To commemorate this occasion, the American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) and the sponsors and organizers of the Understanding Complex Systems (UCS) symposium series will be holding a pair of parallel events during the period 11 - 15 May:

• The 2008 ASC Conference (11 - 15 May)

• The 8th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium (UCS 2008) (12 - 15 May)

Our organizations have established a reciprocal arrangement for attending both these conference events.

This conference is devoted to cybernetics in its full variety.

For each person who names themselves a cybernetician, an attendant "my cybernetics" is created, informed by her or his study, practice, and experience. Through conversation, "my cybernetics" joins the larger domain of cybernetics as it is studied, practiced, and experienced by other people who name themselves cyberneticians and thus create their own "my cybernetics". These interactions form "Our Cybernetics". During this conference we anticipate hearing many voices and ways of being, and the opportunity to observe the observing system we constitute.

In creating papers and presentations for the conference, we ask participants to tip their hat to our theme of "my cybernetics". Certainly whatever you do will be your cybernetics, but please include an extra loop of observation that examines your own work in the context of cybernetics in the large. And when you participate in the conference, keep examining the nature of cybernetics in relation to your own activity and the activity of others inside and outside cybernetics.

A Sampling of Cybernetics (to stimulate thoughts toward the 2008 Conference theme ...)

In the public eye cybernetics is often linked with origins in the the design of automated systems and the consequences of interactions of women/men and machines. Contemporary cybernetics began as an interdisciplinary study connecting the fields of control systems, electrical network theory, mathematical logic, stability in biological and engineering systems and neuroscience in the 1940's. Cybernetics expanded through the Macy conferences and other outlets to embrace social systems, Anthropology, general systems theory, psychology, architecture and design. Under the influence of Margaret Mead and Heinz von Foerster, cybernetics turned its light upon itself and became the cybernetics of cybernetics, the cybernetics of observing systems.

As we move back to specific cybernetic societies we find different lines of thought and exploration:

• The American Society for Cybernetics, closely allied with Heinz von Foerster and the Biological Computer Laboratory has been concerned with the role of the observer in systems and the understanding of observing systems.

• Complex Systems Theory groups have emphasized the roles of mathematical modeling and the notion of emergent properties of systems in the presence of process, recursion, and feedback. There are many other viewpoints in this complex adventure in science and epistemology.

• Many other groups study cybernetics in their own way around the world.

For more background on cybernetics, see:

• http://www.asc-cybernetics.org
  (Check the various materials available in the 'Foundations' section)

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics

• http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CYBSYSTH.html

• papers
• performances
• displays
• symposia
• workshops
• panels
• hosted conversations

Such proposals should be summarized in writing and submitted to the Conference organizers.

You should send your proposal(s) to both:

Elizabeth Simpson

Email: elizacorps@yahoo.com

and

Louis Kauffman

Email: Kauffman@uic.edu

The submission period for contributions opens on 1 March 2008.

No deadline for submission of contributions has yet been set.

141 Loomis Lab
1110 W. Green Street (Green Street & Goodwin Ave)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana IL 61801

Location References:

• 8:30-9:00 The Creative from the Receptive, the Receptive from the Creative

• 9:00-9:45 Susan Parenti

• 9:45-10:30 Thomas Fischer

• 10:30-12:00 Reflections and Closing

• 12:00-1:00 Lunch

During a 2-week period prior to the conference an online discussion exercise was held on the CYB-COALITION forum (Yahoo Groups). This online exercise was intended to set the stage for further discussions at the 2008 Conference. Results from the online exercise will be made available to on-site attendees, who will have the opportunity to make their own contributions during the course of the conference.

Each participant in the online discussion was asked to post responses to 3 focal points or issues. The collated contributions (subdivided with respect to the 3 focal points) are now available for review on the ASC website.

The focal topics (and links to the collated pre-conference results) are as follows:

1. How I Found Cybernetics (i.e., how I became acquainted and engaged with the field or its subject matter)

   http://asc-cybernetics.org/2008/MYCYB-1.htm

2. What Cybernetics Means to Me (i.e., what value or utility I ascribe to cybernetics in my personal and / or professional life)

   http://asc-cybernetics.org/2008/MYCYB-2.htm

3. Description of My Cybernetics (a statement describing cybernetics as you see it)

   http://asc-cybernetics.org/2008/MYCYB-3.htm

Klaus Krippendorff

Owing to an injury (broken foot), Klaus will not be able to join us at the 2008 ASC Conference.

The paper he'd prepared for presentation is available at:

General directions for getting to Urbana-Champaign:

• http://www.uiuc.edu/overview/visitors/directions.html

Sources of general visitor information on the 2008 Conference location:

• Champaign County (IL) Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District

NOTE: Spring commencement at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will occur on Sunday, May 11. This means the demand on hotel / motel accommodations will be higher than normal the weekend our 2008 Conference starts.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Historic Lincoln Hotel in Urbana, Illinois at a rate of $85 per night.

Historic Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center
209 S. Broadway Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 384-8800

http://www.historiclincolnhotel.com/

Room Reservations must be made 30 days prior to the conference.

This means it is recommended that you reserve your room by April 10, 2008.

If you wish to reserve one of these rooms, refer to Group Block Number 249596.

A summary listing of other local accommodations is provided by the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau at:

Two options for meal packages are available through the parallel The 8th Understanding Complex Systems Symposium (UCS 2008) :

• Speaker Appreciation dinner (Tuesday, 13 May) - $38

  and/or

• Four hot lunch buffets (Monday through Thursday, 12 - 15 May) - $31.

If you want to get one or both these meal options, you must register for them (alone) via the UCS conference website, not through ASC.

Here's how to register for the meal options:

1. Go to the UCS 2008 registration webpage at: http://fms.physics.uiuc.edu/conferences/complexsystems/registration.htm

2. Enter your personal data at the top of the page.

3. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to choose your meal options ONLY (under the 'Events' section - select either or both of the 'extra ticket' / 'extra packet' options listed there).

4. Submit the UCS 2008 registration form using the 'Submit Registration' button at the bottom of the page.

American Society for Cybernetics
2008 Conference
Fee Structure
 

CATEGORY	APPLICABLE FEE(S)	FEE AMOUNT
ASC Members (Full/Waged)	Conference fee only	US$ 110.00
Others (not ASC members) (Full/Waged)	Conference fee plus ASC membership for 2008	US$ 190.00 Non-member registration fee represents an amount equal to 1 year's ASC dues plus the ASC member conference registration fee. Non-members will be enrolled as full ASC members for the remainder of the 2008 membership year (through 31 December 2008).
Students 'Student' means full time undergraduate or graduate students.	Conference fee plus ASC student membership for 2008	US$ 35.00 Student registrants will be enrolled as student ASC members for the remainder of the 2008 membership year (through 31 December 2008). This is a substantial discount; annual student memberships are ordinarily $35.00 by themselves.
Non-Students / Limited Income This category includes non-students (cf. above definition of 'students') who are retired or earn less than US $30,000 in annual income.	Conference fee only	US$ 50.00 Non-student limited income registrations do not include ASC membership for 2008.

Elizabeth Simpson   -  Email: elizacorps@yahoo.com