Russell Davies

interesting details

picture - blackbeltjones

It's just round the corner isn't it? I'm sure there's something I've forgotten.

Anyway, this is stuff you need to know if you're coming to Interesting.

8am - We can get into the hall to start setting up. If you'd like to come along then and help out I'd be very grateful. Chores will include putting out chairs, filling urns, draping bunting, carrying flight cases, saying 'testing testing 1,2,3' into microphones.

9am - Doors open officially. Come early and watch the exciting preparations or hang out with chums and sup coffee (NOTE: bring own coffee). To get in you need to bring your email/confirmation from eventbrite. We do not print the tickets.

10am - Interestingness starts with community singing. Much talking and presenting ensues.

(There'll be a break in here somewhere. We'll be providing boiling water, teabags, milk, sugar and instant coffee. If you want anything fancier than that you'll have to bring it yourself. Mine's a short, skinny, cappuccino please.)

picture - kjpm

12.30ish - Lunchtime. We won't be providing lunch. We're warning the cafe in the square to expect an influx, there are good cafes and pubs nearby. Or you could bring your own.

1.30pmish - Off we go again.

(Another break here too.)

4.30pmish - And we're done. We'd be grateful if everyone could help with the tidying up. And we're going to try and book the back room of the same pub as last time. Its name escapes me for now. Just for some post-Interesting drinks. We were going to try and do a proper post-Interesting party with Last.fm deejaying action but I've not got round to it and it's too late now. If anyone would like to organise a party let me know and I'll announce it here and on the stage.

Er. Anything you need to know that I've missed?

picture - kjpm

Ah - kids. A few people have said they're going to bring their children along. That's splendid. I think it makes the feel of the thing a whole lot friendlier. So feel free to do that. We can't provide any sort of official facilities I'm afraid, but they are completely welcome. And Arthur's bringing his DS and will be looking for challengers.

The best tag for all your social media doodahing is probably Interesting2008.

We're not providing wifi because the lack of it last time made the whole atmosphere a lot better. Even the hardcore wifi fans seemed to like it. But we'll be doing some sort of slow liveblogging via the medium of scribbles and drawing.

And I think that's it. See you on Saturday.

interesting speaking notes

I sent an email to all the Interesting speakers at the end of last week, it keeps bouncing back from a couple of people so I'm posting it up here as well, just in case. If you're not an Interesting speaker it's going to be of very little interest. Sorry.

Hello, hello

Unless I've got things very wrong then you've kindly agreed to speak at Interesting2008 on June 21st.

This is just an email to remind you, in case you'd forgotten about it, and to let you know some things.

First - presentation stuff

You can present however you like, with slides, without, whatever you want. There's no need to send anything beforehand if you don't want to, we will happily accomodate your AV needs on the day. We'll have a Mac there with PowerPoint and Keynote on it. And I can probably arrange a PC if we need that. If you want to bring your own machine that's fine too. Basically, everything's fine. But if you can send us stuff beforehand that'll make things go a little quicker. Or if you want to do something eccentric with hand-puppets or plate-spinning please advice so we can provide the necessary kit.

Second - more about presentation stuff

One of the joys of Conway Hall is the amount of natural light you can get in there. We can darken the room if PowerPoint demands it, but, if you're doing slides or similar it would be good if you could make them as contrasty and legible as possible. Just so we can keep the room as light as we can.

Third - filming

We're going to film the whole day, and The Guardian are going to host all the videos online for us. However, if you don't want your presentation to appear anywhere then just let us know and it won't. A few people from last year decided they didn't want their video on the internet and that's entirely fine. Just let us know.

Fourth - timing

I'm working on a rough schedule. There's not a lot of science to it but if you have any preference about when you speak will you let me know? Morning, afternoon, early, late, whatever? Or would you like to volunteer to go first?

(We'll be setting up from 8am and starting everything at 10am. We're aiming to be done by about 4.30pm.)

will things ever be the same again?

