atoms&bits: a festival for thinking, making, doing

Are you a tinkerer? A designer, a geek, a maker, a co-worker, a free culture kid? Then there’s a festival that’ll knock your socks off. atoms&bits (a&b) kicks off this September 18-27th, and we’re looking for good people to join in and get creative. Read the festival pitch to learn more:

What is atoms&bits?

atoms&bits (a&b) are the smallest elements in our modern society. That’s what the atoms&bits Festival is all about: how we change society bit by bit, atom by atom – organized through the Internet and with real world results. a&b is a meet up for visionaries, tinkerers, activists, geeks, and artists – in short, everyone that celebrates a new culture of collective endeavor, and do-it-yourself. The five themes that everything revolves around are: (1) new forms of work (Coworking), (2) a fresh desire to tinker, (3) a new culture of openness (OpenEverything), (4) participatory politics, (5) the art of the production of art, as well as internet culture as the binding element that made all of this possible in the first place.

a&b Festival is a decentralized event that stretches over 10 days (September 18-27th). Individual events are taking place in different locations from Berlin to Brooklyn, from Munich to Montreal. The festival will reach beyond the physical boundaries of the event, allowing participation throughout the world. Globally more than a thousand participants are expected. In order to foster sustainable networks and collaboration, we’re creating connections to other events that complement the idea of the a&b Festival: all2gethernow (Topic: music; Location: Berlin), Breakout (Topic: coworking; Location: global); OpenEverything (Topic: open source principles; Location: global); Transmediale (Topic: art & digital culture; Location: Berlin).

a&b Camp is one of the central points of the a&b Festival. On the weekend of the German federal elections (September 26-27th) around 400 participants will meet at a&b Camp to discuss, plan projects, and to network. Borrowing from the Barcamp format, all participants will actively engage in the event; the presentations (“sessions”) are interactive and created by the participants themselves. In the open “Barcamp” area, participants will organize completely free sessions. Moreover, central themes of the a&b Festival will be addressed and discussed in several designated and curated rooms: Coworking, DIY, and OpenEverything. Spatial proximity and thematic ties will ensure intensive crossover among these topics.

The highlight of the worldwide festival and the kick-off for atoms&bits affiliated projects will be the atoms&bits weekend on September 25-27th. In Berlin the a&b Camp around Moritzplatz and several nearby events will take place then. The program includes exhibitions, live screenings, the a&b party, tinkering workshops, live coverage of the elections online, as well as an election party and more.

As you might’ve seen, OpenEverything is hosting a track at atoms&bits. We’ll be exploring how open principles bridge creative and technical fields, highlighting successful projects and talking hurdles and future plans. Leave a comment if you’d like to join.

Also, atoms&bits still looking for sponsors. The first bunch of sponsors is confirmed, but we need some more support. You won’t find a better audience than this. Please drop a line at sponsoring@atomsandbits.net, and we’ll send you the sponsoring options.

For more info, check out atomsandbits.net and read the great posts by Nicole Ebber, Peter Bihr, on Hallenprojekt, and a thematic warm-up in the Berliner Zeitung. There’s also pics on Flickr and of course some tweeting (@atomsandbits). And don’t forget: the Makers reading on Sept. 22 will also be part of the a&b festival.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!