Memefest 2004 Essay Contest Guidelines Online

Memefest 2004 competition guidelines for communications studies and sociology students now online.

Memefest, the international festival of radical communications, invites undergraduate and graduate students in communications studies and sociology to look back to the dawn of the Information Age and respond to the 1993 article, "Cyberwar is Coming."

Penned by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt for the RAND Corporation, this eerily prophetic essay made predictions about how information would be used to sway public opinion, pressure governments and corporations, and even wage war.

Memefest is looking for "Ten Years Later" articles that address Arquila and Ronfeldt's predictions and look at how concepts such as Netwar and Cyberwar have manifested politically and culturally. Entries will be judged by an international jury and the best articles ! will be awarded with the Award of excellency.

For details and competition guidelines, check out the Memefest website: www.memefest.org

Coming in February

Memefest will introduce its jury for the 2004 competition and announce competition guidelines for the visual communications category and the non-student "Beyond..." category.

BACKGROUND

"Memes" are contagious ideas that propagate through the media and face-to-face contact, and Memefest is an annual critique, investigation and celebration of their role in our society.

As a festival of radical communication, Memefest serves as a year-round forum for the discussion of progressive communications strategies for our increasingly commercialized society. Each spring, the festival?s competition opens to students and practitioners of design, art, communications studies and sociology. Participants are invited to use their skills and talents to ! create and spread some memes of their own and that way bring ! some balance into a brand-crazy world. Last year, Memefest welcomed 250 participants from 26 countries. Their works ranged from multimedia projects to academic articles, from poster designs to opinion essays.

Submissions are evaluated by an international jury composed of distinguished professors and artists as well as professionals from the spheres of journalism, design, advertising and social marketing. The best entries in each category are awarded with the award of excellency.

Memefest is based in Slovenia with support and input from Germany and Canada. Now in its third year, Memefest is continuing its mission to nurture the best in radical communications by seeking out the most creative, innovative and effective communication approaches.

Best wishes, Patricia Laboca