DIY Days - Reclaiming DIY: it’s not JUST a business model

I'll be speaking on March 5, 2011 at DIY Days in New York City at the New School. It's a great event, and I'm really looking forward to this year's conference. Best of all - it's free! That's right, but you have to register. There are a lot of great speakers, and then you have me. Lance Weiler, the organizer, asked me to do something that really pushes people a bit, and I chose this topic:

Reclaiming DIY: It's not JUST a business model.

Soon after the recent film business implosion, a lot of people came to see that DIY made pretty good sense as a business model. But DIY was never JUST a way to make money: it’s always been an inherently political act tied intimately to the ideologies of punk rock. Doing DIY without the politics isn’t DIY. As the world changes in numerous ways before our eyes, the voices of true DIY artists are needed more than ever before. This talk will put the politics back in DIY.

That's the description we're putting online soon. I didn't add this, but I'll also be speaking a bit about how I think all DIY artists need to think of grabbing the social issue mantle back from the doc world. Not that docs aren't great, and I do love them, but it bugs me that anytime you talk about social action, or covering something of social importance, everyone thinks it has to be a doc. DIY is also about breaking down barriers , and DIY makers who aren't doc makers can bust these confines and do serious social change media without being so serious. Or, so I think. Tell me what you think, and/or what you'd like to hear more about. I'm planning my talk now, so it would be great to hear from you while I'm developing it.

Want to learn more about DIY Days? Watch the trailer:

DIY Days from The Sabi Company on Vimeo.