At our May 15 SMC meeting, Jon Lebkowsky and David Armistead will speak about The Headless Organization.

Throughout the history of the Internet, we’ve seen an explosion of new, relatively frictionless communication channels, broad access to the means of media production, and a blurring of the distinctions between professional and personal media. We’ve seen an ascendance of many-to-many communications resulting in “out of control” communications, flatter hierarchies, and the emergence of new, agile forms of social and political organization. The rise of networked communications and the appearance of robust platforms for social networking has been accompanied by an increasing tendency for groups to self-organize — and the proliferation of entities referred to as leaderless or “headless” organizations. In May’s SMC presentation, we’ll consider how these headless organizations have evolved, discuss some examples, and talk about challenges, limits, and potential future developments.

Jon and David are principals of Social Web Strategies, an Austin business consulting company that focuses on the social web and its impact on business transformation.

Pizza and soft drinks served at 6:00 p.m. Program begins at 6:30. The meeting is free, but we ask you to register because space is limited.

Special thanks to Joshua Baer and Datran Media for sponsoring this month’s meeting.