“Finding our people:” growing a global community of makers

In my very first job interview two years ago with Mozilla’s chief lizard wrangler, Mitchell Baker, she continually drove home the point that one of Mozilla’s core assets — almost as valuable as the Firefox brand itself — is a unique way of working.

It’s an open source approach to collaboration that aspires to be:

• An open meritocracy. Where the best ideas count more than your place in an org chart.
• Focused on building and doing. There’s a “let’s get stuff done” ethos that is refreshing for people coming from more bureaucratic backgrounds.
• Mission-focused. Doing good. Answering to people, instead of just a bottom line. Making the kind of technology you’d want to use yourself — instead of finding ways to put consumers in a headlock or make a quick buck.

“Finding our people”

Part of what I’m finding inspiring about my job these days is watching these values resonate with new people and communities.

Take this post from Jon Vidar, a 2011 Knight News Challenge winner and leader of The Tiziano Project. He described attending the Mozilla Festival earlier this month as “finding my people.”

[As a news technology innovator,] often I am met with glazed-over eyes, or questions of “How much it is going to cost” and “What are the returns?”

When I am able to get past this and connect with someone who truly understands innovation, I am often stone-walled at the point of implementation by bureaucratic red tape or contracting processes that are as out-of-date as the systems we are trying to replace.

At the Mozilla Festival in London, however, I found my people.

By its nature, the festival paired journalists, creatives and technologists so that, in real-time, as ideas were being conceived, they were also being prototyped.

Jon’s post reminded me of what Jade Davis said about the Mozilla Festival last year:

I’ve finally found the people who understand my work — and are doers, not just talkers.

Making stuff vs. talking about stuff

Mark Surman has been writing a lot lately about creating a generation of web makers with Mozilla.

Posts like Jon’s and Jade’s help give an added sense of why that proposition resonates with people, and of the social potential of like-minded makers and doers finding each other and recognizing themselves as a community.

There’s something about the social and economic moment we find ourselves in that makes this approach to collaboration and change strike a chord. I think it’s the combination of both idealism and focused pragmatism — “more hammer, less yammer” — that’s novel and appealing to people.

A growing number of us are disappointed by the lack of values, short-sighted thinking and inertia that have come to characterize too much of the working world. But we’re also exhausted by endlessly talking about ideas or solutions without clear outlets for getting much done as a result.

The social media overload Fail Whale

Social media and blah, blah, blah

Sometimes it feels like social media and tech actually compound this problem. Many of us now feel like we’re drowning in data and talk, especially email. Talk is cheap — and getting cheaper all the time.

The net result is a growing hunger for tools, events, community and practice that helps us build and make and get stuff done — instead of just more blah blah blah.

I think that’s part of what makes events like the Mozilla Festival and Moz Camps unique, and a big part of the growth potential for our community and non-profit brand.

Building a benevolent do-ocracy

Mozilla is certainly not perfect at it — and building a temporary event that embodies these values is a lot easier than building an entire organization or world that runs on those principles.

But it’s interesting to see newcomers feel like they’ve found “their kind of people.” Like an invisible tribe that’s recognizing itself.

And it also open up an intriguing theory of change for Mozilla and our partners: shaping the future by gathering together a generation of people who will design, prototype and build it together.

The New York Times, BBC and German public radio on Mozilla Festival

Some further additions to the first round of media coverage coming out of the 2011 Mozilla Festival:

New York Times “Open” blog: MozFest!

[The Festival] centered on how technologists and newspeople can build bridges between the two professions and better collaborate — in keeping with the meeting’s slogan: “Less yak, more hack.”

The common thread between education and journalism for Mozilla Foundation is personal empowerment…. That empowerment, according to Mitchell Baker, is what starts people down the path to hacking, away from simply absorbing the contents of the Web, and toward mashing it up and taking control of their own experience.

BBC Radio Five: Mozilla Festival Fun

MP3 version (Nov 11)

German Public Radio (Berlin): “Mozilla meets media”

Nov 12 (from minute 30 to 40). MP3 version.

