YOYODYNE – Where the future begins tomorrow.

Berlin is an amazing place – and more so if you’re an artist, cultural entrepreneur or digital media pioneer. There is a certain “anything is possible” vibe, rent’s cheap, and though Berlin is perpetually broke, people get by and do cool shit. Startups like Soundcloud draw attention to a nascent, cutting edge tech scene. Since long, the free culture / free software scene is strongly represented by Chaos Computer Club, Free Software Foundation, Wikipedia, Creative Commons and others who’ve set up shop here. International events such as re:publica, Transmediale and Chaos Computer Conference bring hackers, bloggers and artists together. Our project – Mozilla Drumbeat – has had an amazing start with no less than three Berlin events so far. Yet, Free Culture is still a relatively unknown phenomenon to the broader cultural community in Berlin. Artists working with new media and computers wonder where to turn for questions like:  how can I use free licensing to everyone’s advantage? Can I make money on “free”? Which tools can I use to my advantage? Who else is doing interesting stuff – could we collaborate? There is a huge opportunity here, and now Ela Kagel is offering an easy fix: The Free Culture Incubator. The program was launched during this year’s Transmediale and has developed into a living hub for free culture in Berlin. If you’re in Berlin and interested in this field, this is something you want to participate in and stay updated on. See you there!

From Ela Kagel:

I’m happy to announce the start of a 12-months workshop series on October 23rd! This series of events will be hosted by various partner organizations all over Berlin. The concept: 12 months of workshops, dedicated to freelance creatives and cultural workers, with the aim to exchange knowledge, foster long-term project partnerships and highlight & strengthen the local scenes.

The first Workshop – MAKING WAVES, hosted by Sourcefabric – takes place on OCTOBER 23rd – and aims at

freelance journalists, media artists, creative practitioners, open source enthusiasts and web programmers who are looking to find new ways to organise, distribute and broadcast their media content using open source software.

more info here: http://www.transmediale.de/en/node/16153

Future Workshop Partners:

all2gethernow
betahaus
Creative Commons
Kompetenzzentrum Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft des Bundes
Mozilla Drumbeat
Multiplicities
Open Design City
P2P University / School of Webcraft
Public Art Lab
Studio 70 / Hallenprojekt
Sourcefabric
transmediale Festival
Upgrade! Berlin

How will the workshops be structured?
Each host will offer a workshop theme which is related to the daily practice of the respective venue or institution. Rather than being solely theoretic, the workshops strive to be hands-on and results-oriented. In order to broaden the scope of the workshops and refrain from becoming too Berlin-centric, 1-2 international experts will be invited to each workshop.

Who can participate?
Anyone who has a profound interest in the workshop topics is invited to participate. The only two requirements are: a) an online participation application must be completed, and b) this application must include a description of professional practice and motivation for participation. A maximum number of participants will then be selected from the applications. Participation is free of charge, but each participant will be required to assist in the documentation of the workshop.

Documentation
Each workshop will be documented and made freely accessible online. In doing so, our aim is to create a centralised database of topical information, best practice projects, practical advice, as well as a list of institutions and professionals involved in the fields of free culture and the open web. This ever-growing online resource will become the content basis (i.e. ‘toolkit’) for future projects.

This workshop series is an initiative of transmediale / Free Culture Incubator, in partnership with The Federal Government’s Centre of Excellence for the Cultural and Creative Industries