AMC 2008

Check out Steven Mansour's AMC slideshow!

[Also see in the post below the awesome video from Steven's workshop.]

...or at least all the one's that went to the open source media tools workshop.

Dean Jansen of the Participatory Culture Foundation and Steven Mansour of the Strict Machine Foundation brought the 2008 AMC a workshop on setting up a media publishing nerve center using free and open source media tools.

We are working our way through several hard drives worth of AMC documentation, but perhaps none of it gets you as up close and personal with AMC participants as this awesome audience-created "introductions" video created during Steven and Dean's workshop:

The AMC Friday Keynote rocked our socks. One of the things that made it so hot with was the Evolving Communities Project video.

DIY video superstar and cellist Diana Nucera led a collaborative production process by which nine-year-olds, computer graphics specialists, scientists and youth media orgs from coast to coast came together to create this video expression of the ideas of the AMC 2008 theme, "Our Evolution Beyond Survival."

The best part of the screening was when the 500 person auditorium raised a collective cheer when the iconic AMC media tower appears in the climax of the video.

Check out the slideshow of AMC images being featured at Metromix Detroit. All photos by Vanessa Miller.

Much more AMC documentation coming soon.

Thanks for the good times!

Pre-registration for the 2008 AMC is closed. If the number of pre-registrations is any indication, this will be the biggest AMC yet.

You can still register upon arrival at the conference for the same rate of $60 (standard), $100 (requested), or $20 (scholarship).

Alright. It's just a matter of hours now before the 2008 AMC begins.

We are closing registration this evening (6/17). We had originally planned to keep it open until tomorrow night, but we have received nearly double the pre-registrations from last year and will need some extra time to process all of them. We want to make sure we spel your names right on your badges.

If you don't care about a pre-printed badge or paying with a credit card, you can still walk up and register at the conference. The same registration fees apply. We just ask that everyone be patient with our volunteer crew of local Detroiters staffing the registration table. It's going to be crowded.

The conference program is now available online as a pdf.

More important for those of you trying to get to the conference and find the McGregor Conference Center on the Wayne State Campus, here's the campus area map marked with all important locations.

Don't forget to email annasaini [at] gmail.com if you're interested in signing up for one of the Detroit Summer tours on Sunday afternoon.

If you have any questions about your trip or anticipate any problems, please contact us. We'd rather solve it before you get here, if we can.

Thanks,
your tireless AMC organizers

p.s. One other thing: you might want to bring an umbrella and a raincoat. The forecast calls for rain and the conference runs on foot-power.

Wow! There's a lot of vital info here...

For the AMC out-of-towners:

1. I missed the deadline for dorm housing
2. I need a ride from New York
3. I am coming in from the airport
4. I am arriving on the Megabus
5. I am arriving on the Greyhound
6. I am arriving on the Amtrack

7. I want to sign-up to take a tour of Detroit on Sunday, June 22

For the AMC in-towners:

8. I want 20% off the 8 Days in June Music Festival
9. I want to help out with the Detroit tours on Sunday, June 22
10. I want to help out period.  

1.  If you missed the deadline to register for housing in the Wayne State Dorms, this is your best option:

• The Hotel St. Regis, one of Detroit's top hotels, has graciously given us a hook-up on rooms during the AMC.
• You can reserve a double with 2 Queen sized beds for $122 / night, including taxes
• Shuttle service to and from the conference is available upon advanced request (it's about 1 mile away)  
• Visit http://www.hotelstregisdetroit.com/ for more information about the hotel
• Call: (313) 873-3000 to make a reservation.
• Tell them that you are a participant in the Allied Media Conference to receive the conference rate. 

2.  If you are traveling from NYC, looking for the most affordable and FUN travel option, reserve a seat on the Peoples Production House Bus-- $65 round trip. 

Hundreds of grassroots media makers and social justice organizers are on their way to Detroit. And hundreds more are getting ready to greet them, at the 10th Annual Allied Media Conference, June 20-22, held on the campus of Wayne State University.

"While there are many media conferences held throughout the year, none approach grassroots media-makers, policy organizers and media justice fellow-travelers with as much focus, intention and urgency as the Allied Media Conference." -- Siyade Gemechisa, 2007 AMC Participant

Register now!

At the 2008 AMC you'll find over 60 hands-on workshops, film screenings and focused discussions such as: 

• Using What You Got to Create & Promote: Grassroots Video Production