Libération: l’info en ligne de mire

(English version from Google Translate)

“Come on, get to work! What are you doing still dawdling in the introduction to this article? …

From the first to the sixth floor, the building is full of workshops and construction sites. And if you really can not make up your mind, a geek in a blue t-shirt will quickly materialize before you to suggest some ideas. They are like this, volunteers at Mozilla: always happy to lend a hand. Deeply imbued with this culture of sharing that characterizes the free software world.

“We must succeed in marrying those who make the stories with those who make the tools.” –Katharina Borchert, Spiegel online

“The first generation of Internet users was very focused on hacking,” recalls Mitchell Baker, president of the Mozilla Foundation. “Today, things change: the Internet is increasingly tied to consumer behavior. We see great things that are easy to use, like the iPhone and iPad, that represent the paradigm of ‘elegant consumption.’ But it is rewarding and gratifying to be able to touch these tools, to change and build the Web ourselves.”

Determined not to let the future of the Internet fall into the hands of private companies and opaque entities, the Mozilla community advocates the ownership of network technologies by users themselves. We must raise the hood, examine the engine, get our hands dirty. In short, we must “hack” everything we can get a hold of.

WikiNews: Knight Foundation and Mozilla send geeks into newsrooms

One important announcement made at the event was details of five new fellowship places sponsored by the Knight Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation that attempt to bring together journalists and open source-minded software geeks. Wikinews spoke to Laurian Gridinoc, who … will move for a year to the BBC to work in the newsroom. Other fellows will be working for The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, the Boston Globe and Zeit Online.

Mozilla Festival makes international headlines

A round-up of press coverage from the Mozilla Festival in London

Wired: One Millionth Tower Takes Documentary to New Heights

From the front page of Wired.com (Nov 5):

The makers of the new film One Millionth Tower reinvented the documentary format…. The resulting film is unlike any before it.

One Millionth Tower, which is premiering on Wired.com the same day it premieres at the Mozilla Festival in London, is not just a static story recorded on film and then edited together for audiences…. Everything is triggered by [Mozilla’s] Popcorn.js, which acts like a conductor signaling which instruments play at what times.

Gizmodo: Here’s How You Make a Documentary Only Using HTML5 and WebGL

One Millionth Tower makes specific use of a Javascript tool called [Mozilla] Popcorn, which was designed to integrate web APIs into online video. What director Katerina Cizek did was utilize Popcorn to control the movement of the video frame, having it effectively behave like a video camera.

Boing Boing: A documentary built with WebGL and other open standards

“Damn cool.” –Cory Doctorow

TechCrunch: Mozilla Festival salutes more Popcorn and less developer-ghetto

The 600 participants at last weekend’s Mozilla Festival in London were a crowd of filmmakers, educators, coders, tech-savvy media professionals, media-sceptical hackers, hacking-ignorant journalists, gamers, government advisors …. It was diverse. All of them, however, were thinkers and makers ready to explore the frontiers of the open web.

France

Le Figaro: Firefox ran down the domination of Explorer

“Mozilla is known for Firefox, but our project is even more important: we want to build an open, transparent and decentralized Web,” said Mitchell Baker, the iconic chairman of the Mozilla Foundation.

Spain

Itespresso.es: The most valuable asset of Mozilla is its community

It has been over 13 years since the Mozilla project was founded, but the spirit of innovation and openness of the organization remains the same. You only need to approach these days to the Ravensbourne College, London, where until tomorrow, is celebrated the second edition of Mozilla Festival. The Mozilla Foundation has grown exponentially, but unlike other technology projects, it knows that its real strength lies in its community.

Germany

taz.de: Promote the Web of Makers

How should journalism, filmmaking and digital activism be organized going forward? In London, developers and journalists work together on solutions.

UK

Journalism.co.uk: Six lessons for journalists from the Mozilla Festival

Got a press hit we missed? Please let us know in the comment thread of this post.

How to follow the Mozilla Festival online

There’s a metric tonne of great blog posts, session notes and media pouring out of the Mozilla Festival in London right now. Here’s a handy collection of one-stop links, resources and resources for following along.

