How to get Creative Commons, Free Culture and Open Source enthusiasts together for a night of commons conversation, night-long networking, inspiring ideas, melodic music and a drink or two - start your own Creative Commons Salon (ccSalon).
Salons hark back to 17th and 18th century France, where learned people gathered together, to engage in conversations and reading to increase their knowledge of the world, especially in literature and philosophy. This model has been replicated in a more modern and urban setting by Eric Steuer and Jon Phillips, in San Francisco.
ccSalon events takes place every second Wednesday of the month, and focus on creating networks for artists and developers who are interested in the theme of Creative Commons licenses, standards and technology. While the event has been hosted in San Francisco, Steuer and Phillips' vision is to have ccSalons spread to other cities all over the world.
Responses from the last ccSalon on 12 April has been positive, as Eric Steuer, Creative Director at Creative Commons and co-creator of ccSalon said, 'The coolest feedback we've heard so far is that ccSalon has helped build connections between people with shared interests in technology, creativity, and the commons. The social nature of the salon inspires people to share ideas and discuss ways to collaborate on the projects they're working on.'
The ccSalon wiki contains information about past and future events, but most importantly, also offers a page of tips on how to start your own ccSalon.
While these tips give you basics on how to organize the logistics of a ccSalon, Steuer offered additional hints from his experience in hosting ccSalons in San Francisco:
'1. Make sure to have a quality conversation with each of your presenters in advance of the salon. Get as much information as you can about the presenters, their projects, and how their projects relate to the commons.
2. Try to organize your salon around a theme. Topics can be specific - for instance, 'music on the Web.' Or they can be broad, such as 'collaboration.' Having themes helps encourage presenters to think about their work in new ways. It also helps differentiate one salon from the next.
3. Make sure to promote the social aspect of the salon. While this is a forum for presentations, many of the best ideas will spring from the casual conversations that occur before and after the presentations.'
The next ccSalon will be held on 10 May at Shine in San Francisco, and there is much to look forward to. The line-up includes, amongst others, Chris DiBona, the Open Source Programs Manager for Google and Abram Stern and Michael Dale, who will be presenting Metavid, a system for the collective remediation of public government proceedings.
As for his vision for ccSalon's global reach, Steuer is optimistic, 'The beauty of it is that it won't take much. Although we want to make sure that we extend the idea slowly at first to ensure sustainability, all it will require is that the wonderfully dedicated people working to build the commons worldwide, connect with their local friends and colleagues to find a place and time to meet up and talk.'
tags: san-francisco united states media-events how-to ccsalons
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