Where has the future gone?

Dear Lifter,
I hope this message finds you well! Fresh from our first Asian edition in September, we've already been working hard to making Lift 09 Geneva more passionate, engaging, and surprising than ever. We wanted to share a quick update with you on the following topics:

° Upcoming Lift09 theme: Where did the future go?
° New this year: Just what the community ordered!
° Special discount for our members
° More talks coming your way
° A word for those who have not yet attended a Lift event

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LIFT09: WHERE DID THE FUTURE GO?

We were told that the Future would be about mechanization and computerization, complete with 3D flying virtual assistants, 1984-like nightmares and Asimov-inspired robots. We now realize that long-praised vision of the 21st Century may not materialize. Videophones didn't really take off, flying cars are still sci-fi, and we've yet to start jacking directly into our nervous system.

That said, change happened but not necessarily where we thought it would. Innovation is not always shiny and visible, and things as fundamental as solidarity, collective action, or how we inhabit our physical environment have evolved dramatically, calling for new approaches to designing meaningful new interactions.

What can we learn from the predictions that didn't happen? How do we better imagine the future? Lift09 (Feb. 25-27, 2009) will explore this topic with three intense days of inspiration and networking in Geneva. Join us to meet speakers like Vint Cerf (father of the internet, inventor of the TCP/IP protocol), Dan Hill (of urban consultancy Arup), Juliana Rotich (Kenyan blogger and digital activist) and Baba Wamé (Yaounde-based researcher who studies the impact of dating websites on Cameroonese society).

For more information visit the Lift09 homepage on liftconference.com/lift09

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NEW THIS YEAR: JUST WHAT THE COMMUNITY ORDERED

This year the conference format will evolve again thanks to your feedback in the Owl Re post-conference survey:

° Shorter Workshops
You asked for shorter workshops and we will therefore change the first day's agenda. We will start at 10am (so you can more easily travel in the morning) and offer three sessions of two-hour workshops (one in the morning, two in the afternoon). As usual the workshops are up to you, and propositions can be made on liftconference.com/lift09/workshops

° Fewer locations:
Some people got confused by the multiple locations we had in 2008. Now we will stay at the CICG for most activities, notably the workshops, which will relocate to CICG from the University.

° Better lunches:
We will revert to the format of 2006 and 2007 which was widely appreciated by all participants: a hot meal served at the CICG in-house cafeteria.

° Better discussions:
The discussions (proposed by the community, happening during the breaks) will have a dedicated and quiet space, and there will be someone to take notes and keep a trail of the debates.

° And also:
Other things have improved, with the conference now having a clearer theme, an opening speech giving you more information about the agenda, time for questions, and a less repetitive music ;)

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SAVE YOUR SEAT, GET A SPECIAL DISCOUNT

We have a few super-early bird tickets still available as we write this message, but if you are not quick enough to grab one of the 650chf (550$) tickets we still want to offer you a discount. 95% of lifters want to attend the 2009 edition, and to thank you for your fidelity we would like to offer a 10% discount that will be available during the whole early bird period. Use code "lifters09" in the ticket ordering page and the price will adjust immediately. Please keep this code for you and do not post it on your blog, it is meant only for the current members of our community!

For all registration information please visit liftconference.com/lift09/register

If you are studying we are again offering 20 free tickets to students from around the world. Submissions close in a month so hurry up and enter the contest!

We also created a new kind of pass, the "super ticket". We have been asked if it could be possible to participate in the speakers' activities, those happening before and after the conference (we don't separate speakers from the audience during the event). By design we limit attendance, but we have now opened up twenty spots in an effort to allow those who want to get involved even more to join these moments.

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MORE TALKS COMING YOUR WAY

We revamped the videos section of our site, making it clearer and easier to navigate. Find the most popular talks, the latest additions, or browse all the videos from a specific event. The videos of our great Lift Asia 08 conference, which took place in Jeju, Korea in early September, are being published these days, and we had some of our best ever talks there! Be sure to check out Tomoaki Kasuaga's demo of the SPC-101c robot, Jury Hahn making the room go wild with her mobile multiplayer games, Adam Greenfield's exploration of "The Long Here, the Big Now", and Bruce Sterling's fearless speech that moved the room as we have never seen before.

See all the talks on liftconference.com/videos

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A WORD FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET ATTENDED A LIFT EVENT

If you are among the members of the community who have never attended the conference, here are a few quotes from 2008 that we hope will persuade you to come!

“A refreshing - almost overwhelming - shower of inputs and information”
“Lift is a good way of meeting people who are open to dialogue and debate and are keen to exchange ideas.”
“Lift is a differentiated conference focusing more on forward-looking thinking rather than current business”

9 out of 10 attendees have consistently rated Lift as "excellent" or "good", and 20% confirmed that they did get new business at the conference, with 45% establishing interesting contacts that could perhaps generate new business. If you need to convince your boss or partners that Lift not only prepares you for the future but also produces tangible returns for the present, these are a couple of important stats!

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SEE YOU AT LIFT09!

Thank you for reading this newsletter :) We hope to welcome you to Lift09 in February, or at Lift Asia 09 next September! As usual you can contact us using info@liftconference.com if you need anything.

Very best regards,
Laurent and the Team