The Open Video Conference is an event about technology. But it’s also about how technology affects the world around us. This event convenes people from all over the web video space. Some attendees are developing essential technologies for video; others are ensuring universal access to high-speed broadband; still others are using video for social change. All are actively building the future of the medium.

It may seem strange to house such a diversity of perspectives under one roof. But open video is just as important for technology companies and entrepreneurs as it is for creators, educators, and human rights activists on the front lines of change.

Since 2009, the participants of the Open Video Conference have been threading a needle through a fairly big story. The first OVC took place at the precise time that images of Iranian election protests were reaching Western eyes through email, blogs, and platforms like YouTube. Today, cameraphone images from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere appear on screens around the world.

We’re still weaving this story. In just three short years, we’ve seen big shifts in network policy, broad transformations in public life, and constant changes in technology. The media is more read/writeable than ever before, but we’re far from the full potential of web video: a day when every person on the planet can express their world through moving images. Video will be most powerful as a medium when it’s as copy-pastable, accessible, and ubiquitous as text.

There’s much work to be done here on technological, legal, and practical fronts. A careful observer will find urgency even in quiet places like libraries—consider that in 2011, the Library of Congress still relies on RealVideo as its primary video technology (if this makes you shake your head, this is definitely the event for you).

This year’s event is designed to be more hands-on than years past. You’ll find few talks and panels. Instead, you’ll be meeting people, making things, and laying plans. There are over 30 working groups scheduled for you to explore and participate. And if you’re inspired at any time this weekend, you’ll find plenty of time and open space to start something big.

As you’re hacking, writing, filming, or meeting future collaborators this weekend, consider some of the emerging issues in web video. How will we retain control and sovereignty over our digital lives, when the devices we carry are increasingly restrictive of the apps and services we can access? How will we protect identity in a world of thorough surveillance and networked facial recognition? What are the new power dynamics in a world where anyone can make and share video?

These are just a few of the threads you’ll find in this expansive story. We hope that your experience at this year’s OVC will be productive, thought-provoking, and fun.

This is the foreword to the OVC 2011 Program written by conference directors Ben Moskowitz and Chris Wong – download a copy of the program here.