Public Sphere #1 Worked

"Public Sphere #1 - High Bandwidth for Australia" was held this morning at ANU in Canberra and online, via Twitter #publicsphere and video streaming. The event went well. The format of short talks was useful. The use of questions taken online via Twitter (as well as from the live audience),was effective. The live video streaming seemed to work well (there is a Technical Wrap Up of it available).

Some suggestions for improvements:

1. Longer Talks: The ten minute talks were hard work for the speakers and the audience. I suggest changing to fifteen or twenty minutes (as used for Bar Camp Canberra 2)
2. Mix formats: Perhaps formats could be mixed so there would be a talk, then a group discussion. It gets a bit tiring looking in the one direction all the time.
   
3. Web Conference Software: While the combination of a web page, video stream and Twitter worked well, perhaps a web based conference system, such as DimDim should be tried.

ps: For those wondering what the devices are on the desktop next to me in the photo, they are a Electricity Usage Monitor and an electronic token from the Istanbul public transport system. These were props to illustrate my talk. The meter shows one way to measure computer energy use and the Akbil electronic token a way to use ICT to reduce transport energy use.

The Akbil uses an iButton: a small metal can with a microchip in it, using the lid and sides of the can as a two wire power and data interface.