Confirmed Speakers

• Bill Thompson
  New media pioneer Bill Thompson is a journalist, commentator and technology critic based in Cambridge, England. He has been working in, on and around the Internet since 1984. He currently has a weekly column which appears in the technology section of the BBC News website, and contributes to other publications both on and off-line, including The Guardian, The Register and The New Statesman. He writes a monthly column for new net users for BBC WebWise, and a technology column for Focus magazine Bill appears weekly on ‘Digital Planet‘ (formerly called ‘Go Digital’) on the BBC World Service and occasionally on other BBC radio and television programmes. Bill is the editor and systems administrator for the Working 4 an MP website He is a visiting lecturer at City University where he teaches Online Journalism in the Journalism Department, and an external editor for openDemocracy.net. He is a trustee of the Cambridge Film Trust and a member of the board of the New Writing Partnership You can find him online, working in one of Cambridge’s many cafés, or at the bar of the ICA. His email address is bill at andfinally dot com
• Julien Smith
  Live from Montreal - Julien Smith is a New York Times bestselling author, consultant, and speaker who has been involved in online communities for over 15 years– from early BBSes and flashmobs to the social web as we know it today. Julien has long been on the cutting edge of web technology. He was one of the first Twitter users, and among the first people to use podcasting in 2004 and be broadcast by traditional radio. He has since worked with and been interviewed by numerous media organizations such as CNN, CBC, CTV– and a bunch of others that don’t start with the letter C. Julien is co-author of Trust Agents, which was written with Chris Brogan. It hit: - the New York Times bestseller list (#13) – the Wall Street Journal bestseller list (#8) – the Amazon top 100 list (#30) – the Amazon Best Books of 2009 list (Business and Investment category)
• Kristin Alford
  Live from Adelaide - Kristin Alford established Bridge8 in 2004 following careers in engineering, human resources and product development across sectors including mining, R&D, aviation, agriculture and nanotechnology. She holds a PhD in process engineering and a Masters in strategic foresight which combine to deliver insights into the development of emerging industry sectors including advanced manufacturing and clean technologies. Her work explores the ‘why’ questions about the role of science and technology and their links with innovation, economic development, social change and sustainability. Kristin is particularly interested in how we use ideas to create effective stories of the future and is the organiser of TEDxAdelaide With teachers, Kristin has developed AccessNano a national nanotechnology education resource. She lectures in ‘Foresight and Social Change’ at the University of Adelaide and has published chapters in Opportunities Beyond Carbon and Big Ideas in Science – Vol 2 & 3. She is on the board of the Australian Network for Art and Technology and is a member of the Australian Government’s Expert Forum on Enabling Technologies
• Hannah Nicklin
  Hannah Nicklin is an emerging writer/artist/academic from the East Midlands. Her life consists of three main areas of interest; the arts, the digital world, and eco/feminist/political activism. Hannah writes plays and is an avid technophile, loves all the gadgets which are within her power to own, and covets many more. As well as the PhD in Theatre and (digital) Technology she is extremely interested in the ethics of the digital world, and how this can (and should) cross over into the facilitation, creation and subject matter of theatre and other arts. She has written an article titled The Digital Ceiling on women and tech for Subtext Magazine, and blogs on regularly on theatre and technology. Hannah has written a guide to Twitter for Arts Organisations, which is currently being used by Arts Council England’s Get AmbITion initiative and speaks regularly on the arts, politics, and digital tech, both in universities (Leeds Met, Nottingham Trent) and at conferences (Shift Happens, and the OnePoundForty conference at Reuters). Hannah has been known to be published in the Mainstream Media when doing things like declaring digital warfare on the government.
• Charles Cecil
  has been a key figure in the interactive entertainment industry for 25 years. He is currently operating as Managing Director for UK based company Revolution Software which has released such critical and commercial hits as Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword series. Charles is on the advisory panel of the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, and Develop Conference and regularly talks at events and to mainstream press about creative and commercial aspects of the video games industry. He is also a co-founded and remains a Director of Game Republic, an alliance of game developers, and is a Board member of Screen Yorkshire, a regional agency that supports film, television and interactive entertainment in Yorkshire. In 2006 Charles was awarded the status of ‘industry legend’ by Develop, Europe’s leading development magazine.
