[artinfo] Workshop on Mobtagging

[Stefan Kosters - Mediamatic]

Workshop on Mobtagging
15 & 16 February 2006 @ Mediamatic, Amsterdam

Mediamatic presents a 2-day workshop on social 
tagging, or MOBTAGGING. Mobtagging is what 
happens when users freely apply and exchange 
labels (metadata) to online information. This 
non-hierarchical method of structuring 
information is rapidly spreading over the web, 
with Flickr.com, Del.icio.us and Technorati as 
most famous examples. It gives users the 
possibility to specify, index and search 
information on their own terms.

During this workshop we will analyse the inner 
workings and the social effects of mobtagging. 
How is social tagging changing the structure of 
(online) information, and our relation to it? For 
which usergroups and what type of information is 
Mobtagging rewarding? What roles does Mobtagging 
play next to more traditional ways of indexing 
information?

This workshop is designed for bloggers, 
webmasters, artists and theorists; people with a 
practical as well as a theoretical interest in 
Mobtagging. Four cutting-edge speakers (see 
below) introduce various concepts and practises 
of social tagging, and assist the participants 
with the (re)design and evaluation of their own 
Mobtagging scenario's or applications.

Ulla-Maaria Mutanen (Finland)
Ulla-Maaria currently studies the interface 
between industrial design and engineering at the 
Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work 
Research in Helsinki. On her weblog 
Hobbyprincess.com she frequently writes about 
relationships between web resources and adding 
webstructures. She invented the idea (and 
software) of the ThingLink, a unique identifier 
that works as a link between things.

Jyri Engeström (Finland)
As a PhD student at the Department of 
Organisation, Work & Technology at the Lancaster 
University Management School, Jyri is interested 
in the relationship between technical innovation 
and organizational transformation. He also is 
co-founder of Aula (www.aula.cc), a collective of 
creative minds who design and use mobile media to 
flock and blog, socialize and collaborate in 
geographic and virtual places simultaneously.

Duncan Speakman (UK)
Duncan is a sound and video artist, and initiator 
of the first European videoblogging conference. 
He will zoom in on social tagging as the main 
structuring principle of video blogs.

The participation fee is EUR 300 (ex. VAT). For 
more information, questions or registration surf 
to www.mediamatic.net/mobtagging. You can also 
mail to workshops at mediamatic.nl, or call Klaas 
Kuitenbrouwer: +31 20 6389901.