Intervention: The Conference Celebrating Internet Creativity

from the we-need-more-of-this dept

This is a guest post from James Harknell about an event he's putting on that we thought would be of interest to folks who like Techdirt

Anyone who is a reader of Techdirt knows that we are in a time of publishing disruption -- one that has the potential to cause a huge repressive backlash to this wonderful thing we now call the Internet. Everyone from governments, legacy publishing companies, and large IP and patent warehouses are trying to figure out a way to clamp down on the ability for new business models, and even regular people, to compete using this new egalitarian international distribution system. It simply caught them entirely by surprise, and now they want to kill it or regulate it to their sole advantage.

So how do you fight back against this looming threat? Like Techdirt and many other rallying websites, you bring people together to talk and build a strong community of informed creators and fans. Mike and the other contributors to this site are doing an excellent job of doing this online, but there is also a benefit to physically bringing people together to discuss these issues and work directly as a community.

This is part of why we created the yearly event Intervention. Onezumi and I started Intervention (a combo of the words "Internet" + "Convention") in 2010 as an outgrowth of our own online work in webcomics -- an area of internet creativity that has led to multi-million dollar business entities and phenomenal crowdsourced kickstarter campaigns, and has made many fully self-employed independent artists a living in its short history. While many other types of events have online artists as guests, and also some related programming, none were specifically designed around the needs of the DIY and indie online artist crowd.

Besides the combo of words that created the name Intervention, we chose the name for exactly what it represents -- an Intervention to both the business world and the creative world; a notice to those who refuse to acknowledge that things have changed and business adaption is needed for survival, and a call to action to artists who feel that they aren't good enough or capable enough to succeed on their own. This is your Intervention, a yearly place for you to learn and teach, to build a community of like minded artists, and to pass along your knowledge to the world and be a spotlight on the possibilities that the internet offers -- and to show what can be easily lost if we choose not to fight to keep it.

Our next event is scheduled this September 21-23rd in Rockville, Maryland. We hope that you can attend and help us grow this important conversation and be a part of "Your Online Life, In-Person."
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Filed Under: conference, intervention, publishing


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  1. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 6:05pm

    now all we need is some internet creativity,, but dont come here to see it, Masnick does not do creativity...

    for example,,, this web site, totally devoid of any creativity whatsoever... a perfect reflection of masnics 1 dimentional 'mind'......

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 6:07pm

    yes, its true mansick does not an intervention,, mabey DR Phil will do it....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 6:10pm

    creativity here !!!! oh TECHDIRT... NO WAY !!!!!

    so what are the many examples of this web site being at all creative in any way or form ??? examples please..

    oh yes, that right, have a convention and talk about it,, not real creative !!!!!!!!

    but at least you can talk about how you might try to be creative... nothing will come of it, and this web site will be exactly like it was yesterday, and exactly like it was 5 years ago..

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 7:03pm

    Okay, who forgot to give the AC their meds today...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 7:04pm

    Re:

    ......Dr. Phil?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 7:06pm

    Some "artists" need intervention ASAP.

    Maybe from the open source hardware people that are becoming the hot new kids on the block.

    http://hackaday.com/2012/08/08/sparkfun-recognized-for-their-growth/

    Without actually having any granted monopolies to protect them they survive and thrive in an environment that other lesser beings(i.e. "creative artists") could not survive just by being creative, but have to resort to the ol'good fashion monopoly to do their thing and ask everybody else to foot the bill/consequences of such incredible marvelous acts of creative thinking, if you can't compete remove the competition, lock everything up and make criminals out of everyone who disagrees, what could go wrong with that kind of thinking?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 7:19pm

    Re: creativity here !!!! oh TECHDIRT... NO WAY !!!!!

    Will it is a blog not a fucking art. That does mean they do not encourage and have involvement in such thing else were.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Aug 2012 @ 8:19pm

    Re: creativity here !!!! oh TECHDIRT... NO WAY !!!!!

    Hurricane head! How are Lowery's shoes these days? You been spitshining them, or licking them to make sure?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    That Crazy Freetard (profile), 8 Aug 2012 @ 9:09pm

    Re: creativity here !!!! oh TECHDIRT... NO WAY !!!!!

    You must be a very lonely man.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Frank Huminski, 9 Aug 2012 @ 5:00am

    You really should check it out.

    Going to try and ignore the AC above who apparently has no idea what he's talking about...

    I've been attending Intervention since it's inception, and can honestly say that, in addition to the "fun" events and panels, there are just as many panels & events devoted to education, ranging from business to storytelling to website creation and maintenance. The founders are very energetic and passionate about this event and it is reflected throughout the convention.

    Disclaimer: The energy and passion is so contagious that I have joined the convention staff. That said, I would continue to go and support them even if I wasn't staff.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2012 @ 6:22am

    Re:

    You repeatedly mispelled to "mansick" I noticed.
    I guess you're of the same fabric as the FOX clique mispelling Obama to Osama to their audience.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    harknell (profile), 9 Aug 2012 @ 6:31am

    Take The Good With The Bad

    Hi Everyone, this is Harknell, the author of this post and Co-Con Chair for the event.

    I wanted to thank Mike for giving us the ability to get the word out about our event.

    I think we can all tell which commenters on this thread need the real Intervention. For the rest of you who actually like to discuss things using logic, evidence, and analysis we'd love to see you at our event this year to continue the discussion on the difficult road ahead for all online creative people.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. icon
    MaggieL (profile), 9 Aug 2012 @ 6:49am

    If you can make it to Rockville, you will have a blast

    We went last year (drove from the Philly area) and liked it so much we're early, early pre-reg for this year.

    Much geekier than a typical comic con, yet there's a wonderful balance struck between tech and creative...I'm guessing that's because web comic artists have to do both.

    This results in piles and piles of great people attending, with almost no noticeable level of assholes, and that's an epic accomplishment considering the audience.

    Oni and Harknell have their organizational shit together too; very, very smooth con operations, and instantly responsive to your needs.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Bree, 9 Aug 2012 @ 8:10am

    Intervention Veteran

    Our group has been doing this con the past two years, and it's been more than great! I love the insane panels, range of guests, fun performances, and just the general vibe of the whole thing. I also like that there isn't a hard focus on one media or genre; it's everyone in the digital landscape who's a maker or shaker!
    If you can make it out there, do it :D

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 9 Aug 2012 @ 8:22am

    It's great that it's being scheduled in my hometown... two weeks after I leave for college. Will any of it be streamed?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    MonaC, 9 Aug 2012 @ 8:49am

    This is one of the best events I have ever attended. Great, informative panels. Interesting guests. Awesome con chairs who have their poop together.

    I attended for the first time last year, and as long as my schedule allows for it, this con will continue to be a must do for me for years to come.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. icon
    harknell (profile), 9 Aug 2012 @ 11:36am

    Re:

    Hi, If you go to the main page and select the "Archive" area you will see an "Event Video" section. While we can't get everything online, we do try to post as much of the panel content as we can--and it's there for free and forever. Once we get a bit more established and have a budget for more advanced things we'll be looking into live streaming and other great concepts (and better recording equipment).

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 10 Aug 2012 @ 2:27am

    Re: Re: creativity here !!!! oh TECHDIRT... NO WAY !!!!!

    oh thats right, writing is not art !!!! LOL

    link to this | view in thread ]


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