ALMATY (TCA) — The U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Kazakhstan has announced the launch of registration for the second annual Go Viral Festival, a three-day festival aimed at spreading innovative ideas in media, business, culture, and technology, which will be held from June 15-17, 2018 at SmArt.Point coworking space in Almaty.
The mission of the festival is to empower journalists, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and musicians to leverage social media and technology to connect with the world. Go Viral festival will feature music, films, talks, discussions and master classes from leading trendsetters from the United States, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, who will share their secrets to reaching global audiences.
This year the festival expects to welcome 1500 participants from Central Asia, who will be inspired by new ideas and collaborate with each other to create joint projects.
The theme of this year’s Go Viral is “Interlaced: Threads of Innovation, Interaction, and Inspiration that Link Us Together.” Within this theme the festival participants will explore topics including regional linkages and identities, collaboration and co-creation, trust and digital media, the sharing economy, and the ways technology can help people understand each other better beyond geographic and cultural divides.
The festival will shed the light on questions like: How to create content that engages global audiences? How to use storytelling for social change? Is Central Asia the next destination for tech investors? How can new technology and data transform contemporary music? How to find identity in a digital world? How might VR influence our daily life?
Formats of the festival will feature a robust schedule of interactive presentations as well as entertaining performances throughout each day, including keynote talks, workshops, pitch prep and delivery, music and film, networking and mentoring, panels and round tables, breakout rooms, and a TechLab.
This year’s notable speakers include Heather Nauert, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; John Stanmeyer, award-winning photojournalist for Time and National Geographic; Simon Ostrovsky, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist; Olga Breininger, bestselling author of There Was No Adderall in the Soviet Union; Jama Jurabaev, concept-artist for Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One; Kaki King, American guitarist and composer; Brandon Andrews, an entrepreneurship guru from Shark Tank; Jeremy Kirshbaum, researcher, strategist, and entrepreneur, who experiments with VR and had his personal currency.