Social media dashboard and live stream

• We’ve collected all the main social feeds and content in this handy social media dashboard (Netvibes).
• There’s also a curated live stream on the Festival front page or a larger version here (Scribble Live)

Micro-blogging

• #mozfest is the main fire hose.
• there’s a complete archive of *all* #mozfest tweets saved for posterity here (Twapper Keeper)
• you can also find interesting stats and analysis on #mozfest tweets here. (2600+ #mozfest tweets and counting!)

Blogs

• The main Festival blog is here.
• Plus blogs from Ravensbourne college students on Audio and Video Innovation, Education, Gaming and Journalism.
• You’ll find all of these RSS feeds — plus blog search streams — in our social media dashboard.

Photos

• We’ve got our own professional photographer on site uploading the the MozillaEU account.
• Plus of course photos from participants and other media tagged “mozfest” on Flickr.

Videos

• Search for “Mozilla Festival” videos on You Tube or Vimeo.
• We’ll be adding more videos to the Mozilla You Tube channel Sunday.
• Got more videos — or suggestions for a good video aggregator / search solution? Please let us know through #mozfest or #mozhelp.

Session notes

• There’s links to session wikis and etherpads in the Festival schedule

 

Help spread the word: Who’s your Mozilla Festival dream team?

The 2011 Mozilla Festival is now less than a month away! We’re looking for your help in spreading the word, to ensure the diverse range of skills we need are in the mix. Who’s your design challenge dream team? How do we make sure they’re there in London to brainstorm and hack with us?

This post provides some updated copy and links to answer Festival questions, list specific skill-sets we’re still looking for, and make it easier to spread the word. See you in London!

What is the Mozilla Festival?

The Mozilla Festival is a yearly “three-ring circus of innovation,” bringing together hundreds of passionate people to explore the frontiers of the open web. We mash developers, designers, and big thinkers together to make things that can change the world.

This year’s theme is Media, Freedom and the Web. How can the web can make us more creative, collaborative and connected in an age of broadcasters big and small? The Festival will gather leaders in news, media and the arts with technologists and open web developers for brainstorming, design challenges and sprints that will shape the future of media and the web.

500+ hackers, designers and media-makers

Moz Fest is not your usual tech conference. It’s a giant maker sprint, crammed with 500+ hackers, designers, journalists, musicians, DJs, and gamers. All actively *building* the future of media and the web together, through hands-on design challenges, brainstorms and hack sprints.

The Mozilla Festival is a place where big ideas are born, and where inspiring projects get their start. Last year’s Festival was focused on education and learning, and resulted in inspiring new community members, partnerships, and Mozilla projects like Hackasaurus and Open Badges.

Who’s coming?

• Leaders in media. Like the BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera,  Boston Globe, ZEIT Online and Knight Foundation.
• + Leaders in the open web and tech. Like Mozilla Labs, SoundCloud, Ushahidi, Creative Commons, and Participatory Culture Foundation.
• + Visionaries working at the intersection of both. Like you.

MozFest design challenges: What are we building?

The Mozilla Festival revolves around a series of design challenges that will bring together teams with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets. Participants will get access to state-of-the art tools, the Mozilla community, and each other — all using the open web to make and do things that advance the state of media.

We’re looking for inspired developers, design thinkers and interactive news experts to take part in design challenges like these:

• “Coming Up Next…”: Hacking the next killer news app | Design an HTML5 news app that does something amazing.
• Balancing the Newsflow: Real-time reporting vs. the big picture | Workflow and user experience that seamlessly integrates real time reporting with big picture context.
• Bespoke 3D: Customizing 3D models on the web | Empower non-techs to customize and print 3D models from the browser.

• HTML5 games | Port a classic game to run directly in the browser.
• Crowdsourcing Translation: Can audiences translate sources and stories on the fly? | Sketch translation interfaces and workflow for audiences and newsrooms
• Data-Driven Journalism: What’s in your field kit? | Assemble a utility belt for data-driven journalists

• Hack the DJ: Building a next-generation DJ kit | Wireframe, code and jam on a web-native DJ kit
• Hyperaudio Magic: Edit audio as easily as text | Edit an audio file by moving the text in its transcript
• Passing Notes in Class: Making educational video a social experience | Synchronize and super-charge online discussions around educational video

• Popcorn Bounties: Improve interactive video on the web | Drive open video by fixing and extending the Popcorn.js JavaScript library
• Verifying Breaking News Sources: How can we know who to trust? | A social approach to verifying sources in real-time crisis reporting
• Webmaking with Hackasaurus: How can we teach the world to hack? | Design online learning experiences that teach youth basic HTML and CSS

Who should come?

