It’s truly astounding how much has happened in the world of online video since we last gathered in 2010. We saw how citizen video became a critical element that galvanized the sweeping social changes across Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and the rest of the Arab World. We also watched what happens to public speech when it becomes too thorny to be hosted by private networks, as demonstrated by the take down of Wikileaks’ data by Amazon and Tableau.

As a researcher with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society (and now the new director for MIT’s Center for Civic Media), Ethan Zuckerman is one of the foremost experts on internet civil discourse. Last year he addressed the difficult tensions and compromises that exist with the current private hosting infrastructure for online video.

Unfortunately Ethan couldn’t join us this time around, as he is busily writing his book and transitioning to MIT. Instead, he was able to spare some time to record a video message to OVC 2011 participants where he discusses the impact of current events on these ongoing issues. Have a look!

We’re just a few days away from the Open Video Conference, and by now you’ve undoubtedly checked out our packed schedule of amazing events, sessions, speakers, and exhibits  – if not, then take a look at our newly updated program here. It can be hard to find time for all the sessions you want to attend, so we’ve mapped out a few possible ‘pathways’ representing the numerous disciplines and fields our attendees will be coming from. Read on for some tips to find sessions that best suit your interests and expertise, whether you’re coming to us from the the world of policy, business, tech, cinema, or many others.

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Earlier today, we introduced Jonathan McIntosh’s lightning talk, which comes emerges from his OVC 2010 remix of Donald Duck and Glenn Beck, “Right Wing Radio Duck.” Jonathan will also be one of the session leaders heading up the working group Making a Remix Maker, scheduled for Saturday at 10:30.

Jonathan will join Martin Leduc and Boaz Sender in a working group focused on building intuitive, accessible open source tools to make remixing easier. This session builds on the “Gendered Advertising Remixer Application” (GAR), created by Jonathan and Kaltura at last year’s OVC.

The GAR used drag-and-drop interface to allow users to easily participate in one focused remixing task – swapping the audio and video of toy ads directed at boys or girls. The project uses remixing to highlight the stereotypically gendered approach of ads directed at young children, and importantly opens up this investigation to all kinds of remixers, whether or not they’re familiar with digital video editing tools.

Making remix accessible is important because, as the session leaders highlight, “Making video remixes involves a lot of skills that have nothing to do with editing.” A critical eye for media and a sense of the underlying, potentially surprising themes and connections between disparate pieces of media is as essential for creating an incisive video remix as technical skill.

This session will also open up a discussion about the future of remixes — including the possible downsides of making simple tools such as the loss of important tech skills in the remix community, or the potential for the commodification of remix culture. This session will be a valuable place for remix artists, media critics, designers, coders, and many others with a stake in remix culture to share their perspectives.

We’re really excited to see the results of this session. Registration for OVC 2011 ends today, so be sure to register now.