• Kit Monkman
  KMA is a collaboration between UK media artists Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler. Their work is primarily focussed on illuminating, encouraging, and developing, interactions between people in public spaces using projected light. Uniquely in the history of creative urban lighting, KMA choose to prioritise the illumination of people and their relationships over the lighting of buildings and edifices. Rejecting the historical notion of the citizen as a passive spectator, KMA’s work celebrates the dynamics of human movement rather than the facets of historic buildings. KMA’s work creates large, immersive, sometimes networked, ‘digital playgrounds’, in which distinctions between audiences and performers disappear. The resulting social engagements reaffirm the urban community through embodied, rather than verbal, discourse. These massive engagements in social play generate diverse audiences, free from social barriers. The participants take ownership of the work and the environment in which it is staged, creating a sense of event that in itself informs and illuminates the public space. Whilst KMA’s work has dramatically transformed famous iconic spaces, such as London’s Trafalgar Square, it has proved equally successful in more intimate environments, for example the Rennaissance Courtyard of the Palazzo Spada in Terni, Umbria. Through a diverse range of commissions, including those from the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Royal Opera House, and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, KMA’s work has consistently received extensive national and international press attention. As a direct result of KMA’s unique experience within the public-performance realm, Kit and Tom have also collaborated with other prominent artists on a wide range of projects in theatre, film and academia. Recent work includes video art for DV8’s To Be Straight with You (currently touring), the opening sequence for The 2007 Bollywood Oscars, video design for Darshan Singh Bhuller’s Find Me Amongst the Black and his ground-breaking Eng-er-land, and ongoing performance research projects with the University of Leeds.
• Amit Sinha
  Executive Director - Europe, Member – SFSP Global Advisory Board, Co-President SFSP York, Students for a Smarter Planet Amit Sinha, the Co-President of SFSP at York is now in his final year of a Computer Science degree. As well as being Co-President, Amit splits his time between his duties as the Executive Director – Europe, for SFSP and serving on SFSP’s Global Advisory Board. Indeed, since arriving at York, Amit has made quite an impression on both the student body and faculty. Even in his first year, he became both the Computer Science Board of Studies Representative and the first Faculty Representative for the Core Sciences, roles in which he pushed through important changes. Outside of York, Amit has seen great success, gaining an award as one of the Top 20 Student Contributors in IBM’s Smarter Planet University JAM in 2009, and participating in IBM’s EMEA Best Student Recognition event 2010. He is also currently a Student Partner for Microsoft.
• Abhay Adhikari
  Abhay develops digital engagement strategies for the arts, culture and higher education. He has a research background in education ICT. He setup Dhyaan Design in 2003 and has since worked on a range of global web-based projects with private, public and voluntary sector organizations. Abhay also has a keen interest in critical reflection on the Web and the notion of Digital Identities. In 2010 he managed 11 Social Media Surgeries in York and organized a similar event in New Delhi, India. Abhay is currently working on Project re:Play which examines how social media can create new relationships and conversations. The project spans 5 countries. He also lectures on themes such as creative audiences and enterprise development, and works with schools on a number of initiatives.
• Daniel Bye
  is a playwright, theatre director and occasional performer. He trained at the Workshop Theatre, Leeds, with John Wright and Philippe Gaulier, and at the National Theatre Studio. He co-founded two companies, Silver Tongue Theatre and Strange Bedfellows. Directing for Silver Tongue includes Iz, Bella and the Beautiful Knight and Man Across the Way (with Theatre503), and he also wrote their show The Fire Play. For Strange Bedfellows he directed Can of Worms and is currently developing Shakespeare's Clown (with Northern Stage, Theatre Royal Bath and the National Theatre Studio), which will tour in spring 2012. Other directing includes Monday for Red Ladder and Play Up, Play Up! (by Boff Whalley of Chumbawamba) for I Love West Leeds. As writer-director credits include Full of Noises for the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and Beauty and the Beast for Creation Theatre Company. He is currently teaching at the University of Northampton and is a regular contributor to the Guardian theatre blog.
