Jenny Odell collects and organizes all kinds of things, from meticulously sorting digital finds on Google Maps to tracing the origins of everything she used, wore, ate or bought on one particular day in 2013.

Her work often pulls objects out of context, aggregating and arranging something like a set of pools against a neutral backdrop (as seen above) or taking an entire industrial complex and carefully stripping it of its surroundings (like the facility below).

On June 26th, she will join an assortment of other unusual, curious and brilliant creatives — experts in the realms of art, design, interaction and information — as a speaker at the annual Eyeo Festival in Minneapolis, MN.

Designer, entrepreneur and artist Nicholas Felton, creator of the famously detailed and introspective data visualizations, will be back this year as well to talk about his recent work. His numerous personal annual reports condense the events of a year into a tapestry of maps, graphs and statistics.

Artist and programmer Gene Kogan will bring his interest in “generative systems, artificial intelligence, and software for creativity and self-expression.” He has collaborated on various open-source software projects, working at the “intersection of code, art, and technology activism.”

Others include: a smell researcher and artist with a collection of over 7,000 scents, a designer and software designer pursuing machine learning and news automation, and dozens of other fascinating folks from all over the world.

Eyeo asks: “What data is, where it comes from, and how we utilize it, looks different than ever before. What can we do with it all? What can’t we do? Artists, designers and coders build and bend technology to see what’s possible. What’s next with interaction, what’s revealed by the data. Eyeo brings together the most intriguing and exciting people in these arenas today.” If you haven’t been, this is as good a year as any to go for the first time — it is a wonderful and unique experience. Get tickets here.

Featuring a combination of workshops, lectures, mixers and parties, INSTINT (from the makers of eyeo) brings together some of the most influential and exciting creatives dealing with interactive architecture, art, design and technology from around the world. With less than 60 tickets left, you would be wise to register as soon as possible and if you will be coming to Minneapolis from out of state (or country), be sure to start making travel plans today.

Attending the event last year, WebUrbanist’s founder and lead technologist were stunned by the high caliber not only of the presenters but the 300 attendees as well, all of whom had stories to share about their work in and beyond the realm of interaction design.

This year, WU is once again a proud official media partner of this amazing gathering. In addition to selected talks from last year (embedded above), more videos from INSTINT 2014 can be found on Vimeo – but keep in mind: at least half of the experience is simply interacting with others in attendance during and beyond the event, so the talks themselves tell only part of the story.

Frequently found at the bleeding edge of their intersecting fields, INSTINT’s various compelling presenters manage to show off a combination of stunning completed works while also sharing behind-the-scenes lessons for others looking to create responsive environments, interactive art or smart objects. Attendees will be inspired by the finished projects but also learn a great deal from the trials, errors and iterations described in honest detail as well.

Over three days and in addition to multiple workshops, lunches and mixers, this year’s 14 outstanding speakers include Rachel Wingfield from London, whose experiments with future scenarios combine biology with technology to create living architecture, as well as Nataly Gattengo of San Francisco’s Future Cities Lab who has won awards for robotics, responsive building systems and other developments around the Internet of Things.

More from the organizers: “Great ideas and technology create ever-new opportunities to bring projects to life everywhere and anywhere imaginable. Along with this opportunity comes the inevitable trials and challenges of physical and site specific work. One-off projects made for one-off locations can make you pull your hair out, and/or go broke in the process. The volume of variables, old and new, can be overwhelming: unpredictable environments, bleeding edge technology, custom fabrication, code, bugs, insects, greasy fingers, hackers, crashers, crashes, caches, spoilers, laws, landlords, curators, committees, workers, shippers, solder, electricity, sunlight, moonlight, fluorescent light, reflections, bad ideas, egos, feasibility, durability, production planning, scope, scale, budgets, and on, and on. What knowledge can be applied from previous experiences and what has to be learned on-the-fly, on a per project basis? INSTINT aims to arm you with insights and inspiration, and expand your ability to execute projects in this exciting, but complex, sometimes harrowing, and ever-shifting field.” Register today!

Hot on the heels of this year’s Eyeo Festival comes Leading Creatively 2012 with panels, workshops, films and tours exploring visual culture and digital technologies across various local Twin Cities venues from September 6th through the 8th. Two of WebUrbanist’s regional core creatives have requested and been issued press passes for this National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture event. While by no means exhaustive (see the full schedule on the NAMAC website) here are some of the highlights, followed by information on getting discounts and scholarships to attend.

Venues: For those not yet in the know, the Hack Factory and Soap Factory are, respectively, premier community-oriented maker and art spaces. The first will play host to a mobile Hacker Space at the conference itself, while the second is a stop on the must-see Twin Cities tour on Friday and exhibition opening on Saturday. And no arts event in the community would be complete, of course, with participation of the Walker Arts Center, site of last night’s epic CatVidFest.

Panels: Open Space Documentaries on Thursday tackles the evolution of traditional documentary formats to new forms of transmedia storytelling. Creators looking for funding will need to make a tough decision on Friday afternoon between theory and practice: Pennies from Heaven: Crowdfunding and Community-Supported Media/Arts and Grantmaker Speed Dating. Public Art: Engaging Communities, Claiming Space on Saturday will go beyond the classic notion of public art as abstract, large-scale, office-plaza sculpture, tackling less scripted (and sometimes un-permitted) creations.

People: The last panel mentioned above is where you will find the first person mentioned here: Steve Dietz, President and Artistic Director of Northern Lights/Northern Spark.  And those who chose the ‘theory’ over ‘practice’ option in the previous paragraph will get to see Stephanie Pereira, the Art Program Director of Kickstarter.com out from New York City (WebUrbanist is aiming to interview both, so stay tuned for updates!).

Films: With everything else going on, it would be easy (but a shame) to miss the two-day Film Festival with documentary screenings and associated pre-conference masterclass with day passes for just $15. Click here for more information and a full lineup of features.

Discounts: As conferences go, even the regular-priced, full-access tickets are reasonable, but for creatives on an even stricter budget: “NAMAC is offering incentives for Minnesota residents and organizations, including hotel and conference-registration scholarships, complimentary memberships to NAMAC, and discounted registration rates.” Visit NAMAC.org for more information on these and other options and opportunities, and feel free to say hello if you see a WebUrbanist editor or photographer at the event!