​Wayfinding: conversations about navigating the tensions of tech in modern life.

​We live in a moment where our trust in tech companies to protect our privacy and our freedom is at its lowest. Large swathes of the tech industry are shifting into an openly authoritarian politic. 

​At the same time, we live in a moment where our individual capacity to collaborate with technology has been amplified more than ever before. 

​How do we engage with this potential while living in accordance with the responsibility we have to the world and each other?

​Wayfinding is a series of conversations about finding our way through this landscape together, both individually and collectively. This series will place signs and markers to help you orient yourself in the digital world with intentionality. Wayfinding is not about having the answers but about asking the right questions together.

​Wayfinding 1: Privacy

​Jenny Zhang and Parker Higgins in conversation about privacy. Parker is an artist and activist whose work addresses the interplay between technology, society, and the law, with a focus on copyright, speech, and privacy issues. He has previously worked for Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and currently lives in Brooklyn. Jenny is a writer and software engineer based in Toronto who has worked in open source, non-profit, and government tech sectors to make the collective action problem of the tech industry more legible. She is the founder of Show Up Toronto, a calendar and newsletter for organizing and activism events in the city.

​Our first experience with computers and the internet was of a place of freedom and agency, which was so formative to us as children, as the "real world" doesn't offer much of either. The earlier internet promised us place of free creative expression, a place to connect with anyone on the planet based on interests, a world-wide network of information.

​It feels like that place doesn't exist anymore.

​As these networks shifted from information exchange to commerce, they got better and better at spying on us. We read a review of a mattress, and soon after every digital surface in our lives, even our refrigerator, is bombarding us with mattress ads.

​We see these ploughshares being beaten into swords: a political statement we make on social media may be used to deny us entrance to the United States.

​How can we participate in the internet without being paralyzed by fear or succumbing to nihilism?

​How can we renew our sense of optimism about engaging with other people online?

​How can we recast these networks into sources of fulfilment rather than just commerce?

​Logistics

​Doors: 6
Feature conversation: 7-7:30
Discussion with the audience: 7:30-8pm
Mingling: 8pm-9pm

​Snacks and refreshments will be provided

​​🤝Join 1RG

​​​1RG is a container for a series of experiments re-imagining the relationship between technology and our communities. If you want to be a part of our community, consider becoming a 1RG member.

​​♿️ Accessibility

​​​1RG does not have an accessible entrance, the front entrance requires 3 steps of about 8 inches each. The rear entrance is two steps. There is a bathroom on the ground floor.

​This event will primarily be held on the second floor which is accessible via an L-shaped staircase with handrails on both sides.