Steptoe & Johnson Signs Armchair Revolutionary

Wednesday, 5/21, 3:22PM

Dear Members,

We're delighted to announce that global law firm Steptoe & Johnson (http://www.steptoe.com/) has taken on Armchair Revolutionary (our social change partner) as a "pro-bono" client for matters related to corporate contracts, licensing, and intellectual property matters.

What's Unique About Their Support?
Like Google.org, Armchair Revolutionary is a not-for-profit organization using a for-profit legal structure to maximize its flexibility to engage in innovative social projects. By taking on an entity with this unique structure, Steptoe is showing its commitment to supporting cutting-edge social change organizations.

How Does This Help Armchair Revolutionary?
As many of you know, Armchair Revolutionary will be launching hundreds of projects a year, many of which will involve intellectual property issues. They will be working on issues as diverse as patents on scientific or technology breakthroughs over to international film and documentary rights. Steptoe is a leader in international IP law and business relation contracts so this allows Armchair to have world-class council on the road ahead as it rolls into project development and BETA launch.

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Wired Magazine Signs On As “Presenting Sponsor”

Wednesday, 3/26, 4:29PM

Wired Magazine Is Making It Official

We're pleased to announce Wired as our Presenting Sponsor for
The Hollywood Hill's 2008 Event Calendar

We couldn't be more excited by this deal. Industry leader Wired Magazine is becoming the official Presenting Sponsor of The Hollywood Hill's 2008 Events Calendar.

With over 50 events and 5 conferences being planned for this year, our depth and breath of topics on innovations and trends related to the changes in Hollywood and social change are unparalleled. Wired will be the first of many sponsors we are working to bring in.

In addition to our weekly events, the magazine will be the Presenting Sponsor for all five of our 2008 conferences including Today's New Hi-Tech Robin Hoods (Micro-Philanthropy), BigBrainBoy's Mobile Media Summit (Mobile Content, Mobile Apps, Mobile Gaming, Mobile Banking, and Wireless Technologies for Social Change), Working Hollywood's Magic On Education (Open-Sourcing Interactive Textbooks, Mobile Tech for Education, Invigorating STEM learning), Hacking LA: Hollywood's Last Frontier? (Digital Overlay of Solutions For LA), and How To Shoot Your Next Film In Space (Financing & Production for Off-Planet Productions, Developing Galactic Narratives) featuring keynote speaker Elon Musk, Billionaire Founder/CEO of SpaceX and also including speakers Alex Tai, VP of Virgin Galactic, and Steve Squires, NASA's 'man behind the camera' on the Mars Rover.

We are actively rolling out this official high-profile event marketing campaign to complement our grassroots word-of-mouth growth. And are continuing talks with additional corporate sponsors. Please feel free to forward any referrals to Paris at paris@hhill.org.

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›  | Wed, Mar 26 2008 @ 6:12

“Thank You” To Furniture & Appliance Donors

Friday, 3/21, 5:49PM

We'd like to THANK the following members and advisors for their extremely helpful donations to the event facility:

Frances Arnold donated a Full-Size Refrigerator/Freezer
Tyler Oliver donated a Sony 48" TV
Michele Palermo donated a Microwave
Julie Inouye donated 4 Counter Stools
Tom Henry donated the use of his Pick-Up Truck
Nick Bicanic donated the use of his Jeep
John Dudley helped in securing a Discounted Projector

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EVENT CALENDAR 2008 - Preliminary List

Friday, 3/21, 5:31PM

This is the preliminary 2008 annual event schedule for the new event facility. Events are subject to change based on scheduling and speaker availability. Further details on our website at http://www.hhill.org/hill/presentations_next. We welcome additional topic submissions from members.

