The conference is a space for young people to voice and discuss the issues that matter to them with a host of experts, policy makers, artists, and think tanks from around the globe.

Vibewire Vice President Elliott Bledsoe, amongst other members of the organisation will be attending the Australia 2020 Youth Summit in the days following the E-Festival and will be bringing the ideas and thoughts of e-Festival participants to the Summit. This is a great opportunity for young australians to play an active role in shaping the nation's future.

The six panels run for five days during National Youth Week, April 8-12, 24 hours a day.

This year's panels include:

* e-Participation: Fad or Future?
* 2018: New Frontiers in Digital Arts
* Reworking Feminism: What Does Gender Equality Mean in the 21st Century?
* The Creative Entrepreneur's Toolkit: a How-To Guide for Young Artists
* Reaching Off the Screen: Film, Audiences and Social Change
* Are You Being Heard? Youth Voices in Local Government

Panelists include:

Mark Pesce- early pioneer of Virtual Reality & co-inventor of VRML
Tony Walker- driving force behind digital futures blog and Manager of ABC Digital Radio
Arts Engine, Inc. (USA)- avidly promoting the use of independent media of consequence by advocates, educators and the general public.
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D (USA) - Associate Director for Online Advocacy at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Axel Bruns- Senior Lecturer in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland U of T in Brisbane and the author of Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and Beyond: From Production to Produsage.
Miriam Lyons- Director of the Centre for Policy Development and former Policy Coordinator of New Matilda.
Kate Raynes-Goldie (Canada)- Co-founder & game developer at Giant Dice. Currently completing PhD thesis in the Internet Studies Program at Curtin University of Technology, focusing on Facebook users.
Proboscis (UK)- artist-led studio that combines artistic practice with commissioning, curatorial projects, design and consultancy.
Laura Imbruglia- Musician, mixing up classic pop sensibility and punk attitude
Sonja Basic- General Manager of Propelarts. Advocate for youth arts and involvement
Leigh Mangin- Manager of Carclew's Arts and Education
Natalie Wood- Fashion designer and creative director forInsight, Something and Something Else
Julian Stadon- Investigating importing/exporting from Second Life. Participant in the ANAT mentorship programme
Jason Hill - Videogame journalist for The Age, SMH
Gotye- a Melbourne based singer-songwriter who won the Best Male Artist ARIA in 2007
Eva Cox - long-time advocate for gender equality in Australia and Senior Lecturer at University of Technology, Sydney
ABC's Good Game- the only Australian TV Show solely about Video Gaming
The Babelswarm Crew - Virtual Artists' Residency sponsored by the Australian Council and based in Second Life
Joel Gethin Lewis - interaction designer for British-based collective United Visual Artists
Alice Angus (UK)- Artist, writer & filmmaker with UK think tank and creative studio Proboscis
Chloe Walker- Freelance writer published in lip, Arts in the City, Beat, Buzzcuts, Arts Hub, Pecado, The Pun, and Tertangala
Sam Smith- Video installation artist based in Sydney. Exhibited in Australia, Japan and NZ with screenings in Spain, Brasil, Ireland, Thailand, & China
Melinda Bufton - Careers consultant offering advice for the the talented confused
Alvin Tan - Founder and Artistic Director of Singapore-based theatre company Necessary Stage

...and many more! 

For general enquiries, expression of interest to sit on a panel or become a panel moderator, or to
request an interview with any of our guests please e-mail Cassie at efest [at] vibewire.net