David Zicarelli

Lilli Wessling Hart

Here is the way I think about it. Cycling '74 is a software company. Developing software is our substantive contribution to mankind. We are not professional conference-givers. We are not O'Reilly. I was not born to give a smashing keynote address.

However, about a year ago, I decided that we should try to host a conference. I can't even remember why now, other than it seemed like it might be an educational experience -- if not necessarily for the attendees, at least for the company. We could do it as a kind of experiment, to see if we had any aptitude for conference-giving. Also, I had a clever name, and no one really advised us against doing it. (I have clever names for restaurants but *everyone* advises me never to open one.)


Last week, we put on our first conference. Now that Expo '74 is history, I've been asked to share my thoughts about the experience.

Anything you do for the first time will be accompanied by feelings of anxiety. At first I thought no one would want to come. After all, other conferences have already happened at least once, and as a company, we had no experience putting anything more than a few parties. They were pretty great parties, but a three-day conference was another level of planning and furthermore, we had no "last year's conference changed my life!" quotes we could use to promote the event. Sign-ups started out pretty slow, but as the deadline for discounted attendance approached, we had more people than we had ever imagined. At this point, my anxiety level actually increased since we had almost a hundred attendees. Would they be satisfied with anything less than a life-changing experience? My co-workers were anxious because they didn't really know what kind of people were signing up. Would anyone have a good time? As it turns out, the people who signed up were a fantastic group. They were both interesting and interested in each other.

As I announced at the beginning of the Expo, one of the benefits of having an event devoted to Max is that for three days out of the year, we needn't be embarrassed about talking about Max. We could safely explain how our patches work rather than worry about a crowd ultimately more interested in evaluating the musical or artistic quality of the results. On the second day, I witnessed a perfect example of this when, introducing one of her beautiful architectural projects, Dana Karwas told the audience, "Now here's something we did using jit.gl.multiple."

Yes, we had a few moments of artistic expression, but they felt spontaneous and were always accompanied by a display of a patcher on the screen. During Pamela Z's performance, we could see the changing names of her presets that provided a kind of internal commentary on the evolution of the song. I suspect that the presenters most attendees least expected to be shredding on guitar were Miller Puckette and Brad Garton, yet there they were (of course, it was not as simple as a "guitar" in either case). Miller even took requests from the audience to demonstrate presets in his amazing Pd guitar patch.

Obviously there are thousands of people we could have chosen to present their work, but we tried to come up with a selection of people that would simultaneously inspire the attendees and prevent them from drawing any conclusions about there being a "right" way to use the software. But there was one thread that emerged over the course of the three days: we all basically keep rewriting the same patch. This was eloquently confessed by Robert Henke, who provided a touching history of his quest for the ultimate step sequencer.

In addition to the presentations, Expo '74 was intended to create opportunities for social interaction. The opening night, we hosted a party at our little office.

Chief organizer of the conference Lilli Hart offered to cater the party with her husband Bryan, who is a professional chef, and they put together a modular collection of three soups and accompaniments. Naturally, we decided on soup long before it became clear that the party would be held on one of the hottest days of the year. I also spent the day before the conference preparing dough for 200+ chocolate chip cookies, which Bryan kindly ended up baking in our office kitchen.

We divided attendees into eight groups, each named after a different Max object. On the first day, I roped my San Francisco based co-workers into leading group field trips to various locations in the city, including the California Academy of Sciences, Balmy Alley, the Musée Mecanique, Treasure Island, and the Jejune Institute. Attendees collected data at each location and, on the final afternoon, worked as groups to create responses. The only two rules we gave them were that they had 75 minutes to work and that they couldn't use any pre-existing patches. All of the resulting projects were charming and imaginative. There was a laptop "garden" featuring elements of Yerba Buena and the pinball machines at the Metreon, and a continuous procession by the group that visited the Cable Car Museum using a 200-foot-long rope traveling around the outside of the conference space.

The creativity on display at the science fair on Thursday night really blew me away. Attendees brought over 30 different projects to share, of all different sizes. I found the science fair could be enjoyed on two levels. Most obviously, there was the fun of learning about the projects from passionate creators working with a wide variety of materials, including rocks, cameras, Monomes, aluminum foil, Markov chains, and boiling water. But I was also affected by seeing all of this activity in a single space, and from my conversations with others attending the event, I wasn't the only one.

Those are a few thoughts about our first attempt at presenting a conference. Based on comments from my co-workers, it seems that we feel it would be worthwhile to try to do this again someday. So, if you were not able to attend the first Expo '74, you may soon get another opportunity.