1. Innovations, Trends, & Social Change
Arming Members With The Info We Need To Change The World

Friday 3/28 - Book Party: The Future of the Internet—And How To Stop It!
May - Car Party: The Return of the Electric Car! (at Tesla's New Showroom)
TBD - Re-Envisioning Privacy In The Digital Era
TBD - Synthetic Organism Invasion: The Rise of BioBricks
TBD - Internet Censorship II: Our Panel Of Experts Returns
TBD - Games4Change II: Using Games For Social Change
TBD - The Next Humans: The New Science of Advanced Body Modification
TBD - Automated Automobiles: The Self Driving Car Is Coming (Soon)
TBD - Dongtan Update: China's Zero-Carbon Scratch-Built Metropolis
TBD - Product Packaging Without The Landfill
TBD - Augmented Reality: Combining the Real World & Ubiquitous Data
TBD - Defending Ourselves From Potential Nuclear & Bio Terror
TBD - Peak Water: Solutions for the Global Clean Water Crisis
TBD - Getting To Fusion Power
TBD - Wireless Electricity & The Potential Of Air Energy
TBD - GE and The Future of Printable Solar Cells
TBD - How Nanotech Will Change Our Lives
TBD - The New Star Wars: China vs NASA vs Private Industry
TBD - Securing Cyberspace: Cyberwarfare threat or hoax?
TBD - Private Warriors: The Future of Warfare

2. Entertainment Industry Workshops
Keeping Members Up-To-Date On Changes In The Industry

TBD - The Future of Hollywood VFX: Outsourcing To India & China
TBD - Will Your Facebook Profile Enhance Your Career? Or Kill It?
TBD - Trends In Hollywood's Management Industry
TBD - Why DreamWorks, Disney, Sony, & Pixar Are Embracing 3D
TBD - On-Demand & Real-Time: How Home Distribution Is Changing
TBD - Film Financing: What's Happening With The Lower Dollar?
TBD - Foreign Production Trends
TBD - Pilot's Are Dead: What's Next In The Post-Pilot TV Season?
TBD - Future of Licensing Music
TBD - Future of Music Production
TBD - Where Is Reality TV Headed?
TBD - Packaging 2.0: How Will Agents & Managers Package In An Internet-Driven Media World
TBD - The Future of Internet Video II
TBD - The Future of Cable
TBD - The Future Searching Video: AI Video-tagging Software

3. Project Snapshots
Reviewing Potential Armchair Revolutionary Projects

April - GridRepublic & The Power of Distributed Computing
Tues 5/20 - Creating A New Voter Experience
Scheduling - Replicating The Google Bus System In Hollywood
More to be added in the next few weeks...

4. Hollywood Hill Conferences
Full-Day Conferences with Keynotes, Panels & Workshops

Saturday 5/10 - Today's New Hi-Tech Robin Hoods, a full-day conference. Our first conference will introduce the key players in the online Micro-Finance arena and delve into their efforts to build the ultimate platforms for large-scale distributed social change financing. Confirmed Speakers: Matt Flannery (Co-Founder, Kiva.org), Tracey Pettingill Turner (Founder, MicroPlace.com), Peter Bladin (Head, Grameen Foundation Technology), Donna Callejon (COO, GlobalGiving.com), Julie Lacouture (Deputy Director, DonorsChoose.org).

July - BigBrainBoy's Mobile Media Summit, a two-day conference. Anticipated Anticipated Keynotes and Panels: Mobile Apps for Social Change, Municipal Wi-Fi/WiMax Infrastructure, Global Overview of Mobile Banking, Mobile Banking & Social Change, Future of Mobile Video Content, Future of Mobile Gaming, Future of Spectrum, Future of Mobile Apps.

September - Working Hollywood's Magic On Education, a full-day conference. Anticipated Keynotes and Panels: The Future of Textbooks, Games For Education, Mobile Technology & Education, Invigorating STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) Education & Making Science, Tech, & Engineering Jobs Cool For Kids.

October - Hacking LA: Hollywood's Last Frontier?, a full-day conference. Anticipated Keynote: Hollywood's Mission To Re-Engineer L.A.
Anticipated Topics: As Hollywood goes green, so goes the city. We'll examine vast array of redevelopment issues from corporate transit systems (Google Bus) to renewable energy and hi-tech solutions for unifying the city.

