Events
Michael Gosney
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Goz developed many events since the 1980s, including the international Imagine Exhibit of Digital Art and the annual Digital Be-In in San Francisco, an influential gathering of cyberculture pioneers.
Events in this Section:
The Digital Be-In—a now-legendary San Francisco-based celebration and technology showcase.
Digital Be-In
Just as the digital media revolution was transforming the industries of printing, graphic design, photography, music, animation, video, and the new medium dubbed “interactive multimedia,” Goz began producing the Digital Be-In—a now-legendary San Francisco-based celebration and technology showcase.
Digital Be-In at SoMarts Gallery, San Francisco – 1994
The Digital Be-In began in 1989 as a private party held by Verbum magazine in conjunction with MacWorld Expo. Goz later spoke of that exciting and heady time:
“Well, at the time, it was the party that everybody wanted to get into. It was all the creative people. And of course, the Macintosh was the creative computer. All the hip journalists, the programmers, and the artists—they all wanted to come to the Verbum Be-In party.”
The Digital Be-In was a semi-annual gathering in San Francisco described by Soledad O’Brien on MSNBC as, “where 90s cyberculture meets 60s counter culture” and “cultural diversity in cyberspace.”
Be-In event posters over the years.
It became a public event in its fourth year, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Human Be-In on January 14, 1992. Sixties counterculture icons instrumental in the original event Timothy Leary, Chet Helms, Allen Cohen, Ken Kesey, John Perry Barlow, and Ram Dass became early collaborators and featured speakers. In the ensuing years, special editions of the event were held in Tokyo in 1995 and London, England in 2005.
Notable speakers and participants in Digital Be-Ins through the years include musicians Graham Nash, Jon Anderson, and Todd Rundgren, labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, philosopher Ervin László, astrophysicist Fiorella Terenzi, Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown.
In an interview with the Silicon Valley news site Pando in 2015, Goz commented on the festival’s history:
“It was a very fertile time. And, as have many of the phases of technology evolution, it was influenced greatly by Bay Area culture. The history of the counterculture was very relevant to the early emergence of the cyberculture movement. And our Digital Be-In event was kind of an embodiment of that connection.”
Human Be-In, Humans Being LOVE – S.O.U.L. Listens to Human Be-In 50th Anniversary Revelers
The Digital Be-In ran through 2007, with a special event on January 17, 2017, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original Human Be-In, emceed by peace activist and Woodstock emcee Wavy Gravy and featuring video messages of peace from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
In 2017, Goz was interviewed by the magazine 48 Hills, where he clarified the crucial role the Bay Area has played in the continuing evolution of the counterculture, culminating with the rise of cyber-culture:
“We’re talking about the Digital Be-In here, but this whole legacy of the Human Be-In, a lot of people in looking back are like what happened to that, where did the counterculture go? I’m like, what do you mean where did it go? What do you think Burning Man is? Burning Man is the evolution of this. So is Symbiosis. So is How Weird Street Fair. It’s all that same lineage of community empowerment, celebration, activism, and creativity, leveraging digital resources. Earthdance is an international event for peace that emerged from the web, 100 events during the September Day of Peace. That’s what I often remind people of, that San Francisco is still playing its role as a cultural vanguard. Our modern events are part of this lineage.”
An Event Producing Collaboration
In 1989, event producer Robert Gelman invited Michael and Verbum to curate a ground-breaking digital art exhibit at the first annual CyberArts International Conference. This partnership blossomed into a decade-long collaboration on many of the Digital Be-ins, subsequent CyberArts events, and ultimately leading to an introduction to Burning Man for the digital arts community.
Gelman was the lead author of “Protecting Yourself Online,” another pioneering book created under the banner of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and in partnership with Michael’s Verbum publishing organization. His work in helping to establish freedom and privacy in cyberspace became the theme of Digital Be-in #10.
Robert Gelman and Michael Gosney.