Last week, we put on our first conference. Now that Expo '74 is history, I've been asked to share my thoughts about the experience...

a-look-back-at-expo-74

A Look Back at Expo '74

Andrew Benson

Are you patching on location in an exotic place, setting up a show, or just connecting objects in the corner of your local cafe? Is Max a part of your studio or office?

We're excited to launch a new feature of Cycling74.com called Max Workspaces. We know that Max is used all over the world to do a big variety of things. We are hoping this new section of the website will offer a glimpse into the various studios, offices, theaters, coffeeshops, and miscellaneous spaces that the Max community touches.  We also think it's really fun to share photos of where you are, and offer peeks of work in progress. Visit the Max Workspaces page to check out other people's photos and upload one of your own.


introducing-max-workspaces

Introducing Max Workspaces

Here is a short video featuring a few of the people who attended Expo '74, Cycling '74's first user conference devoted to Max/MSP and Jitter.

Expo '74 Conference

We’re pleased to announce that the second Expo ’74 conference will take place October 14-16, 2011 at NYU Poly in Brooklyn, New York.

We created Expo '74 as a way for Max users to connect with each other and share their passion for creating. Our first conference in San Francisco in 2009 was so much fun, we've been anxious to put on another one. 

This year, in addition to the popular events from the first Expo, we're inviting everyone to share their knowledge with community-driven workshops. It's simple -- propose a hands-on seminar on anything Max-related that the world needs to know about, whether it be hardware, software, live performance techniques, or even how you teach the software. If your proposal is accepted, you'll get space, as many students as you want, and a free Expo pass. Obviously workshop opportunities will be limited, so we hope you'll start thinking about it right now. Please contact us with any questions, and tell us what you want to do soon.

Important Notes: As of June 1st, we are no longer accepting workshop proposals. The deadline for early registration has been extended to July 15th.

The conference is sold out.

Schedule of Events

"Great amount of information that I'm going to use immediately."

"Friendly and helpful, I had a great time and learned a lot."

"Never been surrounded by so many interesting and brilliant people."

"Meet all the wonderful friends of the Max/MSP forum."

"Would definitely go out of my way to attend again."

You don't have to be a Max expert to benefit from Expo '74. In fact, as we learned at the first Expo, most of our guest presenters didn't consider themselves Max experts! No matter what level of Max proficiency you have, you'll be better after your Expo experience, whether it's by learning new techniques, being inspired by new ideas, or meeting new friends and collaborators.

Expo ’74 2011 will be held over a weekend at Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), in collaboration with the Brooklyn Experimental Media Center. Some of what we have planned includes:

Guest Presentations: We’ve invited some truly dynamic members of the Max community from around the world to inspire you with their work.


Brian Crabtree and Kelli Cain, creators of the Monome and Arc controllers

Mattijs Kneppers, developer with focus on advanced patches for commercial audiovisual
performances

Eric Singer, creator of Cyclops, MIDItron, and founder of LEMUR (League of Electronic Muscial Urban Robots)

Jeremy Bailey, video and performance artist

Dafna Naphtali, vocalist, sound artist, and performer

Daito Manabe, designer, DJ, VJ, and composer

Kurt Ralske, visual artist and musician, creator of AUVI

Philippe Manoury, composer and computer music researcher

Mobile Phones and Max: Simple ways to make interactive (and collaborative) music

Making A Slick Max Standalone: Tips & Tricks

Techniques for Extending Acoustic Instruments

Convolution and Impulse Response Workshop (using HISSTools)

Cycling '74 staff presentations: We'll have a number of sessions covering Max 6, so you'll be able to get an inside view of the exciting new features in this major upgrade. Plus a feedback forum where you can tell us what you think we should do next.

Science Fair: A social event where you set up your project and display it for all the Expo attendees, as well as interact with people who want to learn more. Watch Science Fair videos from the Expo '74 in 2009.

Evening Gatherings: Friday in the Courtyard, Saturday Science Fair and Reception, and a Sunday Performance

Competition: We're planning a new event where contestants will get five minutes to show their patch to the audience -- and a celebrity panel. Think you have what it takes to be the Top Chef of the Max world?

We have contracted with The Marriott Hotel at the Brooklyn Bridge. The discounted rate is $229 per night. The hotel is a few blocks from NYU/Poly, where we are holding the expo, and the subway. To get the rate, you can reserve online or call their reservations number and ask about room blocks for "Cycling 74/Software User Conference".

To make reservations from the US or Canada, call 800 228 9290.

To make reservations from outside the US or Canada, read the list of Global Reservation Numbers.

Start making plans to join us in Brooklyn October 14-16.

Register now and avoid paying extra when you forget to do it this summer, assuming there is any space left by July.

Prepare your science fair project and let us know if we can answer any questions.


Join us in Brooklyn for our next Max user conference!

Search Results