December - How To Shoot Your Next Film In Space, a full-day conference. Anticipated Panels: Financing Your Off-Planet Film, Advantages & Pitfalls of Off-Planet Production, Developing Galactic Narratives. This daytime conference will be followed by The Hollywood Hill's Off-Planet Themed 2008 Holiday Party. Keynote: Elon Musk (Founder, SpaceX) on A Look Ahead; Additional Confirmed Speakers: Alex Tai, (VP, Virgin Galactic).

Comments

Launch of Event Center

Monday, 2/25, 7:19PM

We're flying along with renovations on our new interim event center located in Hollywood. All major renovations will be done by tomorrow. For the rest of the week, we'll be focusing on walls, lighting, furniture, and installing the A/V equipment. For those interested, the bar will be set-up by Monday!

We'd like to thank the following members for assisting with the lease deposit and funding the renovations:
Dan Abrams (producer), JC Spink (manager/producer), Betty Thomas (director), and Anonymous.

Our new neighbor Laser Pacific has been kind enough to donate the usage of their parking lots for our events.

We also want to thank technical advisor Steven Cohen (Warner Bros.) for assisting with the A/V design. And a special thanks to members Stephanie Austin & Scott Thaler (line producers), and Carol Wood (environmental designer) for creating blueprints and sharing innovative ideas.

We're needing the following donations, so if you're in the process of upgrading or finally cleaning out your garage...
1. Refrigerator / Freezer
2. Bar Stools (we can mix and match)
3. Bar Tables (we can mix and match)
4. Flat Panel TVs
5. Microwaves

Our first event in the new space will be next Tuesday, March 4th at 7:30pm with Benjamin Barber on The Future of Consumerism. Invite will be sent out tomorrow.

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The Hollywood Hill Event Facility - Phase 1

Thursday, 2/07, 8:16AM

Special Announcement:

We are thrilled to announce that we have just signed a lease for a 3,000 sq. ft. event space in Hollywood that will serve as our interim event space while we transition into our larger permanent event facility - The Catalyst Center.

It's centrally located near the corner of Highland & Melrose. Over the next two weeks, we'll be renovating the space to get it ready for a ramped-up event calendar which will include over 5 events per month... continuing our exciting thought leader series, science and tech innovation series with frequent partner Wired Magazine, entertainment industry mentorship workshops, and new member orientation events.

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PRE-EVENT BRIEFING:  Holiday Party 2007

Monday, 11/19, 4:46PM

For The Hollywood Hill's 2007 Holiday Party, Jonathan Zittrain will be joining us for a mind-blowing presentation on The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It, the subject of his new book available in Spring 2008.

As Zittrain explains, the Internet is primed for a meltdown – and the most obvious cures are just as bad.

We'll see North Korean radios that are altered to receive only the official stations. Cars that listen in on their owners’ conversations. Digital video recorders ordered to self-destruct in viewers’ homes. Jonathan Zittrain’s extraordinary book pieces together the engine that has catapulted the Internet ecosystem into the prominence it has today – and explains that it is sputtering precisely because of its runaway success. With the unwitting help of consumers, the Internet is on a path to a lock-down, a closing off of opportunities and innovation.

Zittrain explains that the Internet and much of what is built on top of it is “generative” -­ it welcomes change from anyone, anywhere. The benefits of generativity are innovative output (new things that improve people’s lives), and participatory input (the opportunity to connect with other people, work with them, and express oneself). But security issues online, like viruses, spyware, and invasions of privacy, will see this generative infrastructure replaced by fashionable “tethered appliances,” including iPods, iPhones, Xboxes, and TiVos, as well as much of what we think of as Web 2.0. These devices are not generative -­ they can’t be modified easily by users, even as they are continuously regulated and controlled by their makers. Zittrain offers an accessible discussion of the looming problems of an “appliancized” future and provides a set of visionary solutions to help stop it.

Comments

›  | Wed, Nov 21 2007 @ 2:23

›  | Wed, Nov 28 2007 @ 1:00

PRE-EVENT BRIEFING:  3-D Printers + Mobile Fabrication Labs

Friday, 10/26, 12:33PM

Our next event (Nov. 6th) is on 3-D Printers + Mobile Fabrication Labs. I know, I know, sounds boring - printers and fabrication labs? How is that going to change the world?

