Google is erecting its Big Tent in New York City.
The company will host the latest iteration of its conference series, which travels around the world to address the Internet’s effects on various elements of society, on Wednesday.
The Gotham event, taking place at Midtown Manhattan’s Skylight West meeting space, will focus on the Internet’s impact on the arts, creativity and culture. One-day conference is hosted with the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, with Todd Asher, first deputy commissioner of the office, set to speak.
Other speakers include Michael Rapino, president and CEO of Live Nation Entertainment; Brooke Posch, VP of original programming and development, East Coast, at Comedy Central; Scooter Braun, the talent manager who launched Justin Bieber; Kevin Tancharoen, director of the “Mortal Kombat” web series; producer Michelle Phan; Kate Levin, commissioner of the New York City department of cultural affairs; Issa Rae, creator of the web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl;” Jordan Roth, president of Jujamcyn Theaters; Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera; David Drummond, Google’s senior VP or corporate development and chief legal officer; Amit Sood, group manager of Art Project at Google; ukulele artist Julia Nunes; VICE founder Shane Smith; Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts; Joanne Fillion, director of creation, images, events and lifestyle for Cirque du Soleil; New York Times film and TV critic Mike Hale; and Billboard editorial director Bill Werde.
Presentations will be available to view on Big Tent’s YouTube channel and its Google Plus page. Presentations from other cities are also available there.
Big Tent bowed in London last year, attracting around 300 attendees to the event that took place, as the name suggests, inside a large tent.
Conference has since moved to a dozen other cities with events in Seoul and Istanbul set to follow in the coming months before heading to Paris and Washington D.C.
While presentations won’t take place inside a tent during the New York City event, Cirque du Soleil will perform inside one on the rooftop of Skylight West after a reception.
Google’s conference is essentially its version of the TED event and World Economic Forum, which gather speakers to discuss a broad range of topics, including entertainment.
“We wanted to bring together people with different points of view to discuss the issues of creative expression, arts and culture and provide a space to debate and hear all of those views,” said Peter Barron, Google’s head of external relations for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
