Personal Democracy Forum Brussels 2012
This PDF conference took place in Brussels on 31 May 2012. More about Personal Democracy Media behind the conference and the conference itself can be found at http://personaldemocracy.com/conferences/europe/2012.
- (Note: I'll be adding links to the presentations as I receive them from speakers)This was my first PDF conference and I was quite excited about it as I had such positive feedback from EU bloggers and friends on the one in Barcelona in 2010. The below are snapshots of what speakers said during #pdfbrussels (the hashtag used on Twitter during the event), which took place at the Brussels Press Club.The event was launched on the evening of 30 May with a screening of the Page One documentary (@pageone) on how the New York Times managed the shift to online, at Google's Brussels office:
Page One (Official Movie Site) - Starring David Carr, Bruce Headlam, Brian Stelter, Bill Keller and Tim Arango - Available on DVD and Blu-ray™ - Trailer, Pictures & MorePAGE ONE: INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES deftly gains unprecedented access to The New York Times newsroom and the inner workings of the Media ...
The next day Andrew Rasiej (@rasiej), Founder of Personal Democracy Media kick-started the conference with some interesting insights on Einstein's chauffeur (you'll have to ask him for the whole story :-)) and more relevant topics:
@Rasiej warns against coming backlash against open Internet, subtler than #SOPA, #ACTA et al. #pdfbrussels cc @lamarsmithtx21
Thinking abt @rasiej saying civil soc has to make running on political reform because pols 1st priority is winning, not reform #pdfbrussels- MEP Marietje Schaake (@marietjed66), coined "Europe's most wired politician" by Wall Street Journal, shared her views on the linkages between Internet freedom, human rights and EU foreign policy, among others.
- RT @avaltat: Always pleasure to listen to @marietjed66 at #pdfbrussels, at crossroads of Internet freedom, human rights a http://instagr.am/p/LSHYyGFBKH/
@MarietjeD66 calls for assessment and licensing of digital equipment sales to countries where human rights are being violated. #pdfbrussels
RT @stctweets: @MarietjeD66 : Internet freedom should be integral part of EU external action. #pdfbrussels
MEP @marietjeD66 says we should all contribute to connect #Europe with real life issues of the citizens. #pdfbrussels
RT @stctweets: #pdfbrussels @MarietjeD66 talks about perceptions of monolithic "Brussels". Too true. Maybe social media offer people a way to break in.- A panel discussing the online shift in journalism and how this affects the EU press corps ensued, with Eric Karstens from the ECJ (@ekarstens) and Alexandros Koronakis from New Europe (@NEurope). It was moderated by Alia Papageorgiou, curator of the event and herself a freelance journalist (@eurocentrique).Koronakis stirred some debate by questioning the actual differences between journalism and blogging, as you can see from tweets below.
- RT @avaltat: Panel discussion on shifting journalism online at #pdfbrussels with @erickarstens and A. Koronakis from @new http://instagr.am/p/LSLCj-FBK3/
RT @PdF_Europe: RT @avaltat #pdfbrussels there's not much difference btw journalism and blogging says A. Koronakis from New Europe
Just got cappuccino froth up my nose MT @avaltat #pdfbrussels not much difference btw journalism + blogging says Koronakis from New Europe
@avaltat 1. Technically a journalist must be neutral and objective. Not in blogs. 2. What about intrusion in journalism? #pdfbrussels- Stephen Clark from the European Parliament (@stctweets) gave one of his now famous witty and punchy presentations on what the evolutions of the European Parliament on social media mean for politicians, for eurocrats, for media and for citizens. Steve announced at this occasion the forthcoming launch of the EP integrated news hub, which will combine all online content from all EP actors. This is what it will look like.
Very interesting indeed! The figures, interactions and stories behind the FB page of #EP #pdfbrussels- RT @avaltat: Swedish pirate party is no 1 choice of very young voters - interesting! #pdfbrussels via @stctweets instagr.am/p/LSQjxHlBLi/
- I was particularly happy to see Steve address one of my pet subjects at the moment, the possible reinvention of representative democracy as a result of new online social and political behaviours:
.@stctweets touching on what Internet is all about 2day re political impact - the reinvention of representative democracy! #pdfbrussels- The next panel focussed specifically on journalists, how the EU is treating them, and vice versa. I shared the floor with Joe Litobarski, who manages the Debating Europe platform (@debatingeurope) and Teri Schultz, a freelance journalist covering EU and NATO.
