"The 2008 Global Summit in Budapest was one of the most extraordinary conferences Ive been to and Ive been to almost 40 conferences in the past four years alone. Whats the big deal (and it is a Big Deal)? This community embodies the values they speak about: the members of this community are open, inclusive, transparent, engaging, respectful, mindful, diverse, committed, innovative, energetic, proactive, creative, responsible, serious, humble, fun and humorous. Is that all? Not even close, read on, if you will." (link)

Patrick Philippe MeierHarvard Humanitarian Initiative

Thank You!This was our third and biggest Global Voices Summit ever, and we were overwhelmed by the generous support of our friends and sponsors. We couldnt have done it without you.

More than 200 people traveled from various parts of the world to join us in a conversation that has grown more urgent and more exciting that we could ever have imagined only a few years ago.

Citizen media has become a force to be reckoned with. Activists around the world are learning from each other in their struggles for freedom of expression, and we are learning from them too.

The alliances we are building are leading to concrete initiatives. We are working to

increase global access to anonymous blog-hosting for those who really need it, and weve just awarded micro-grants to 6 new citizen media health projects in Africa and East and Central Europe.

In Budapest we launched our 16th translation site: Italian. And Swahili is on the way. Our Olympics coverage of Chinese blogs is beginning to make waves, and our Voices without Votes site is gearing up for the US elections.

We have lots more planned!

More than 200 people from all continents attended the Global Voices Summit(Photos by: Joi Ito, Elia Varela Serra, Yazan Badran)

McCormick TribuneFoundation

Produced by: Solana Larsen, Paula Ges &

Georgia Popplew

ell

What people said:

Dozens of articles, hundreds of blog posts

Chris Vallance, BBC Radio 4"I'm not sure there is a representative from Antarctica, but every other continent must be represented...For these people, and the governments who expend significant efforts oppressing them, blogging is much more than vanity publishing." (link)

Evgeny Morozov, openDemocracy"The Budapest gathering represents one of the major benefits of today's internet revolution: the radical democratisation of the global flow of ideas." (link)

Heather Ford, Mail & Guardian"The Global Voices Summit ended two days ago, and I still have such a palpable sense of this great emerging, truly global community that is discovering for itself just what a special role it plays in the world. (link)

Antony Loewenstein, TheNationThe Budapest conference showed yet again that the mainstream media remains woefully under-prepared and unwilling to cover vast swathes of the world. (link)

Monique Doppert, HIVOS"It was a wonderful, energetic, diverse and fascinating gathering. Light-hearted in a serious way. Optimistic and creative despite difficulties and uncertainties. Lots of stories, videos and more can be found via on the Global Voices pages." (link)

Joi Ito"I'd seen the site growing and growing, but the scale, quality and commitment of the community involved in running this multi-national, multi-lingual blogging effort really hit me after attending this conference and I'm even prouder than ever to be able to part of this movement." (link)

ADVOCACY MEETINGThe day before the public Summit, around 80 activists, NGO workers and technologists met for more in-depth discussions about building a global network of online activists and the tools available. A new Global Voices Advocacy project was announced, and HIVOS proposed the idea of a fund for imprisoned bloggers.

SUMMIT DAY 1Leading online activists facing and working to combat attacks against freedom of expression in various parts of the world, shared first-hand experiences of living in under censorship. They described the tools and social media services used in major campaigns for freedom of expression in their countries. Among the countries represented were Kenya, Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Belarus, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Syria.

SUMMIT DAY 2Brand new bloggers from developing world communities described the

experience of finding a global audience through projects supported by Rising Voices, Global Voices outreach section. Bloggers talked about their influence upon elections in Venezuela, Kenya, Iran, and Armenia. Translators described their ambitions for a multi-lingual Web; and Chinese citizen media experts discussed the clash of local and international biases surrounding media coverage about China. Indian, Kenyan, and Malagasy bloggers described effective information media campaigns by citizens in their countries.

INTERNAL MEETINGAfter the public Summit, Global Voices held two days of internal meeting for editors, authors and translators attached to the project, to strategize about the next phase of activities.

Photos by: Georgia Popplewell

Kristen Taylor, Knight Foundation"About a week ago, I was sitting in a large room in Budapests Novotel Centrum,

stunned. Like the fireworks I watched Friday night from a rooftop at George Washington University in D.C. . . . my understanding of global blogging conversations was being exploded as I listened to fiery bursts from the mouths of impassioned activists and advocates from around the world." (link)

Silvia Fukuoka, Google Policy BlogThese bloggers are critical to the promotion of free expression and transparency

on the internet. They engage in political debate and expose issues often ignored by more traditional information sources in their countries. (link)

Romina Oliverio, blogger"On a personal note, in addition to the priceless information I walked away with, for

me the Global Voices summit sessions exemplified a true sense of interconnectedness. People from all walks of life, all colors, all religious denominations, all political affiliations, all sat in a room for hours at an end listening intently, speaking of their triumphs and their struggles, sharing laughter and even shedding tears. All were different yet all were present for the same reason; to unite their voices in unison and make them resonate even louder around the world. A cohesive global community of change; united they stand, and united blog. (link)

See videos and photos from the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 at the Summit website: http://summit08.globalvoicesonline.org

Visit Global Voices at:http://www.globalvoicesonline.org

What people said:

The world is talking. Were listening.

The Economist"The aim, says Ethan Zuckerman, a Harvard academic who cofounded Global Voices, is to build networks of trust and co-operation between people who would not instinctively look to the other side of the world for solutions to their problems. That is a worthy if ambitious goal. Doubtless, authoritarian governments are in close touch too, sharing the best ways of dealing with the pestilential gadflies and troublemakers of the internet. But they will not be posting their conclusions online, for all to see. Which way works better? History will decide." (link)

BBCs Pods & Blogs"The Summit focused on issues of censorship and the repression of bloggers. While these can seem like dry subjects, many of those who attended the conference had paid a high price for their determination to express themselves online." (link)

Lokman Tsui, Annenberg School"Its a bit overwhelming, imagine hearing all the different forms of censorship practices worldwide in one day and it only reinforces the importance of open spaces online. Sometimes the discussion about censorship can become quite abstract - but the discussions today ground us back into reality again." (link)

Photos by: Joi Ito, Neha Viswanathan, Amira Al-Hussaini, Elia Varela Serra