fellows were African civic and technology leaders. In 2008, 20 fellows from different social innovation fields are sponsored.

The conference began broadcasting the proceedings in real time via live streaming video in 2007. Its website also hosts a video archive of past performances and lectures. [Pop!Casts [http://www.poptech.com/popcasts/] ]

pecial projects

A number of special projects have been launched as a result of the Poptech conference. In 2006, performer Reggie Watts and Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo met at Poptech. Afterward, Poptech brought the two back together for a musical collaboration: AntiBabel. Proceeds from the EP fund residence space for students, safe drinking water, computers, school libraries and solar-power panels for communities in the Himalayan region.

A more recent project is the Poptech Carbon Initiative. [Poptech Carbon Initiative [http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=pop!tech] ] Developed in 2007 to provide conference participants with an easy way to buy carbon offsets, the program has been extended to any eBay user with an ID. Using an eBay website, users calculate their carbon footprint and then purchase carbon offsets from three different organizations: Solar Electric Light Fund, [Solar Electric Light Fund [http://www.self.org/] ] Instituto Ecológica [Instituto Ecológica [http://www.ecologica.org.br/index.html] ] or Paso Pacífico. [Paso Pacífico [http://www.pasopacifico.org/] ] ["Wired", “Ebay, PopTech Make Buying Carbon Offsets Easy” [http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/news/2007/10/poptech_walkup] ] The eBay page was slated to close at the end of 2007 but remains open for anyone to use.

Another special project that grew directly out of the attendee community was the building of the Mother-Child Medical Center & Ipuli Medical Training Center in Tanzania, Africa—a country with one doctor for every 20,511 people. The project began when Cameron Sinclair (social entrepreneur and Poptech speaker) met Neema Mgana (Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder of the African Regional Youth Initiative) at the 2006 Poptech conference. Through the efforts of Sinclair, Mgana and others in the Poptech community, the people of Ipuli now have a local medical clinic that is provided with renewable energy at no charge.

The kind of collaboration seen with the Ipuli project has been formally acknowledged and supported by the Poptech organization through the creation of the Poptech Accelerator, [Poptech Accelerator [http://www.poptech.com/accelerator/] ] which aims to keep the spirit of the Poptech conference alive throughout the year. The goal of the Poptech Accelerator is to identify world-changing projects and provide those projects with resources available through the Poptech network. Resources can include project management, financial contributions, media coverage, corporate partnerships and other forms of support. ["BusinessWeek", “Pop!Tech Outgrows Its Toys” [http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2007/id20071024_328164.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories] ]

The first project sponsored by the Accelerator is Project Masiluleke, [Project Masiluleke [http://www.poptech.com/projectmasiluleke/] ] inspired by Poptech 2006 speaker and AIDS activist Zinhle Thabethe. Project Masiluleke uses existing and new technologies to fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

ee also

*World Economic Forum
*TED

References

External links

* [http://www.poptech.org/ Official Poptech website]
* [http://www.poptech.com/popcasts/ Pop!Casts]
* [http://www.poptech.com/accelerator/ Poptech Accelerator]
* [http://www.poptech.com/video/ Video: Three-minute overview of Poptech]
* [http://www.poptech.org/blog/ The Poptech Blog]
* [http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=pop!tech Carbon offset initiative]