PICNIC Festival announces initial speaker line up

Amsterdam, July 5, 2012 – PICNIC Festival 2012 today announced its first speakers and sessions. It will be the largest European event devoted to exploring the ‘new ownership’ mega trend. Connected technologies are empowering people all over the world to connect and drive personal and societal change. This is happening against a backdrop of rapidly declining trust in traditional institutions and systems of governance.

Confirmed Speakers

The Festival will take the discussion to the next level by featuring experts, thought leaders and the disruptors driving the shift from top down to bottom up. Confirmed speakers include:

• Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Media and one of the founders of the open source and Maker movements, will talk about the DIY revolution that has emerged and is being powered by platforms such as Make Magazine;
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• Doc Searls, journalist, blogger and author of “The Cluetrain Manifesto” and “The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge”, will discuss how the economy is centred around buyers, not sellers;
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• Bonnie Shaw, Director of Social Innovation at iStrategyLabs, will discuss alternative currency systems and how the sharing vs. owning paradigm is affecting access and consumption;
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• George Dyson, a boat designer, writer and distinguished technology historian who will talk about how technology has and will evolve to further empower people; and
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• Rupert Turnbull, Publisher of WIRED UK, who will discuss how new ownership is transforming the media landscape.

Sessions

The Festival’s programming will be an eclectic, but thoughtful mix of lectures, discussions, business competitions, co-creation labs, a SME exhibition and matchmaking activities. Highlights include:

• Green Challenge Competition: One lucky winner with the best business plan for a green product or service will walk away with 500,000 euro and expert coaching. The Dutch Postcode Lottery will hold the competition’s final judging round during PICNIC Festival 2012.
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• Mobiles for Good Competition: Vodafone Netherlands will hold the award ceremony for its new Mobiles for Good competition during PICNIC Festival 2012. Three winners, who develop mobile technology to improve health care and well being in the Dutch market, will each receive 40,000 euro, office space at StartUp Bootcamp Amsterdam and professional coaching to accelerate the launch of their concept into the market.
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• PICNIC Crossover Marketplace: One of the Festival’s most popular elements, its SME exhibition, will be re-launched as the PICNIC Crossover Marketplace. Sponsored by the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce and Syntens, the Crossover Marketplace will showcase 100 Dutch and European start ups and small companies which develop products and services with partners from other sectors such as Technology, Agro-Food, Water, Energy, Chemicals, Logistics and Health and Life Sciences.
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• PICNIC Academy: The Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences is the main co-creation partner behind the PICNIC Academy. The Academy will explore the future of education in the context of online learning and the shift towards more participatory learning.

Please visit http://www.picnicnetwork.org/ for more information.