• Yatterbox
  Matthew Freckelton: CEO Chris Etheridge: CFO Rick Taylor: Head of Web Development Founded in 2010 (Q4) by a group of students and staff at the University of York, Yatterbox has grown from an idea to a core team of six people in the space of a few months. Yatterbox provides users with an unprecedented level of transparency and access to Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom and Politicians in the United States. Through the two websites (Yatterbox UK and Yatterbox USA) users can view the live social media output of every UK MP, US Congressman, Congressional Committee and State Governor. Users can view a livestream of politics through the front pages; moreover, users can refine the view based on the social media “channels” that they wish to see. Users can also view a profile page for each politician allowing them to see what each person is saying. www.yatterbox.co.uk (UK) www.yatterbox.com (USA)
• Prof Roger Burrows
  He joined the University of York in 1995 as Assistant Director of the Centre for Housing Policy becoming Co-Director and Reader in 1999. He was promoted to a Professorship in 2002. He moved to the Department of Sociology at York in 2004 in order to develop his work on social informatics. He became Head of Department of Sociology in Oct 2009 for a 4-year period. He is the author, co-author or editor of over 100 articles, books, chapters and reports. He was the co-ordinator of the ESRC e-Society Research Programme (2005-2007), the co-editor of the international journal Housing Studies (2002-2005) and is a founding member of the editorial board of Information, Communication and Society which has been based in the Department at York since 2006. He currently teaches in the areas of urban studies, introductory sociology, social media and social research methods.
• Tassos Stevens
  Tassos Stevens (@tassosstevens) is a co-director and runner of Coney (@agencyofconey), and alleged to have been involved in most of their work. Coney is an agency making play for people wherever they are, aspiring to principles including adventure, loveliness and curiosity. Recent work includes: A Small Town Anywhere, theatre with no performers bar the playing audience that was Time Out Critics Choice Theatre at BAC, and A Cat Escapes, an adventure in learning for a primary school classroom also co-produced with BAC. Coney has made play for the National Theatre, LIFT, the Science Museum, Dublin Fringe Festival, NESTA, Metal, and an award-winning adventure for publishers Hodder & Stoughton. Current projects include: Art Heist, where players rob an art gallery; ongoing adventures in learning; The Loveliness Principle, a pervasive adventure being developed for various events and locations over the world. Coney regularly collaborates with digital indie Somethin Else on broadcast projects including leading theoretical and audience research informing game-design for the award-winning SuperMe for Channel 4 Education. Tassos himself dreamt up the world of Papa Sangre, a game for the iPhone that is rendered in sound, and led the game design in a team for Somethin Else. He's an award-winning theatre director and maker, writer, teacher and game-designer with a doctorate in Psychology. He blogs irregularly at allplayall.blogspot.com, and has spoken at Playful, The Story, Arts Council Decibel, Connected in Tokyo, and RSA State of the Arts.
• Peter Gregson
  Born in Edinburgh in 1987, Peter Gregson is a cellist and pioneer of contemporary music. He has performed widely in the UK and the US, at venues ranging from The Royal Albert Hall, London to The Ingleby Gallery in Edinburgh; from the Twitter Offices in San Francisco to Le Poisson Rouge, New York. Peter's innovative approach to integrating cutting edge technology and contemporary music has led to collaborations innovative technology companies including Microsoft Labs, Fujitsu-TEN and many other developers and artists, along with invitations to speak and perform at technology and media conferences around the world. His innovative work has been recognised with the 2008 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for music, membership to the Courvoisier Future 500 and most recently the Sandbox Network, a global network of leading entrepreneurs under 30. Peter was the 2010/11 Creative in Residence at The Hospital Club, London. Peter was commissioned by Bowers & Wilkins and Real World in 2009 to produce Terminal, an album of contemporary cello music. Subsequently, his music has been used in installations including The Secret Garden Party and The Courvoisier Revolutionary Spirit Festival, as well as commissions to create live soundtracks with visual artists, ENO/Punchdrunk's staging of The Werewolf of London and in film. He is currently writing an album for the end of his Hospital Club residency with producer Guy Sigsworth. The album will be toured around the world during 2011 in collaboration with The Sandbox Network. Performance highlights for 2010/11 include the MIT Media Lab, The Roundhouse London, The Future Gallery London, The 92nd St Y NYC, The Lab Gallery NYC, The Queen's Hall Edinburgh, An Tobar, Le Poisson Rouge NYC, The Lemon Tree, Faster than Sound, Excite! Turin, TED Music, Aldeburgh Music, Ingleby Gallery, Oran Mor, TED x Alcatraz, Kings Place, London, and LSO St Luke's. Peter Gregson plays a Colin Irving acoustic cello, a custom five string Eric Jensen electric cello. He is an Eventide Artist and an Apogee Electronics Artist. He is published Mute.
