Singularity: a new way to go to a conference

1:21pm Tuesday 11th March 2008

A big name in internet design is organising the world's first large-scale online-only web conference.

Brighton-based Aral Balkan has been heavily involved in developing and promoting Flash technology for more than ten years.

The 31-year-old is a well-known figure within the internet programming community and often speaks at events all over the world.

But after years of jetting in to far-off places and struggling with hotel reservations, Aral decided to set up Singularity 08 to make things easier and greener.

Aral said: "I love attending conferences and doing speeches but often the travelling can be hard and you can play Russian roulette with your hotel.

"There's also global warming to worry about and this conference will be as carbon neutral as possible.

"We have already done smaller scale, one-day conferences so we know the technology we have now makes this possible."

The online conference will take place over three days in October and will feature talks and events involving more than 1,000 of the world's top web visionaries, developers and designers.

Aral hopes it will offer a snapshot of where the internet is in 2008.

He said: "There will be a range of topics and speakers covering an eclectic range of subjects. I imagine the audience will be developers, designers and other creatives, along with people who specialise in the business side of things."

Tickets prices have not been decided yet but will be markedly less than conferences on the same scale.

Aral hopes to attract as many as 10,000 people over the three days. He said: "There's no travel and hotel costs, which are often the most expensive aspect of attending. People might not even need to take time off work as the conference takes place mostly over the weekend."

The event will feature streamed video and audio, shared screens for the sessions complemented by questions and answers, networking tools and other features that people attending, speakers, and sponsors can utilise before, during, and after the conference.

The key focus of Singularity will be flexibility and openness, according to Aral.

To give everyone involved the chance to view all sessions conveniently, the sessions will be recorded and made available for six months.

The recordings will then be released under a Creative Commons licence, which means the general public will be able to find out what went on free of charge.

• For more information on the conference, go to www.singularity08.com

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