Tonight I just found almost 3’000 pictures…. under LIFT08 tag! If you really want to find your portrait, that nice and particular moment you have in mind, I suggest you check LIFT’s flickr account.

The pictures on this account were taken by our VETERANS photographers, the official from LIFT : David Gagnebins de bons,Sonia Channel, John, Ben, Geraldine…Bread and butter team and a few friends.

You’ll find the SOLO USER photos, SPEAKERS PHOTOS, LIFTEXPERIENCE PROJECTS…even last edition pictures.

Well…if don’t find what you’re looking for there…then….well, then you have to search around!

Hope this will help you all!

If we are to share an integrated programme, the perfect complementary speaker for the Technology as God tendency that these things have is...

Joanna Macy, Eco-Philosopher

To ground us in the here and now, on the earth, making pressing environmental prioriites central to what we are doing here.

"...in service to the revolution of our time: the "Great Turning" from the industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization."

To help us look at the fascinating world of deep ecology and general systems theory.

To be a strong woman, a voice of reason, an antidote.

To balance the programme.

Okay, maybe not a keynote but a decent place in the proceedings... if you are lucky enough to get her.

See also the passionate post at

http://www.liftconference.com/so-you-think-technology-god

Thanks for a great conference, given the profound reservations I am sharing.

http://www.joannamacy.net/

Moving now to the elephant on the table we're not hearing much about. Flesh. Not the stuff you cut to insert augmentations and enhancements (bbrrrrrr Dalek Sek aka the, ironically, very lovely Kevin Warwick). The flesh we press together. The stuff we make real love with, real friendships with in the here and now - in "meat space" as William Gibson calls it. The stuff that holds our organs in, our hearts, our minds, our real senses. The stuff that we bring together to create the reason and magic of conferences. The real energy transfer and aggregation.

Next year I humbly request a section, a thread, an ongoing reminder about the need to be grounded. To be HERE. To be on the earth, truly connected, not above and beyond it. That kind of patriarchal arrogance has gotten us into this mess in the first place. Read Joanna Macy's World as Lover, World as Self to get a grip on reality and priorities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Macy

Yes, I applaud the appropriate use of technology for the well being of all beings and the planet we all call home. No, I do not think the hype about Technology as Religion is being well balanced here at LIFT08 (with some noble and Nobel exceptions).

What about practical tips for unplugging. Having run TV Turn Off Week in Australia, I want to hear about Unplug from Computers Week. Dave Stone, a young upandcoming uber geek we know in digital Brighton has just come back online after a much needed break. I want to co-present with him next year in an interactive session that puts the focus back on the flesh. That reminds us how to protect and even enhance our Mental / Emotional / Physical / Spiritual Environment.

A quick search for "internet free week" or a chat with almost anyone at the conference would confirm this is necessary.

Laurent Haug and Cristiana Bolli-Freitas welcome the attendees to the LIFT08 conference. There are 700 people, 4 locations, 60 journalist 30 volunteers... at the LIFT08.
Laurent talks about the importance of the discussions and the support they get from partners followed by an introduction to the conference program.
600 People at the fondue night? Incredible!
Christiana talks about the LIFT Experience. There is a LIFT song contest, the "not so empty book", people can send entries to editor@liftconference.com.

The "Online Environments"-session starts with a keynote from sci-fi author, tech journalist and design critic Bruce Sterling. Bruce is predicting that 2008 is going to be a crap year. Economic down-turn, selection year in the USA, China with the Olympics, Europe is still pretty well because there thing are getting done slowly. And the worst problem the world has right now is already 200 years old: global warming. And this is not going to be solved in 2008.

Instead of predicting the future of our tech world Bruce is showing 4 different scenarios of a occurrence which came out of nowhere and now gets a lot of media attention: the relation and marriage Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Using the two parameter ambition and publicity he is drawing 4 scenarios of which the last, he calls it "Empress of Europe", is given a chance of 35% by him.
Finishing his weird speech, which is really hard to recap for me, he says 90% is just about surviving to see our future.

Bruce's speech is followed by Pierre Ballanger, CEO and founder of Skyrock.

Dear lifters,

I was just wondering what kind of tags will you use to organize your pictures, posts, links, buddies met, created, discovered or whatever during those three days?

I tried the search box on the top right hand column without any success ;-)

Cheers,

-- Yoan

LIFT SONG
A project from LIFT Experience

The idea is simple: every attendee lifted by the conference atmosphere and drive will have to imagine brief lyrics to the LIFT 08 soundtrack. At the LIFT SONG recording booth in the activity room, you will record your own voice/song/lyrics/ guitar track over the LIFT 08 soundtrack track in a 20 seconds mp3 format, it will then be sent to you by email maybe even available on the website. The whole process should take less than 3 minutes per person.

After receiving your track it is highly recommended you use and abuse your LIFT SONG during the conference, for instance using it as a ringtone, blog post, computer noise, whistle-a-long, klaxon melody, live cover at the local pub, air guitar, etc.

Participants will automatically be selected for the 2008 LIFT SONG CONTEST who’s price will be awarded at the end of the conference.

So don’t be shy, give it a try! It is your once in lifetime chance to become a no hit wonder.

check: www.soundsgood.fr , musical projects