On a side note (and as I pack my luggage to fly to Seoul), I created the first Lift09 page as the dates are now definitive, the place booked, and the first speakers are confirming their presence. The 2009 edition will explore the new forms of socialization, how new technologies have reshaped fundamental things like love, democracy, commerce, or education.

We are adding some job offers as we need to extend the LIFT team to mirror the growth of the event. Currently two part time openings are available and we have a few more coming your way. We are looking for a partners care-taker (the right title didn't exist in the recruiting vocabulary so we made that up and hope you like it ;) and for an editor/information architect.

For once we have the dates of LIFT09 one year in advance, and we are moving later in the month of February to create a bit more time between DLD, Davos, TED (happening early February in 2009) and LIFT.

Save the dates: LIFT09, 25-26-27 February 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland.

And prepare for a few early announcements as we already confirmed a few speakers who couldn't make it to 2008 but promised to be with us in 2009.

Moving now to the elephant on the table we're not hearing much about. Flesh. Not the stuff you cut to insert augmentations and enhancements (bbrrrrrr Dalek Sek aka the, ironically, very lovely Kevin Warwick). The flesh we press together. The stuff we make real love with, real friendships with in the here and now - in "meat space" as William Gibson calls it. The stuff that holds our organs in, our hearts, our minds, our real senses. The stuff that we bring together to create the reason and magic of conferences. The real energy transfer and aggregation.

Next year I humbly request a section, a thread, an ongoing reminder about the need to be grounded. To be HERE. To be on the earth, truly connected, not above and beyond it. That kind of patriarchal arrogance has gotten us into this mess in the first place. Read Joanna Macy's World as Lover, World as Self to get a grip on reality and priorities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Macy

Yes, I applaud the appropriate use of technology for the well being of all beings and the planet we all call home. No, I do not think the hype about Technology as Religion is being well balanced here at LIFT08 (with some noble and Nobel exceptions).

What about practical tips for unplugging. Having run TV Turn Off Week in Australia, I want to hear about Unplug from Computers Week. Dave Stone, a young upandcoming uber geek we know in digital Brighton has just come back online after a much needed break. I want to co-present with him next year in an interactive session that puts the focus back on the flesh. That reminds us how to reclaim our mental environment.

A quick search for "internet free week" or a chat with almost anyone at the conference would confirm this is necessary.

Happy to build something for user generated content to build and self support,

If we are to share an integrated programme, the perfect complementary speaker for the Technology as God tendency that these things have is...

Joanna Macy, Eco-Philosopher

To ground us in the here and now, on the earth, making pressing environmental prioriites central to what we are doing here.

"...in service to the revolution of our time: the "Great Turning" from the industrial growth society to a life-sustaining civilization."

To help us look at the fascinating world of deep ecology and general systems theory.

To be a strong woman, a voice of reason, an antidote.

To balance the programme.

Okay, maybe not a keynote but a decent place in the proceedings... if you are lucky enough to get her.

See also the passionate post at

http://www.liftconference.com/so-you-think-technology-god

Thanks for a great conference, given the profound reservations I am sharing.

http://www.joannamacy.net/