There’s specific design challenges tailor-made for:

• MEDIA-MAKERS: journalists, film-makers, citizen journalism editors, interactive news editors, news entrepreneurs, live bloggers, network theorists, social media reporters, localizers, news bureau reporters, translators, data journalists, open data experts, podcasters, radio journalists, video editors
• DEVELOPERS: news hackers, front end web developers, jQuery developers, news app developers, CAD users and developers, Javascript developers, WebGL developers, HTML5 developers, database developers, Processing.js developers, audio hackers, video coders, Popcorn developers
• DESIGNERS: interface designers, user experience designers, data visualization designers, infographic designers
• EDUCATORS: digital learning experts, educators, students, ed tech experts, digital literacy educators, kids, curriculum designers
• ARTISTS, GAMERS & BEYOND: 3D artists, game developers, modelers, open video evangelists, DJs, mashup artists, musicians, online identity experts, gamification experts

How do I register?

• Register here
• Learn more here
• Get in touch with questions or suggestions here: festival [at] mozilla [dot] org

How can I help spread the word?

• Tweet about it. (Here’s a sample.)
• Post or email about it. The Festival site is here. Email outreach copy is here.

We’re specifically looking for help with:

• Reaching out to the London design challenge and design community
• Spreading the word through the Mozilla Developer Network
• Having Festival design challenge facilitators reach out to their networks
• Reaching out to Hacks/Hackers chapters
• Letting tech journalists know about the Festival

Please post suggestions and help as comments here — or get in touch with matt [at] mozillafoundation [dot] org. Thanks — and see you in London!

Venues for Drumbeat Festival announced: FAD and MACBA

The first-ever Mozilla Drumbeat Festival is less than two months away — and we’re thrilled to formally announce the Festival’s Barcelona venues. Most Festival activities will take place at FAD (Fostering Arts & Design), with special events and extra space at the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA).

The FAD Exhibit Hall -- soon to be packed full of awesome learning, freedom and open web innovators like you.

FAD and MACBA share a public square, Plaça dels Àngels, where we’ll be setting up tents to house even more activity. Everything will happen in the vibrant Raval neighborhood.

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA)

These beautiful artsy digs should provide a perfect backdrop for the event’s general vibe — less conference, more open festival where participants get their hands dirty and create their own experience. Now is a great time to register, offer to volunteer, or suggest your program ideas at drumbeat.org/festival.

Mozilla Drumbeat Festival: registration is now open!

Beautiful Barcelona will host the Mozilla Drumbeat Learning, Freedom and the Web Festival November 3 - 5. (cc Marcel Germain)

Registration for the 2010 Mozilla Drumbeat Festival is now open! Join teachers, learners and technologists from around the world November 3 – 5 in Barcelona to teach, hack, shape and invent the future of education and the web.

Not your typical conference

Imagine a teeming festival filled with different tents, each with its own unique flavor and focus as you move from tent to tent making up your own experience. The Drumbeat Festival will work just like this — with multiple spaces to teach, make and learn in a variety of different studios, labs, playgrounds and classrooms.

From a local learning incubator, badge lab and open source classroom to hackerspace playground, wikipedia lounge and video and learning gallery, there’ll be multiple spaces to dive deep and get your hands dirty.

The main stage will include keynotes from Joi Ito, Brenda Gourley, Bre Pettis, Mitchell Baker and others. Think Makerfaire + Hackfest + TEDtalks + Lollapalooza for open web education!

Lots of ways to get involved now

The brand new Drumbeat Festival site has tons of updated information and resources, including updated program info, the Festival wiki, and lots of ways to get involved now — from volunteer opportunities, to proposing your program ideas, to travel scholarship applications. Help spread the word about the Festival by sharing on identi.ca or twitter, or passing along the drumbeat.org/festival site to savvy innovators working at the intersection of education and the open web. See you in Barcelona!