This weekend marks the introduction of a Vice and Intel collaboration, the art/music/technology mashup the Creators Project, to the City by the Bay. (Lest you think the image at right is a local representation, it’s actually a miniature model of Lisbon collected as part of the project’s global art undertaking.)
Fort Mason is hosting workshops and large-scale installations (not to mention a performance by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; free tickets were all spoken for earlier this week). Especially of interest is The Artist as Researcher panel which will bring United Visual Artists, Casey Reas, Quayola, and Sosolimite together with to discuss how “artists are playing a critical role in making technology more human” and whether they might employ the same data-driven practices that drive research at engineering-oriented organizations.
When entrepreneur Thor Muller suggested getting educators, parents, and child advocates together to talk about the future of experimental learning, my only question was when. (The answer: March 1.) We’ll be getting together at the Code for America offices in SF that evening for an Edgeucation Salon that will explore learning–anytime, anywhere–and how new forms of project-based learning are being evaluated. Speakers will tentatively include TED fellow Gever Tulley (SF Brightworks, the Tinkering School), Gigi Carunungan (Synapse School), Daniela Digiacomo (Flex Academy), Ellen Hathaway (San Francisco Rock Project), Rebecca Dakes (SF Schoolhouse), Marina Gorbis (Institute for the Future), and Wayee Chu (NewSchools Venture Fund). I hope you’ll join us for an evening of discovery and conversation about what’s happening at the edge of K-12 education design in San Francisco, on the Web and beyond.
After collaborating recently with a few CS grad students who are focused on music visualization software, I was excited to come home from the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts’ benefit to play around with a tool the organization shared, Seaquence. The “experiment in musical composition” reminds me of projects that use knitted sea life-themed sculpture to demonstrate the physical world, this time through sound. Synthesized personal orchestras are easily shared, and the visuals are a lot of fun to try. Go GAFFTA.
It’s ironic to consider inefficiency in healthcare at UCSF, but less so when the focus is how data-tracking might improve our experiences–and wellbeing–as people and patients. Today GigaOm’s Roadmap conference featured analyst Jody Ranck describing the need for more connectedness in the sector. The web-based “socialization of disease” (that is, the idea that lots of people want to share their experiences and literal pain points) isn’t the only evidence I need to agree.
And it’s encouraging to see SF-based companies that are running with this concept. At Rock Health’s demo day this afternoon, incubator company Genomera described the large-scale transition from “n=they” (when people waited for others to be studied for treatment) to “n=we” and “n=me” (when there’s a bias towards participation to improve outcomes). It’s being realized with platforms like SuperBetter from Social Chocolate and Eatery from Massive Health, both of which I’ve just starting trying. What other related services have you excited? Looking forward to hearing.
“Mindfulness in education.” Say it three times (slow).
This weekend The Association for Mindfulness in Education will host a workshop about mindfulness, teaching and education that sounds contemplative and fantastic. Starting with Mirabai Bush, co-creator of Google’s Search Inside Yourself course, and continuing onto the topics of classroom confidence, music, and the practice of being present, it would be a shame to miss. “A Guide for Anyone Who Teaches Anything” author Deborah Schoeberlein will start the Saturday session, which continues with a discussion of working with at-risk teen girls led by the Art of Yoga Project (an organization I work with and couldn’t be a bigger fan of).
Think the topics are of interest? You might also consider the Calming Technology Design Symposium that Stanford will host in early December (details to come and pre-registration here).
If you’re a San Franciscan in a rut (because of, say, weather, expense, or dating), the new Outgoing.me could be just what you need. A community built around meeting fun folks locally, it posts casual social events of different varieties (though they won’t give you advice on what to wear). Think “bottomless brunch” at Ironside, thai food with other cyclists, and–my favorite–Yoga Lovers Dinner and Sustainable Vegan Fare at Gracias Madre this Tuesday. And you’re waiting for what to reserve your seat?
IDSA, AIGA, IxDA, AIA, and SEGD have enough shared vowels to make your head spin, but you’ll be grateful for their collaboration when SF Design Week starts on Monday. Get on the wait list for Smart Design’s discussion of “Design, Technology, and the Meaning of Life” and D.Talks on “The Future of Experience.” Sitting down not your thing? Tour Frog Design before trying one of Public Bikes’ frames. It all leads to the Greener Mind Summit next weekend in Mendocino, where you can take personal productivity sessions next to a self-proclaimed disorganizational psychologist.
As though Utah’s Canyons resort couldn’t get lovelier, imagine it filled (again) with connectors, bloggers and tweeting ma’s. Enter EVO, a Park City conference I’m bummed to miss this summer (but you shouldn’t). The social and Internet fun will kick off with Ignite EVO and brief talks by the likes of Social Butterfly Guy and Think Maya. Mountain parties and education to follow–go @evoconf go.
After touring the newly opened GLBT History Museum in the Castro this weekend, I could hardly be more excited for the dramatic rendition of “Tales of the City” opening this month at A.C.T. and the corresponding Litquake event. The musical minds behind great bands (think Scissor Sisters) and musical theater (a la Avenue Q) will be combining their creative prowess for a show whose creators’ description is more poppy than anything I could think up:
“On the bustling streets of 1970s San Francisco, neon lights pierce through the fog-drenched skies, disco music explodes from crowded nightclubs, and a wide-eyed Midwestern girl finds a new home—and creates a new kind of family—with the characters at 28 Barbary Lane…’Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City’unleashes an exuberant celebration of the irrepressible spirit that continues to define our City by the Bay.”
Litquake will be hosting a special Maupin night at Swedish American Hall on Thursday night, and the evening of readings and music will feature Michelle Tea and Precious Moments among others. If you can’t wait until later this week, Laura Linney’s striped dress from the film is at the GLBT Museum.
I’m happy that independent film showcase Cinema Speakeasy is bringing rock ‘n dialysis story D Tour to the Gray Area Foundation for the Arts screen on Thursday. The film follows musician Pat Spurgeon as he tours with Rogue Wave and awaits a second kidney transplant, and both filmmaker and subject will be on hand at the evening event. Healthcare issues and hard rock to be discussed.
