Supermarkets, Public Interest & Other Events of Note

There are two local events on December 5 that I regrettably won’t be able to attend but would encourage you to (and would love to hear how they go):

Supermarket Street Sweep: Friends who have participated in past citizen cyclist scavenger hunts (“alleycats”) have had a blast riding around SF with strangers, especially when it’s for a good cause. The SF Food Bank will benefit from Saturday’s food drive, which is to feature hundreds of people riding between grocery stores to stock up on food. It may look like a logo-fest (left), but it’s great to see that so many bike-friendly organizations are participating.

The Future of the Forum: A day-long symposium hosted by UC Berkeley will explore the impact of public forums online and the ways they affect participatory democracy, media and the public interest. The tickets are pricey at $345 but the speaker list is fantastic, including NPR arts and tech correspondent Laura Sydell, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder Mitch Kapor, and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (a few folks who should have a bit of insight into new types of public dialogue that are emerging).

These are of course in addition to the first Ignite Bay Area | Women Innovators event (also in Berkeley at the LEED-certified David Brower Center) on Tuesday, December 8. The future of the book, all you ever needed to know about the Bible, and Ms. PacMan as feminist icon are all on the agenda of five-minute talks by developers, technology and communications experts. Do join.