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Poptech
Poptech (also known as Pop!Tech) is a nonprofit organization best known for its annual mass media and technology conference that takes place in Camden, Maine. It defines itself as “a network of remarkable people, extraordinary conferences, powerful ideas and innovative projects that are changing the world.”

History
Poptech is an evolution of the Camden Technology Conference, founded by Robert Metcalfe (co-inventor of Ethernet technology) and John Sculley (former CEO of Apple). From its beginnings as a technology conference, Poptech has transformed into an organization aimed at creating social change through innovation and technology.

Annual Poptech conference
The annual Poptech conference draws 600 attendees each year and is held in a the Camden Opera House in Camden, Maine. The purpose of the conference is to bring together technology, innovation and people to tackle global problems such as climate change, poverty and disease. Conference themes change from year to year. Themes from recent years include “Dangerous Ideas,” “The Human Impact” and “Scarcity and Abundance.”

Poptech invites speakers and performers from around the world to participate in the conference. Musical performances, short films and demonstrations are interspersed with brief lectures from social activists and experts in emerging technology. Past speakers and performers include Victoria Hale, Cary Fowler, John Legend, Van Jones, Louann Brizendine, Malcolm Gladwell, Brian Eno and Kevin Kelly (editor). Speakers and performers are not paid by Poptech.

Each year, Poptech sponsors a select group of leaders from around the world to attend the conference under the Poptech Fellows Program. The 2006 fellows were leaders in the field of education, and in 2005 the fellows were African civic and technology leaders. In 2008, Poptech is sponsoring 20 fellows from different social innovation fields.

Poptech began broadcasting the conference in real time via live streaming video in 2007. The Poptech website also hosts a video archive of past performances and lectures.

Special projects
A number of special projects have been launched as a result of the Poptech conference. In 2006, performer Reggie Watts and Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo met at Poptech. Afterward, Poptech brought the two back together for a musical collaboration: AntiBabel. Proceeds from the EP fund residence space for students, safe drinking water, computers, school libraries and solar-power panels for communities in the Himalayan region.

A more recent project is the Poptech Carbon Initiative. Developed in 2007 to provide conference participants with an easy way to buy carbon offsets, the program has been extended to any eBay user with an ID. Using an eBay website, users calculate their carbon footprint and then purchase carbon offsets from three different organizations: Solar Electric Light Fund, Instituto Ecológica or Paso Pacífico. The eBay page was slated to close at the end of 2007 but remains open for anyone to use.

Another special project that grew directly out of the Poptech community was the building of the Mother-Child Medical Center & Ipuli Medical Training Center in Tanzania, Africa—a country with one doctor for every 20,511 people. The project began when Cameron Sinclair (social entrepreneur and Poptech speaker) met Neema Mgana (Nobel Peace Prize nominee and founder of the African Regional Youth Initiative) at the 2006 Poptech conference. Through the efforts of Sinclair, Mgana and others in the Poptech community, the people of Ipuli now have a local medical clinic that is provided with renewable energy at no charge.

The kind of collaboration seen with the Ipuli project has been formally acknowledged and supported by the Poptech organization through the creation of the Poptech Accelerator, which aims to keep the spirit of the Poptech conference alive throughout the year. The goal of the Poptech Accelerator is to identify world-changing projects and provide those projects with resources available through the Poptech network. Resources can include project management, financial contributions, media coverage, corporate partnerships and other forms of support.

The first project sponsored by the Poptech Accelerator is Project Masiluleke, inspired by Poptech 2006 speaker and AIDS activist Zinhle Thabethe. Project Masiluleke uses existing and new technologies to fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa.