Courtney Duffy, our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, has the scoop on an important net neutrality opinion from the D.C. Circuit Court last month that gives the arts community cause for celebration. You can find Courtney on Twitter @cduffy90. In June, after more than six months of deliberation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit released its opinion affirming the Federal Communications Commission’s 2015 Open Internet Order. The FCC’s historic decision, which reclassified broadband internet as a common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act, empowered the FCC to protect a free and open internet.

New book for your summer reading list: The Art of Relevance by Nina Simon (photo by Lisa Niedermeyer) The title of Nina Simon’s new book, The Art of Relevance, perfectly sets up our expectations as a reader. It could have been titled The Ultimate Guide to Relevance, or 10 Steps to Being More Relevant, but Simon would never choose such titles because she understands relevance is a moving target. Framing the pursuit of relevance as an art primes us to seek insights into process. Many of you already know Nina’s work from her popular blog Museum 2.0, her best selling book The Participatory Museum or her TEDx Talk Opening Up the Museum. However, for those of you who don’t recognize the name, here is all you need to know in order to be interested in this book’s author — Nina is hungry for accountability. It is not enough to just talk about building relevance in diverse communities, she is deeply invested in what actually works and holding oneself accountable. Before reading this book my working definition of ‘relevance’ was something along the lines of ‘to be relevant you must be in tune with the current environment; you are topical and timely’. Simon replaces such milk-toast definitions of relevance with the following: Relevance is a key that unlocks meaning. It opens doors to experiences that matter to us, surprise us, and bring value into our lives. If we believe the products, services and experiences we create are relevant to a certain audience, but we aren’t unlocking new meaningful experiences for that audience, we aren’t in fact relevant to them at all. Take a moment to let that truly sink in. Many of us are likely attempting to market to, invite, and build for specific communities, but are we unlocking new information that is meaningful to the lives of those individuals? What would it look like if we did? What does it take to authentically do it well? How might the pursuit of relevance change us? What is the danger of irrelevance? The Art of Relevance is an opportunity to learn from others stories and Simon’s thoughtful framing. As I read the book I dog-eared page after page, making notes of the people in my world that I wanted to share the a-ha’s with. Here are the groupings those folks fell into, I highly recommend this book to: People designing new experiences (artists, software developers, curators). People leading efforts around equity and inclusion (arts admins, founders, board members). People advocating for the intersection of communities (disability + dance, museum + homeless, lgbt + race). People tuning into potential for scalable relevance (philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs). The Art of Relevance is an engaging, 196 page read, anchored with stories and examples ranging from small artist-led community projects to large established institutions. (It’s worth noting 2 of the projects featured are Fractured Atlas members and past honorees of our Arts Entrepreneurship Award. Kudos to Museum of Impact and The Laundromat Project!). While the e-book version offers the convenience of reading on the device of your choice, the printed version offers a bright key covered front, thoughtfully designed as a social object. What conversations might be sparked with a stranger on a plane, on a park bench, on your commute, because you are both curious about unlocking meaning?

Source: Flickr Courtney Duffy, our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, is back with the latest edition of Copyright With Courtney. She discusses last month’s outcome of the important Google v. Oracle case and what it means in the greater conversation about fair use. You can find Courtney on Twitter @cduffy90 and join the conversation using #CopyrightWithCourtney.

This May, Fractured Atlas had the opportunity to bring together the 2016 Arts Entrepreneurship Awards honorees in New York City. The event, Creative to the Core, celebrated the work of five organizations who are pushing the boundaries of conventional business practice in the arts. Representatives from each organization engaged in an insightful panel discussion about what it takes to bring innovative approaches to their arts businesses and their visions for the future of the field.

Courtney Duffy (@cduffy90), our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Fellow, spearheaded the 5th annual 3D/DC 2016 (#3DDC2016), the premier 3D printing policy event in the nation. The event took place on Capitol Hill over the course of April 13 and 14. Here is a recap.

In our final installment of our interview series with 3D printing industry leaders leading up to #3DDC2016, we talk to Teresa Sappington, Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. Teresa is a high school engineering teacher from Lamar County Center for Technical Education in Purvis, MS. She is sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science and currently serves as a Congressional Fellow on Capitol Hill with Congressman Mark Takano’s office since the fall of 2015.

Courtney Duffy, our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow, is spearheading 3D/DC, the fifth annual 3D printing policy event sponsored by our friends at Public Knowledge which is scheduled to take place on Capitol Hill on April 14. For additional event details and to RSVP, click here. You can find the other posts in our 3D/DC 2016 blog series here, here,here, and here.

For the past several months, some of our staff have been hard at work with our friends over at Createquity, to bring you something new. The result is the Createquity podcast!

This week we announced the details of 3D/DC 2016, an annual 3D printing policy event on Capitol Hill that is put on by our friends at Public Knowledge and the Congressional Maker Caucus. Our Robert W. Deutsch Arts & Technology Policy Fellow Courtney Duffy, who is running the event this year, recently interviewed the man who started it all: Michael Weinberg. The post below was originally featured here on the Public Knowledge blog.