What is Cybersalon?
Cybersalon is the trading name of Digital Liberties Limited for its UK-based collective and think-tank activities focusing on the process and effect of the digital revolution in industry, society and its emerging digital cultures. Its members and audiences include entrepreneurs, technologists, hackers, activists, government officials, business and community leaders, academics, artists, creatives, and designers.
Originally founded in 1997, from 1999 to 2003 Cybersalon ran monthly events at the Institute of Contemporary Art. From 2003 to 2006 Cybersalon was housed at the Dana Centre at the British Science Museum. Cybersalon re-launched in 2013 at the Arts Catalyst in London, and was based at the DigitasLBi agency in Brick Lane, Shoreditch, in the heart of London’s Tech City before moving into its current home at NewSpeak House, Shoreditch. The size of the contributing, senior membership of Cybersalon varies year to year from a core team of a dozen to a management and logistics group of more than twenty. Cybersalon audience membership numbers in the hundreds.
In addition to monthly meetings, Cybersalon curates real and virtual spaces for people involved in digital creativity to participate and feedback their knowledge, curiosity, and concern to the wider community through the running of workshops, presentations and special projects in research and education. The recent HyperHabitat series of events, projects, and presentations investigated the changing nature of our living environments. Besides other activities, the series included Cybersalon events, participation in the London Hackney Council’s “Hack-ney-thon: 24 Hours to Hack for Hackney”, and a study of data gathering for the retail industry which in turn led to presentations and workshops at the Hybrid Cities conference in Athens, Greece.
In recent years Cybersalon has additionally contributed a Digital Citizenship Bill of Rights for debate in the British Parliament, presented member book launches on workplace surveillance and the results of research into the political use of social media.
Spring 2015 – The New Hyperhabitat Series
From January 2015 through to June, we’re organising a range of events investigating the changing nature of our lived environments increasingly augmented by ubiquitous computing and increasing blurring between the physical and virtual, and all manner of concerns and controversies that follow, from control and security implications to what it might mean for our struggling democratic systems…
Manchester Jan 15th – How Smart Is My City?
London Jan 27th – The Future of the Dark Net: seeking anonymity in an internet panopticon
London February 26th – unSmart Cities: The New Hyperhabitat
And more to be confirmed!
Our Previous Series: The Net – Then & Now
When the Internet launched in the 1990s the ideas, hopes and ambitions of the early users were different to those of today. Or were they?
In this series we look at understanding the important links in thinking between our cyber utopian dreams and today’s Internet realities. It’s a cliche but true- to understand the future you have to understand the past!
London 2nd October – Reclaim the Net (Special 20 years of Cyberia Anniversary event)
London 28th October – EDUPUNK 2.0
Manchester 29th October – The Age of Human Enhancement
London 25th November – Game On: Reclaim the Game!
London 6th December – Project CYBERSYN – Chile & The Socialist Internet
For more of our events over the past months and years see our Previous Events listings.
You can find us on Twitter at @Cybrsalon and @CybrsalonMCR – and Facebook
Audio recordings, tweet timeline and transcript of the discussion will be available and on request after each event.
Background
In 1997 Cybersalon came out of the Hypermedia Research Centre at the University of Westminster and Cyberia, the first global cybercafes. We began as a ‘community of interest’, holding discussion events in pubs, as we got larger we moved to the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and the Science Museum. We also gave birth to a successful electronic music festival, Cybersonica.
We thank our supporters
School of Media & Performing Arts, Middlesex University
Digitas LBi
Easynet Global Services
Hydro66 Sustainable Datacentres
AirBnB
Hi there,
I’d really like to speak to you re: Social Media Week. I am a consultant for the Technology Strategy Board and also helping curate Social Media Week.
Please could you get in touch.
Cheers,
Mitra
Mitra- I sent you a mail but no reply…Do get in touch again at the email above if you’d still like to!
Please keep me up to date with your events. Is the one at old Truman brewery turn up and pay, or do I need to book first?
You mentioned:
“Our events attract entrepreneurs, techies, activists, government, business, academics, artists and designers.”
but forgot to list inventors
As an inventor, I’ve done many things that others consider impossible.
For everyone else that is part of the 0.03% that help move humanity forward; I say:
keep moving forward (siempre adelante)
keep taking risks
keep doing what you are!