Speaker Series write-ups for signoff

[StevieBenton]

Hello @edrushka @KevZawacki @KGorr

Hope you guys are well.

One of the things I ave been working on the last few days is to write up the Speaker Series talks. I'm making fairly steady progress, and some are ready for review after full first drafts. These are listed below. Please do feel free to take a look at the documents and make suggestions and comments. There's no time pressure to publish these, and they do need sign off from Erika and Kevin before publication I believe.

Write-up of Zeynep Tufekci's talk

Write-up of Maggie Vail's talk

Write-up of Ashe Dryden's talk

Write-up of Chris Soghoian's talk

Write-up of Katherine Maher's talk

[StevieBenton]

Write-up for Brian Behlendorf's talk - this one I could use some help with, just to make sure I have described the technology properly. When it's ready for publication I will add in appropriate links about things like blockchain etc.

[StevieBenton]

Write-up for Mitchell Baker and Mark Surman dialogue session

I've made this very quote driven because I think it is important to be reflective of their voice as possible.

[StevieBenton]

Write-up of Katharina Borchert's talk

Obviously, like the other articles, it needs links dropping in. I also think this could make a pretty decent hard news piece, if the Challenge hasn't already been used in this way.

[edrushka]

These are great Stevie. They feel quite full, for those that don't want to watch the videos, which is great. Agree that it's good to go quote-heavy with Mark and Mitchell.

Were you thinking of releasing these when the videos are ready?

[StevieBenton]

Thanks Erika. I wanted to report on these talks in a way that was neutral, really, and not taking a view one way or the other. I also wanted to get to the core of the messages because a fifteen minute video is quite a commitment for someone who isn't keenly interested.

One other thing I did was to try and focus on the five key ssues and focus on the implications for each of them laid out in the talks. I hope that succeeded.

There's one - I think the Chris Soghoian one - where I add a small rider at the end about an emerging theme running through many of the talks being equality. Would be great if you (or someone else) could take a look. I'm not sure how clear it is that it's not an opinion Chris is sharing, but one from the writer.

There's a few more of these to come. In terms of sharing I don't think we need to share them before the videos are ready, as it makes a lot of sense to link to the full talks at the beginning (and end) of the article, or perhaps even embed them. They could even be released over the course of a few months on various Mozilla channels (social, blog) to keep the Festival highlights in people's minds. That would be my suggestion, but I think that's a strategic decision for you guys.

[StevieBenton]

Here's another. Eliot Higgins on “The End of Secrets: Conflict in the Engagement Age”.

The video is really important for this one, but the transcript is really fascinating. One thing I would be interested in here is whether anyone thinks I should push a bit more firmly on the potential implications for individual privacy.

[StevieBenton]

Here's the write-up of Simone Browne's talk on privacy, security and digital inclusion.

Not sure I have done this justice to be honest, so thoughts very welcome.

[StevieBenton]

The write-up from Volker Birk's talk on pretty Easy privacy is here.

As ever, thoughts and comments most welcome!

[KGorr]

HI @StevieBenton - I'll be reading through these today/tomorrow but wanted to note here that I think embedding the videos is a great idea. That will make the articles more engaging and complete!

[StevieBenton]

Hey everyone. I'm working on the final Speaker Series talk write-up but I'm having a little difficulty so wondered if I could get some input.

The talk is by Sahar Aziz and it's about the surveillance of movements. There's a big chunk at the beginning in which Sahar outlines the basis of Western systems being based on white supremacy and highlights things like Islamophobia. The issue I am having is finding a balance.

What she says is really important and I think it needs to be included - to leave it out would take away her voice and I think that would be wrong. At the same time, by incluing the quotes (and they need to be included as quotes if we include them) it is making the article really long and unbalanced.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a different approach to the piece where these tensions can be resolved? Am I overthinking this? Any thoughts really very welcome.

Tagging @edrushka @KevZawacki @KGorr

[StevieBenton]

Sorry, here's the link - https://docs.google.com/document/d/18zTwhIHr20nfey-n0G9SXh1G-LHKwtCi4zsK1T17IYI/edit?usp=sharing

[edrushka]

Hey @StevieBenton I think what you've got here is good, but it feels like the article ends very abruptly. If you don't plan to add further details to flesh out the additional points of her talk, then yes, it does feel imbalanced with too much emphasis placed on her foundational arguments. My suggestion would be to include more points her talk. She gives some interesting examples of how governments are using technology as a sword. The value/necessity of refugees having smart phones is also a relevant point (the transcript seems to have messed up this quote).

[KGorr]

Agree with @edrushka and think that if you link examples between the quotes and add a nice closing/wrap up, you'll have a solid article. I did not feel it was too long, but after you add in some examples and transitions, perhaps pair down the quotes a bit to only include the most vital points?

[StevieBenton]

Thanks guys. The articles does feel it finishes abruptly, but only because it isn't finished ;)

I'm going to take another look at it now based on your very useful feedback and will ping you later.