“Disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with ourselves is absolutely essential for wisdom.”

– ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

Illustration by Lynn Fisher

The beauty of disconnection

Technology is a wonderful gift to humanity, but it also can be a curse. We’re living in time with a superabundance of devices and endless possibilities to connect with each other. The days when communication was largely asynchronous (remember not having mobile phones and actually sending letters?) are, for the most part, long gone.

One of the questions that we want to ask at &yetConf is this—are we leveraging technology to truly bring people together, or are we enabling disengagement due to information and notification overload? We want to empower participants to truly commit to interacting with each other, rather than their devices. So how do we disconnect to be alone or in a companionship, without technology?

If you find yourself needing a break from tech and are curious about fostering new relationships offline you can still grab a ticket to &yetConf here. And talking about &yetConf, we invite you, dear readers, to play Textcapades—a text messaging choose-your-own-adventure game that’s a vital part of the conference.

7 Important reasons to unplug and find space

by Joshua Becker

Joshua not only mentions statistics on how addiction to technology is negatively affecting our lives but also sheds some light on reasons why and how occasionally we should pull the plug on Internet and devices—for the sake of ourselves and our loved ones.

Alone together: why we expect more from technology and less from each other

by Sherry Turkle

Sherry dissects how our persistent connection paradoxically leads to a new type of solitude. Based on her research, Alone Together is a study of relationships in the world architected by technology.

Bored and brilliant

by New York Public Radio

Earlier this year WNYC ran a week-long project to help people detach from devices and get creative. See how both decreasing time spent on your phone and, surprisingly, boredom can let your imagination flourish.

Tickets are now available without an application—get one while they last!

What we’re working on

We believe that conferences are an art form. Head over to the blog to read how we design &yetConf to be people first.
Still unsure why we're running a quite secretive, nontechnical technical event somewhere in Washington state? Eric nails it down in Why &yetConf?

&yetConf is intentionally mysterious, but we did reveal one tiny teeny secret—Textcapades. This 9 episode choose-your-own-adventure story is a crucial part of the conference experience (see the reactions so far!).

Over to you

Marcy Sutton wrote about mentoring as a part of our timeless legacy on The Pastry Box.
Rahul Choudhury just launched a game for desktop and mobile—Contranoid.

Mark Palfreeman told us a story of building the Seattle Whiskey Collective—a community of over 50 people gathering to taste and learn about American whiskeys.

&you?

How do you spend time without being connected? Let us know and we might share it in a future dispatch (just reply to this email).

<3, your friendly neighborhood &yetis