• Maria Arinbjarnar
  Maria Arinbjarnar: CEO of a new spin-out from UoY and in her final year towards a PhD in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Games, Computer Science. The new company aims to create cutting edge entertainment, facilitate new and innovative technologies to enrich playability in computer games, virtual realities, and serious games. Maria has spent over 6 years researching and developing cutting edge innovation for Interactive Drama. Bringing together ideas from folkloristic, narratology, theater and drama and AI in Games to create a Directed Emergent Drama (DED) engine. DED creates drama around players’ actions, adapting the drama on the fly, using intelligent computer agents to engage and entertain the player while providing a fully structured and engaging drama.
• Alan Lane
  Alan Lane is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Slung Low. Slung Low is the new-work installation company based in West Yorkshire. Previous commissions include partnerships with the Barbican, the Lowry, the Almeida Theatre, the Gate Theatre and Liverpool European Capital of Culture. They were winners of the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust Award 2008. In 2010 Slung Low moved into a series of railway arches in South Leeds working towards creating a centre for artists to develop and present progressive performance work. Alan recently directed Mapping the City- a 3 hour Slung Low headphone adventure in Hull in partnership with Hull City Council, Hull Truck and imove- and co-curated the Transform season of work at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in June 2011.
• Baba Israel
  Telepresence- Digital duets and dialogue presented by Baba Israel AD/CEO Contact My talk will focus on our experiments and artistic exchanges that make use of telepresence as a tool for artistic exchange, improvisation, and learning. Telepresence allows artists and in our case young artists to build relationships, improvise, and perform for live audiences without ever physically meeting and across great distances. What does this mean for artists? What does it mean for audiences? Can they engage with this kind of work? Are artists and audiences able to experience the emotional connection that comes from live collaboration? What are the technical challenges of the work? Where will we go next? These questions and our discoveries will be explored in 18 mins through talk, video samples, and creative improvisation.
• Alexander Kelly
  Alexander Kelly is Co-Artistic Director of the internationally acclaimed, Sheffield-based performance company Third Angel, with whom he devises, directs, writes, designs and performs. The company makes a range of work connecting the territories of theatre, live art, installation, film, video, photography and digital & online media, which tours throughout Britain and mainland Europe. As part of the collaboration ‘Christopher Hall & Alexander Kelly’, Alex makes film, video and performance pieces of a more blokey nature than he does with Third Angel. Alex is an experienced educator, and has taught at numerous Universities across the UK. He has also taught for Third Angel at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and is currently Artist in Residence/Associate Senior Lecturer in Performance Practice at the School of Film, TV and Performance at Leeds Metropolitan University. Alex regularly mentors other artists and companies with Third Angel and through his role at Leeds Met. Alex has recently published writing about Third Angel's work in the Forest Fringe Zine, The Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, Contemporary Theatre Review and the SIBMAS Conference Proceedings as well as co-creating the artists' book The Dust Archive with Annie Lloyd. Photography: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thirdangeluk Blog: http://thirdangeluk.blogspot.com News & Archive: http://www.thirdangel.co.uk
• Mariéme Jamme
  Mariéme Jamme is a London-based CEO, blogger, technologist and social entrepreneur with a passionate commitment to helping empower her fellow Africans through education, leadership, social entrepreneurship and economic development. Philanthropist and currently the CEO of SpotOne Global Solutions, a UK based company that helps IT organizations (Editors and Software Vendors) gain a foothold in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. She recently founded Iconsience a think tank uniting business experts and like-minded individuals in a friendly atmosphere to brainstorm ethical scenarios for sustainable business, social, technological and environmental development in Africa. Mariéme is also an international speaker, and co-founder of Africa Gathering, the first global platform bringing together entrepreneurs and others to share ideas about development in Africa. She has forged a worldwide reputation as an advocate for education, good governance and health on the African continent.
• Sarah Gibbon
  Sarah is an International Baccalaureate student from Huntington School York. She attended Shift Happens and has used TED talks in her research and school work. She wants to share her story from a particular student perspective