When Carl Malamud set out to re-create the great world's fairs of the last century, he envisioned an event that took place all over the world, one where anybody could build a pavilion; a world's fair that embraced the new technologies of the Internet in the same way that past fairs embraced technologies such as radio and electricity. He bought seven around-the-world plane tickets and set off in search of volunteers to help build what he dubbed "a world's fair for the information age."
In less than a year, Malamud and a grass-roots collection of engineers, artists, and other volunteers built the Internet 1996 World Exposition by convincing corporations to contribute close to $50 million in computers and telephone lines, and by garnering the support of a dozen heads of state, including Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin. More than eighty countries built thousands of pavilions that attracted over 5 million visitors from 130 countries. Just as the 1893 World Columbian Exposition celebrated the modern new city of Chicago, the Internet 1996 World Exposition celebrated the arrival of the global village.
A World's Fair for the Global Village is a behind-the-scenes look at the fair, from its inception through the closing ceremony. It includes profiles of the small group of people who made it happen, backstage glimpses into the elaborate preparations, visits to highlights of the pavilions and events, and visitors' comments. The reader sees how participants throughout the world seized the metaphor of a world's fair to build their own pavilions.