3-D Printers have the potential to disrupt massive parts of the world's production/supply chain and enable consumers to design and print out their own personalized consumer products. You wouldn't need to go to Walmart to buy a toothbrush or a Philip Stark toaster oven - you'd simply download the blueprints from your favorite designers website or create them yourself, and print out the product on your 3-D home printer.

Fab Labs (short for Fabrication Labs) are similar in nature, providing an increased offering of tools and machines to make pretty much anything - from a house to a micro-chip.

When things getting really exciting is when you imagine the two worlds colliding - Fab Labs are getting increasingly smaller, more sophisticated and less expensive as are 3-D Printers. In a few years, you'll be able to send a small, inexpensive container across the world that will have in it machines capable of prototyping and reproducing nearly anything a sustainable society needs. African villages can print out anything from toothbrushes to houses to engine parts to microchips. It's the ultimate do-it-yourself kit. And it's mobile.

The question really becomes how will it affect consumerism and our economic system? And how can we best apply its abilities towards positive social change. Combined with the ability to download blueprints from anywhere in the world via the Internet, the power put in the hands of the individual are extreme, and it cuts out the middleman - in this case the retailer.

Here are the links for your pre-event briefing...

FAB LABS
Neil Gershenfeld CNN Video: http://ng.cba.mit.edu/dist/PV.mp4
Neil Gershenfeld TED Video: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/90

3-D PRINTERS
NY Times Article: http://www.desktopfactory.com/news/df_release_050907.pdf
CNN Video: http://www.desktopfactory.com/our_product/cnn_money.html

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Mr. Lessig Goes To Washington

Tuesday, 10/09, 6:27PM

For those who are fans of Lawrence Lessig (creator of Creative Commons & one of our previous speakers), YouTube has a new video of him being interviewed on a European news program about his sabbatical from copyright law and his new focus... taking on corruption in the American political process. He's going to be devoting himself to this new direction for the next decade.

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›  | Tue, Oct 23 2007 @ 5:43

Next Hollywood Hill Intro Presentation

Tuesday, 10/09, 5:00PM

An Introduction to THE HOLLYWOOD HILL and it's related entities... THE CATALYST CENTER, ARMCHAIR REVOLUTIONARY & VALUE NEWS NETWORK. Together, these organizations form our advanced social change machine. This presentation is for new and/or potential members of The Hollywood Hill interested in finding out more about our operations in the entertainment industry.

Hosted by Film Producer Jason Blum at his beautiful home (Sunset Plaza)

Next Tuesday Evening, October 16th
7:30pm Arrival / Cocktails & Hors D'oeuvres
8:00pm Hollywood Hill Presentation

RSVP required. RSVP at: http://www.hhill.org/hill/newmember

This is NOT a fundraiser. Seating is very limited. YOU MUST BE AN ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY PROFESSIONAL TO ATTEND.

You won't want to miss this event if...

- You are interested in joining The Hollywood Hill
- You recently became a member and would like to see what we'll be doing in the months ahead
- You are an existing member with a friend you'd like to introduce to the organization

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›  | Mon, Nov 05 2007 @ 1:54

Gevo Website Is Live

Tuesday, 10/09, 4:54PM

Frances Arnold, our last speaker, just announced that Gevo's website has gone live... http://www.gevo.com. For those who were interested in learning more about her new company which counts Richard Branson and Vinod Khosla as investors, check it out.

I'm also pleased to announce that Frances has joined The Hollywood Hill's Science & Technology Advisory Board.

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I’ll See You At The Catalyst Center!

