I’ve given keynotes in cities from Aarhus to Zürich, inspiring and delivering every time. Here’s a few of them for consideration for your conference.
Copyright Regime vs. Civil Liberties — a keynote I’ve given in many venues and in different formats. I explain how the copyright lobby systematically and successfully has worked for dismantling civil liberties to not have to change itself. I’d summarize it with I don’t worry so much about file sharing, it’s here to stay, that’s just a fact of history. But in their lobbied attempts to stop file sharing, politicians are hurting society and our way of life.
Available in video format from OSCON 2007, 15 minutes, or in a little longer version from MySQL User Conference, 40 minutes.
Shelters or Windmills — a keynote first given in Manchester to record industry executives (who went on to say I should be burned at the stake. Yes, really) and then to many others. The focus of the keynote is on how history teaches us that information advantage equals power, and that any technology that levels the playing field — printing press, libraries — has been met with forceful resistance from those with the incumbent information advantage. We are seeing the exact same mechanisms in motion now. The title comes from a Chinese proverb: When the winds of change blow, some people build shelters, and others build windmills.
Available as video from Mobile Monday Amsterdam (though the headline is different for this particular video).
Why are you here? – inspirational keynote for internal events within the pirate movement. Puts the pirate parties in historical perspective in comparing to the rise of the liberal, worker, and green movements. Describes the value to the world of uncensored communication between people who could otherwise be coerced into going to war with one another; quite emotional.
Available as video from the Pirate Parties International General Assembly and subtitled into Czech, French, Russian, Spanish, and German.
Rick’s Story – inspirational keynote with the message that we all have the power to change the world. The keynote starts out with the political message of protest, puts it in historical perspective, then recounts my journey from a few lines in a chat channel to having put people in parliaments. Summarizing, the audience learns that each and every one of us feel a passion to change the world for the better in some aspect, and each of us have the power to make it happen.
Available as a TED talk for 15 minutes, and in a longer version from JSConf in Arizona for 45 minutes. Generally very appreciated.
The Power of Narratives — keynote given at Black Hat Europe, based on the insight that everything that happens today with the advent of the Internet is a complete move-by-move repeat of the power struggle of when the printing press arrived in Europe in the 1450s, and the Catholic Church tried to assert its up-until-then gatekeeper role over what culture and knowledge was available to the masses.
Cost-efficient Swarm Leadership — keynote given at TEDxOslo, Meaning, and many entrepreneur conferences, describing how the Swedish Pirate Party was able to beat the competition despite having less than 1% of the competition’s budget. Available in an 18-minute version from TEDxOslo, and is essentially a super-condensed version of the book Swarmwise. Also given in Brighton, UK in a slightly longer version, 25 minutes, at Meaning 2013.
It should be noted that all of these are examples. I always customize my presentation for the venue, audience and situation. No two presentations are alike and I can mix and match perspectives and pragmatics to give the most value to your particular audience.
I’m happy to speak at your venue or conference, as long as travel, lodging, and a speaking invoice (starting at €12,500) are taken care of. Contact me.
For reference, check these sample presentations:
