InfluencerCon Presents Gatekeepers & Crashers: Thriving Or Dying? 1 2 Table Of Contents INTRODUCTION 05 CREDITS 06 ESSAYS Gate Keepers 11 Bayo Akomolafe 13 Michael Brooks 20 Sebastien Felix 22 Gilad Goren 25 Dowshan Humzah 28 Nick Seneca Jankel 34 Hortense Koster 38 Alnoor Ladha (Part 1) 41 Alnoor Ladha (Part 2) 46 Sara Shamsavari 48 3 INTRODUCTION 4 GATEKEEPERS/CRASHERS: Thriving or Dying? What is Influencer Conference? exactly what we are seeking to do. Convert ideas and Influencer Conference (InfluencerCon) exists at the insights into something larger, more connected, shareable intersection of values, culture, creativity & commerce. with universal elements. Alchemy allows us to go beyond our host cities and engage influencers who might not be able to InfluencerCon is a global content platform that identifies and attend or speak. supports influencer culture globally. Influencer culture is the unique space occupied by artist, entrepreneurs, innovators, “Gatekeepers/Crashers: Thriving or Dying?” philanthropist & technologist. By bringing tastemakers and The advent of technology and digital media was supposed to game-changers across industries and territories together, herald the end of the age of gatekeepers. The 21st century InfluencerCon establishes itself as the standard bearer for promised the democratization of communication and access. those who are pushing boundaries and creating Now, almost 15 years into a new century, it begs the question what is “NEXT”. whether that has that truly been the case? Has the power and privilege of gatekeepers subsided or, has the expansion of InfluencerCon breaks down traditional “silo-ed” thinking technology actually had the opposite effect, increasing their and encourage cross functionality. Our community presents reach and power? a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in authentic influencer culture. Creativity, open and fair exchange, For all of the talk of the democratization of the creative process, passion, collaboration and a commitment to rich and gatekeepers are more firmly entrenched than ever. How do authentic experiences are critical elements of influencer creators of arts based culture navigate and succeed, as the gates culture. In turn, the InfluencerCon global community get higher? How do well-meaning gatekeepers connect to and connects those engaged in meaningful and sustainable enhance existing cultural ecosystems? We pull the covers back pursuits and assists them in actualizing their vision. and reveal the true machinations behind culture, commerce and influence by bringing gatekeepers and gatecrashers face to face a What is Alchemy? modern day showdown between new age Visigoths and their Alchemy, is a digital journal that serves as an expansion of roman emperor counterparts. our conference theme. The definition of alchemy is the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir. This defines 5 CREDITS 6 Philip L. McKenzie is the Global Proctor & Gamble and McDonalds to Curator of Influencer Conference. name a few. Influencer Conference is a global content platform that brings Philip is a passionate supporter of the together tastemakers in the arts, arts. He has been a Supporting Partner entrepreneurship, philanthropy and of the Alvin Ailey American Dance technology to discuss the current Theatre since 1999. He is formerly and future state of influencer a Junior Associate of the Museum culture. From its beginnings in 2010 of Modern Art and a member of the in NYC, InfluencerCon has grown Apollo Circle of the Metropolitan to include London, Berlin, Detroit, Museum of Art. He is a rabid music Sao Paulo, Mumbai and Tel Aviv. fan and accomplished DJ. He spends Philip is responsible for building and his summers attending as many Dave Philip L. McKenzie working with global teams, identifying Matthews Band concerts as Global Curator trendsetters for participation and the humanly possible. Influencer Conference synthesis of the global theme. Prior to his Duke MBA, Philip earned Prior to that he was the Managing a bachelor of business administration Partner of FREE DMC, an influencer from Howard University majoring in marketing agency that specialized in finance with a minor concentration integrated marketing strategy, digital in philosophy. content creation, and experiential events. In his roles with FREE DMC, Philip resides in Brooklyn but travels Philip created strategic experiential extensively wherever the wind takes campaigns for Jaguar, Sprite, Remy him. He is working on a book with co- Martin and Belvedere Vodka to author, Michael Brooks titled There Are name a few. No Shortcuts! A Revolutionaries Guide To The Future. After completing his MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Philip joined Goldman, Sachs & Co where he worked in Domestic Equity Trading. His first trading responsibilities were in the Healthcare sector followed by a role in Consumer Products where he traded companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, 7 Yves Louis-Jacques is a parter and