Deep Green Festival and Conference
The 2012 Deep Green Festival and Conference, produced by Goz in the San Francisco Bay Area on Earth Day, brought together cannabis industry leaders such as Steve DeAngelo and David Bronner to explore the plant’s ecological, economic, and cultural significance. The event featured discussions, workshops, and music, emphasizing cannabis’s potential to drive sustainable solutions and reshape its public image.
Conference Highlights
- Organic vegetable and plant cultivation strategies
- State of the legalization initiatives
- Latest medical science and clinical applications of medical cannabis
- How to professionally manage a medical dispensary
- Hemp industry trends and opportunities
- Building with hemp and the hemp house movement
Festival Highlights
- 100+ Exhibitors with High Vibe Dining Hall
- Build-it-with-Hemp Showcase
- Sustainable Living Roadshow
- Dispensary Showcase
- Hemp Fashion Show
- Visionary Art Gallery
- Book Signings
Paradox Conference
In the late 1990s, Goz and his colleague Ron Anastasia journeyed to Arcosanti to connect the ecocity with the cyberspace digital culture innovators based in SF/Silicon Valley. They inspired Paolo Soleri and the Cosanti Foundation to support and host a series of conferences with themes based on Paolo Soleri’s thesis/essay about the digital revolution and how it relates to Arcology Theory. They organized an all-volunteer team for the Paradox Project, developing the Virtual Arcosanti Model (VAM) and other Paradox-related materials to support the growth and goals of Arcosanti. The project was directed by Goz and coordinated by onsite volunteer Libby Hubbard, known affectionately as Doctress Nuetopia.
Green Alley at How Weird Street Faire
The How Weird Street Faire is an outdoor street fair held annually since 2000 in San Francisco, centered at the intersection of Howard and Second Streets and occupying several blocks of Howard Street and the surrounding area in the SoMa neighborhood. The longest-running electronic music street festival in North America, the How Weird Street Faire showcases diverse forms of dance music, including live electronica, downtempo, breaks, electro, trance, house, techno, dubstep, drum & bass, dub, and world beat.
The Green Alley at the HowWeird Street Faire focuses on cannabis education and awareness, offering exhibitions of select products and services, speakers on the downtempo music stage, and workshops in the Cannabis Education Center Tent. Revelers and supporters can meet experts and pioneers while learning the latest news and info on the recreational, medical, nutritional, and industrial dimensions of cannabis.
Verbum Sessions
Goz organized the Verbum Sessions in San Francisco to serve as a platform for exploring the intersection of technology, art, and ecological sustainability. For instance, the “Regeneration Generation” (below) session on April 23, 2019, focused on regenerative practices and their impact on society.
Through the Verbum Sessions, Goz fostered discussions that bridged digital innovation with environmental and social consciousness.
Various Event Fliers
Computer Museum, Boston – their first exhibition of art produced on the Mac.
The Imagine Exhibit
The Computer Museum in Boston hosted “Imagine,” its first-ever Macintosh art exhibit, during Macworld Expo, showcasing 58 innovative works created with Macintosh tools. Produced by Verbum magazine and Michael Gosney, the exhibit highlighted the emergence of Macintosh-generated art as a vibrant new genre, blending technology with traditional techniques and celebrating the creative potential of personal computing. The event was co-sponsored by Silicon Beach Software, SuperMac Technology, and Letraset Graphic Design Software, with a sneak preview available to Macworld Expo attendees on August 13-14.
The exhibit featured a mix of color and black-and-white works, animations, and slideshows, demonstrating how Macintosh tools have inspired groundbreaking creativity. Artists combine digital techniques with traditional methods like lithography and hand-painted laser prints, bridging old and new mediums. Curator Dr. Oliver Strimpel emphasized the innovative nature of Macintosh art, while Gosney noted the machine’s ability to spark a new art movement and inspire artists as the “antenna of the human race.” “Imagine” offered a unique opportunity for audiences to explore the fusion of technology and artistry in this burgeoning field.
Press Releases related to the Imagine Exhibit