Just over a week to Interesting. Those attending might want to familiarise themselves with this material

interesting sponsors

(picture from tim)

Interesting2007 wouldn't have been possible without the support of lots of very nice sponsors. Well, actually, that's not true, it would have been possible, it just wouldn't have been as nice. The list of people who helped out is here. I'm massively grateful to all of them, so this is dedicated to the sponsors who was down from day one.

And there's been a load of similar generosity this year. Imagination, again, are providing all the AV stuff and people we need. And they're going to film the whole thing. The Guardian are going to host the videos, do all sorts of podcastery, provide some fun in the lobby and sponsor a mysterious thing. Innocent are sending smoothies again, Love are sending Yorkshire tea (and hopefully biscuits). Sledge are providing those excellent eco cups and plates, Moo are providing an afternoon treat and Penguin are hopefully sending some books. And The School Of Everything and Rememble are also going to be doing interesting things in the lobby.

But there's still time to be a sponsor if you'd like to, and can think of something you'd like to contribute. I don't want any money from anyone, that would just confuse things, if you'd like to be a sponsor you just need to provide something that would make the day nicer. Last year, for instance Ideo agreed to pay for apples for everyone to eat and W+K to pay for the afternoon scones. (Though since I forgot to invoice them for it I guess they got quite a good deal.)

(picture from Roo)

As a sponsor you'll get very little reward; a few mentions on this blog, huge thanks from the stage and the gratitude of about 400 people. But if you're looking for ROI then you're at the wrong conference.

If there's anything you'd like to contribute (especially if you'd like to supply apples) give me a shout and we'll work it out. russell at russelldavies.com. And bless you for even thinking about it.

interesting schwag

The Design Conspirators have exerted themselves to maximum effect and designed a new logo for Interesting2008. Well, they've designed an 8. But what an 8. It's good isn't it?

In our constant search to make the whole conference thing easier to do we've decided we won't be making t-shirts or handing out goody bags, or pens or anything. But, if you want those things, we'd be absolutely delighted if you'd make your own. The logo's available in various formats on Ben's blog. Ben's offering a tiny prize for the best use of the logo.

And, and, and, there are still tickets available for Interesting Amsterdam on June 14th. The speaker list is magnificent. Who could resist hearing about the physics of quicksand from a man who does demos with a Tazmanian Devil?

interesting practicalities

Just a note / reminder for everyone who's bought a ticket for Interesting. You should all have had a confirmation email from eventbrite. This is your actual ticket, just print it off and bring it along. As it says:

We won't be sending any sort of physical ticket anywhere, so if don't have the right address on your paypal account or you've moved house or something don't worry about it. We do not post the tickets.

(And I can't tell you how pleased I am that I've finally managed to build a sentence out of all these words I've been collecting.)

more interesting speakers

There are a few more people to add to the speaker list. I'm very excited that this lot are going to be talking too.

First there's Younghee Jung, who, last time I saw her said she was going to talk about toilets, but might have changed her mind by now.

Then there's Lea Becker, who's going to talk about scribble drawing.

And Joel Gethin Lewis. I'm not sure what he's going to talk about but it's bound to be good.

Then, James Wallis is going to do a geophysical survey of World of Warcraft,

Jim Le Fevre is going to show us his DIY Zoetropes.

And finally we have Collyn Ahart Chipperfield who's going to talk about 'empty spaces and make believe games'.

It's all looking good. Now, who wants to make some scones?

last 50

There are fifty more Interesting tickets on sale here. Have at it.

UPDATE: Sold out I'm afraid.

radiophonic interestingness

Crumbs. Interesting2008 is only three weeks away. Look forward to a flurry of posts as I remember all the things I've forgotten to do. But first, a little treat. Simon's made a fantastic, impressionistic radiophonic-style audio collage of Interesting2007. It makes it sound like a strange, secret, underground think-tank style event, as if The Rand Corporation had decided to reproduce the Festival Of Britain. Brilliant stuff. Thanks Simon. The MP3 is here. Picture from Corky's flickrstream.

interesting amsterdam

Jeffre's just posted the speaker list for Interesting Amsterdam. It looks fantastic. It's June 14th. You should go. I believe tickets are still available.