Networks form the basis of everything, from how your body works to who you know, from how power is distributed to how the store on the corner is kept stocked. Networks are in the news, from the elections to anti-terrorism, to investigations of financial markets and the Blackout in the US.

At MeshForum 2006, May 7-9 in San Francisco, we will explore Networks in depth. We will examine the critical role visualization and visual thinking plays in understanding and managing networks. Then we will look at very large scale social networks as a significant case study of Networks.

On our visualization track, MeshForum will start with an opening Keynote from Manuel Lima, founder of VisualComplexity.com. We will continue with a lunch workshop on Visual Thinking, Monday May 8th by Dave Gray, founder of XPlane. Throughout MeshForum artists whose work focuses on and uses networks will present their work. We will have a closing presentation by Dr. Karen Stephenson of Netform on Monday afternoon.

Our exploration of large scale social networks will start on Sunday May 7th afternoon with presentations from some of the largest online social networks. Anil Dash of Six Apart and LiveJournal, Marc Senasac from Broadband Mechanics, and Mike Jones from Userplane will start our conversations by sharing their experiences working with and managing very large scale social networks.