At the last minute, we’ve added a really cool evening event to OSCON. Molecular biologist Richard Jefferson of Cambia and PatentLens fame, a noted activist for open science, will be talking with me about the importance of patent transparency and distributed innovation in the life sciences.
In a future where biotechnology will have an ever greater impact on our lives, the time to build a culture of open source innovation in biology is now, not when the genome and basic techniques of biology will be locked up by patents. We’d love to get this issue on the radar of the open source community. So if you’re at OSCON, please come to this event.
But Richard also wanted to make the event fun…and by chance, he’s friends with some awesome musicians, who agreed to come play for us after the talk. Following the presentation, renowned mandolin player Mike Marshall and Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto will perform.
The event will be held on Thursday, July 27, from 7:30pm – 10:00pm at McMenamin’s Crystal Ballroom. The Ballroom is about 1.5 miles from the Convention Center. (Directions.) Note: you must wear your OSCON badge to be admitted to the event. Drinks and pizza will be available for purchase at the Ballroom.
P.S. I haven’t been to the Crystal Ballroom, but last night, I had dinner with Di-Ann Eisnor and Jason Wilson of Platial at another McMenamin’s location, The Kennedy School. It was amazingly cool. The McMenamins find old buildings and renovate them in really innovative ways, bringing together restaurants, music venues, lodging, art, and community. I didn’t know why Di-Ann and Jason were dragging me halfway across Portland — but it was worth it (even apart from the great conversation!) McMenamins has got to be the coolest real estate developer outside of Second Life.