We have booked the Queen Mary for March 2-4th 2012 for our annual Unconference of Boisterous, Illustrious, and and somewhat Ludicrous denizens. Please join us for what is going to be an amazing event!

http://www.bilconference.com/

Most of you have heard of TED or watched the talks online, but do you know about BIL, the quirky, populist, unconference taking place nearby? Open to the public and fully participant powered, BIL features a wild mix of technologists, scientists, artists, hackers, and those with a passion for community awareness. Join us March 2-4 on the historic Queen Mary, docked in Long Beach.

BIL is an un-conference — organized and observed by the participants. BIL emerged from a community of people who aspire to change the world for the better. It’s a place for passionate people to come together, energize, brainstorm, and take action! Everyone at BIL shares a common trait: BILders are the everyman thinkers and doers of today and for tomorrow.

Expect to hear a lot of topics covered, from life extension and robotics, to D.I.Y. biology, social change, the future of the pharmaceutical industry, and open hardware hacking. This year, many members of local L.A. hackerspaces and the Space Industry will participate and you can hear about the exciting technologies being developed by these amazing tinkerers. We have invited a great group of speakers, and found an amazing venue- but the rest is up to you!

Thank You to The Seasteading Institute as our supporting organization which will help us maintain our non-profit status for the conference this year!

Register here: http://bil2012.eventbrite.com/

Registration is expected from all BILders, this year- we can’t make BIL happen without your help! BILders wishing to volunteer their time to make BIL happen should contact info@bilconference.com for more information.

We need volunteers! In years past, volunteers on every level have made BIL possible. If you see something you want to criticize, then please find a way to make it better. If you think things are great and see something that could make them even better, do it. Not sure if you should do something? Ask Reichart, Simone or Cody. Want to know in advance what you could do? Here are some suggestions that can help us get the ball rolling! You can find our BIL Conference Wiki at:

http://bilconference.pbworks.com/

1. Help us get the 2012 BIL wiki organized!

2. Organize a ride share!

3. Organize hotels and roomshare!

4. Help us procure interesting speakers!

5. Come up with activities for BILders to participate in!

6. We would love to see some more art and interactive pieces!

7. Help us find more sponsors!

Remember: YOU Are BIL!

Send an email to friends and colleagues telling them about BIL 2011. Something like this:

BIL is an unconference for people changing the world in big ways. It’s a place for passionate people to come together to energize, brainstorm, and take action. BIL returns the weekend after TED2011 for the fourth year in a row. Join other innovative thinkers, including many TED attendees, on Saturday and Sunday, March 5th and 6th at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA to curate the collaboration that turns big ideas into reality.

BIL is organized by a network of individuals from around the country who are devoted to expanding knowledge and exploring the unconventional. BIL has always been and will remain free to the public. Our goal is to curate a medium for you to engage in others’ passions and find inspiration from great human accomplishments.

Rather than recruit presenters, BIL uniquely invites speakers to step forward the day of the show. To experience this ballistic, intelligent, and legendary event, register (here) and ensure you are a part of the unconference that is BIL: Inspired by TED, created by you.

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BIL is organized by a network of individuals from around the country who are devoted to expanding knowledge and exploring the unconventional. BIL has always been and will remain free to the public. Our goal is to curate a medium for you to engage in others’ passions and find inspiration from great human accomplishments.

Rather than recruit presenters, BIL uniquely invites speakers to step forward the day of the show. To experience this ballistic, intelligent, and legendary event, register (here) and ensure you are a part of the unconference that is BIL: Inspired by TED, created by you.

NOTE: The Queen Mary is permanently docked, this is not a cruise.

Looking for a conference to attend?  On October 9th & 10th, Christine Peterson (she attended the first BIL and is a supporter) is launching the first Personalized Life Extension (LE) Conference in San Fran.

There’s a lot of information out there about LE and this is going to be a promising forum for people to get together to share information, discuss ideas, and come up with some best practices.

If you’re interested in participating, Christine is offering BIL supporters a deal. Use “BILPIL” at the check out to get $100 off registration.  See here for more info: http://lifeextensionconference.com/

The conference is bringing in:

• Expert speakers: Professional researchers and advisers working specifically in anti-aging, life extension, and longevity-related fields.
• Implementer speakers: Early adopters who are ahead of the curve in implementing new techniques and can tell us how to do this as easily and cheaply as possible.
• Participants: While some attendees will be new to life extension, early indications are that this audience may be the most highly informed group ever gathered to compare personal action for longevity.
• Strategies and tactics for longevity including • Supplements • DNA Testing • Finding a Life Extension Doctor • Gadgets • Calorie Restriction & Intermittent Fasting • Sleep • Stress reduction • Self-experimentation • Exercise • Enhancement & Brain Function • Eating • Mood and more…

Thanks!

Upgrade Your Brain

What will happen when and if greater-than-human intelligence is created, either by enhancing the human brain or building an artificial intelligence? Already, technological advances pave the way for further technological advances at an ever-accelerating rate; if intelligence itself could be brought to engineer still greater intelligence in a strong positive feedback loop, the consequences (for better or for worse) would be unimaginable. Author and computer scientist Vernor Vinge called such an event a “Singularity,” alluding to a breakdown in our model of the future, much as how ordinary physical assumptions fail to hold at the center of a black hole.

This August 14-15 at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, experts in fields including animal intelligence, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfacing, tissue regeneration, computational neurobiology, augmented reality, and more, will share their latest research and explore its implications for the future of humanity in this era of explosive scientific and technological growth, at this preeminent conference on the topic, the Singularity Summit.

Speakers at the 2010 Summit include:

* Ray Kurzweil, inventor and author of The Singularity is Near
* James Randi, scientific skeptic, founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation
* Dr. Irene Pepperberg, renowned animal cognition scientist
* Dr. Allan Snyder, director of the Centre for the Mind at the University of Sydney
* Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, neuroscientist who created mice with enhanced memory and spatial learning
* Dr. Steve Mann, augmented reality pioneer, “the world’s first cyborg”
* Dr. Ellen Heber-Katz, who studies the genetics and molecular biology of healing

Reserve your spot today at www.singularitysummit.com

• Press Release: http://www.singularitysummit.com/media
• Banners – you can download them here: http://www.singularitysummit.com/media/banners
• 4 by 6 postcards – will forward from another email (not at home right now:)). I can also mail them to your address to distribute in person. Can you send me your address and I will have them shipped to it soon.
• Regarding discounts, you can learn more about them here: https://www.singularitysummit.com/registration/ Also, if you can put together a group of 10 or more, we can come up with good discounts. Last year, we did x% off for x number of people (if you have 20 people, they will get 20% off in addition to other discounts, for instance)

This summer, scientists, hackers, students, patients, and activists will convene to discuss the future of our science/technology paradigm. Topics include: Synthetic Biology, Gene Patents, Open Data, Open Access, Microfinance for Science, DIY science, DIY Biology, Alternative Funding for Science, Open Source Drugs, Patent Pools, Open Health/Medicine, Patient Advocacy for Innovation

Ready for a rapid, radical reboot of the global innovation system for a truly free and open 21st century knowledge economy? Join us at the first Open Science Summit, an attempt to gather all stakeholders who want to liberate our scientific and technological commons to enable an new era of decentralized, distributed innovation to solve humanity’s greatest challenges.

Sign up at EventBrite

-Nick Ernst, BIL:SC Organizer