He was also a partner for FREE DMC, strategist at InfluencerCon. He a marketing and content agency, where holds a dual Master of Public Policy he led brand strategy and partnerships. degree from Sciences Po Paris and Yves’ career began at Accenture, Columbia University, as well as a where he spent 8 years leading client BBA from Howard University. Prior engagements in the public service to InfluencerCon, Yves advised and media and entertainment groups. international donor organizations His work included organizational and INVESTMENT advisory firms assessments, strategy support, and the on frontier market investment implementation of financial reporting opportunities and facilitation and market analytics solutions. Mr. initiatives. Yves also served as a Louis-Jacques is a Haitian national financial analyst at the Central Bank of and speaks both Kreyol and French Yves Louis-Jacques the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi, fluently. Parter and Strategist where he tracked the performance Influencer Conference of the UAE’s real estate market and analyzed the stability of the financial sector. 8 Maitreyi Doshi-Joshi is a Graphic Maitreyi has graduated from Concord Designer and a Community Artist University in rural West Virginia, USA based in Pune, India. She is the founder with a degree in Graphic Design, Studio and Principle Designer of Maitri Art and Political Science. Maitreyi’s Designs a design studio that works desires to use art, and graphic design on Print, Web and Community Art as a tool for social change lead Projects. Maitreyi, her to pursue a Masters degree in Community Arts from the Maryland She has worked with the World Wide Institute College of Art, Baltimore Workshop, New York as a Special USA. Project’s Coordinator. She has worked as the Outreach and Marketing She currently has started her own Coordinator with the Creative Alliance, design studio called “Maitri Designs” Maitreyi Doshi-Joshi Baltimore. which works on all kinds of Design and Founder/Princpal Designer Community Arts. Maitri Designs She moved back to India after living and working in the US for 6 years. She worked with Elephant Design as a Designer. Maitreyi, was one of the delegates representing India at the Junior Summit held by MIT Media Lab, USA. She was part of the youth caucus that lobbied for youth participation at the UN World Summit on Information Society. She has published several articles on design, information and communication technologies. Her activism gave her a chance to travel extensively at a young age. 9 ESSAYS 10 We Are Our Own Gatekeepers This is What We Can Do About It Philip L. McKenzie Global Curator “Our strategy should be not only to “The profit motive is often in conflict with Influencer Conference confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To the aims of art. We live in capitalism, its deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock power seems inescapable – but then, so it. With our art, our music, our literature, did the divine right of kings. Any human our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, power can be resisted and changed by our sheer relentlessness – and our ability human beings. Resistance and change to tell our own stories. Stories that are often begin in art. Very often in our art, different from the ones we’re being the art of words.” – from Ursula L LeGuin brainwashed to believe. speech at National Book Awards, 2014 The corporate revolution will collapse if When I decided to examine what we refuse to buy what they are selling it means to be a gatekeeper or a – their ideas, their version of history, gatecrasher I initially approached their wars, their weapons, their notion of it from a common ideological inevitability. assumptions. My first assumption was these concepts are opposed to one Remember this: We be many and they another. There is a gate i.e. a barrier be few. They need us more than we need of some sort that must be accessed them. by those on the outside. That access comes only through a gatekeeper, a Another world is not only possible, she is person or institutional control designed on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her to limit access to those who have breathing.” - Arundhati Roy, War Talk power. My second assumption was to 11 “We are all gatekeepers. something, even if that something is one another realize our potential. Our “only” ourselves. As our data becomes duty is to re-imagine a gatekeeper not We all have the means more important to corporations and as a point to block or obstruct access governments alike, perhaps that is but rather as a point to gain entry. If to control access to enough. But we’ll save that for another each of us is a mode of influence in a time. So if we are all gatekeepers where networked system that is open and something, even if that does that leave us? We must re-imagine managed from a position of abundance our relationship to that nomenclature it is possible to outweigh the something is “only” and ultimately to each other.