Tuesday, 10/09, 9:21AM

I'm incredibly excited about our progress on the creation of The Catalyst Center. For those who don't know what it is, it's going to be our hi-tech permanent event facility and our global operations hub for the hundreds of projects we'll be taking on annually. One of the hardest things we grappled with as we've gotten through our first 24 months is the logistical headache of doing events. Because we constantly have to do them at different homes and offices around town, we're always having to spend a lot of time coordinating the set up, breakdown, food and beverage stocking, and transportation of all of our A/V equipment to new event locations that are never ideal for doing high-end multimedia presentations. They're also not cheap. Rentals cost a lot, as does valet. We've minimized these expenses by purchasing our own A/V equipment with member donations (Thank you Jonathan Segal & Betty Thomas!). Lawrence Bender further assisted by not only giving us use of his house once a month until we could get our own permanent event facility, but also picking up the valet costs (the approximately $20K to date) for every event we've done there (we're about to do event #10) - for this we owe him a HUGE gratitude.

Having our own permanent facility is going to completely reshape our capabilities. No longer will we have to spend time setting up or breaking down. 100% of our staff's time will be focused on crafting the content of the actual presentations. Every member will receive custom briefings before each event with videos filmed by the staff introducing them to the topic so that members come to events at an intermediate knowledge level (nothing is stupider than having experts fly in from half away around the world to do "Intro" presentations for Hollywood professionals). We'll have multimedia presentation systems, high-end projection and sound equipment, and seating for 300 vs the 90-person capacity of Lawrence Bender's living room. We'll have a web rsvp system similar to the Arclight Cinema where you'll select your seat location for the next event in advance along with a customized gourmet meal. You'll come through the front entrance, sign-in with either fingerprint or retinal scan and your name tag will automatically print out of a sticker machine. You'll have a drink with fellow industry members in the georgeous bar lounge, and then transition into the main event room. Every seat will be wired with keyboards to enable members to submit their speaker questions throughout the event into a consolidated que. And we'll be doing high-end filming of events for distribution to those who can't make it that night. It will be a seamless experience.

It will also house an Intelligence Gathering Lab where we'll be keeping tabs on the world's innovations, tracking the marketplace, and measuring the progress of our projects, as well as a small green screen room for film production. It will be a brick-and-mortar home for exciting conversations on world affairs, innovations, and social change... an intellectual hub for our community... a Centcom for our social projects... and undoubtedly a "cool" experience.

Here's a promo packet on The Catalyst Center

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RELATED RESOURCES - Part I

Monday, 10/08, 3:18PM

Members are always asking me for a list of videos, websites, articles, etc. that give a good glimpse of the future we're entering, the future we're going to attempt to shape. So I'm going to start listing them in chunks. Every member of The Hollywood Hill should watch these! Part I...

Cool Videos
1. Did You Know? (we use this one in our New Member Orientations)
2. Virgin Galactic Intro with Richard Branson (click on "view the movie")
3. Charlie Rose Interviews Muhammad Yunus
Some great TED.com videos to start with...
4. Craig Venter on DNA, Genes & The Sea
5. Nicholas Negroponte on The Vision behind One Laptop Per Child Project
6. Sir Ken Robinson postulates whether Schools Kill Creativity
7. Neil Gershenfeld on The Promise of Personal Fabrication in Fab Labs
8. Hans Rosling gives New Insights on Poverty and Life Around The World
9. Jefferson Han unveiling Multi-touch screens

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Welcome!

Monday, 10/08, 3:13PM

Welcome to The Naked Hill - where we'll be pulling back the curtain on The Hollywood Hill and the other 3 organizations in our social change machine. We're in a time of tremendous change, both in Hollywood and throughout the world. And we've set out to create one of the most sophisticated nonprofit organizations on the planet.

Early on, when we started our monthly events, Ted Halstead, the founder of the New America Foundation, came to town as one of our first speakers, and mentioned over lunch that it took him a good five years to get his thinktank fully up-and-running. Now entering its eighth year, the New America Foundation is one of the largest and most important think tanks in DC. I've always viewed his five year mark as a target for us, and now that we're entering our third year of events and our fourth since we started writing the business plan, the organization is finally reaching critical mass and getting large enough to affect real change.

There are lots of people to thank for our significant growth over the past several years, and I'm going to do so periodically in postings. Buckle your seatbelt and enjoy the ride.

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