FEATURE Everything Everywhere Dejour speaks to global culture guru Stan Stalnaker by JOSE R. MEJIA Tell me a bit about the concept of 'hub culture', and why you saw fit to put forth your ideas, then follow through the way you have. What were/are your goals? Hub Culture defined an idea, and grew out of observation that quickly mutated into a community, then a collective.  I was lucky enough to be traveling and living in urban centers and was part of a culture emerging early in the decade that had moved into a post-national world, where people who were global, mobile, and urban had much in common, and technology could let them remain connected, forming a new culture defined by hubs.  Hub became one of the first to see, engage, and help build this new culture that floated around old-school nationalism. As a book, Hub Culture was one of the first discussions on harmonized global consumer psychographics, but it also tapped into deep emerging realizations about materialistic cultures - realizing that eventually this idea of social globalization would lead to a mission, militancy, or something designed to elevate us as a culture beyond consumption capitalism. Over time my goals shifted with an emerging awakening in the community, and that eventually formed our basis for today: to illuminate, to integrate, and to elevate.  As a company, a social collective, a network, our mission is to elevate collective consciousness.  I say that because technology and the internet are revealing paths toward collective action, and the sense that we can elevate our consciousness just by being aware of it - through content, music, networks, social action, helping each other... they all seem to contribute toward this elevation.   What is your opinion on the continued collapse of boundaries in a world where 'the butterfly effect' is becoming more and more tangible? Is the gobal village a safe place to live? How does someone go about adapting? In my view the 'butterfly effect' is a repercussion of this shift towards a revealed collective identity, where we finally realize (really realize, feel) that the tree falling in the Amazon affects our beef in New York, that the bottom of the pyramid bears the weight of the top, and that our actions, no matter how small, contribute to a combined common reality.  As the 'top of the pyramid' in recent years has realized that they are part of a common hub, I think soon the rest of the planet will see that too. This means that farmers in Africa and factory workers in Vietnam and taxi drivers in Shanghai will soon find solidarity with each other, probably driven by low cost mobile technology, with nodal connections already at 3 billion and counting. This will change our view of the world and force us to address some quite awkward issues. Can Paris Hilton really skank the bling when half of Africa can watch her in real time? Is flaunting excess still acceptable when you're finally face to face with someone who has nothing? It will have to shift. As transparency drives efficiency, there will be no other place to live than this global village, and it means we'll all be competing on more open playing fields.  Right now its good, but in the long run, its a race to the bottom unless we find ways to build value at all levels. I think that will be addressed through collective systems that pay out on the micro-level, and Hub Culture people will have to prepare for the day when not just blue and white, but green and black collars are all outsourced to the global market. At that point, the size of our networks and the value of our reputations will be immensely important.   For about two decades, the idea of cultural imperialism was quite thorny. And, despite the global influence of trends these days, certain places can't help but function as beacons of all that is new and interesting. Where is the candle burning brightest these days and why? This totally depends on if you are looking at power or vibe, and i think the internet has become the home of trends, available to whomever is interested. Our annual Zeitgeist Ranking gets a lot of attention by examining this question from a hub point of view - trying to pinpoint 'the moment' as it happens - that place that we all wish we were at later when it becomes apparent that was where the next big cultural wave was building. Our top 5 this year were LA, Berlin, Mumbai, Beijing and Tokyo, but it all depends on what you mean by beacon.  Those cities are driving various things - LA creates our artificial world, Berlin has become the home of global youth culture, Mumbai is the chaotic future, Beijing has substance, and Tokyo is just a wonderful combination of bargain, frivolity and unique flavor.  But you can't deny that London and New York drive power, Paris and Milan shape fashion, and the living in Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires is great.  To get all of that in one combination, fortunately, seems impossible.  What's nice is that for some time, in hub culture at least, the issues of imperialism have given way to issues of convenience and merit. I also have this new hunch that the action is really in the suburbs, - anonymous locations where people are leading in a different way - immersed in online worlds.  This is where the real cultural innovation is taking place, and its scary because its not what hub culture itself would consider desirable - living in a condo off an interstate, but king of some wild Internet gaming frontier.  Soon that frontier will be where we all live, when the web becomes a mobile, 24/7 part of our existence that we just toggle on the go.  We may find ourselves not the dominant power in such a world. How much of an effect do you think political and economic issues are having on cultural issues? Is there ever a danger of 'soft' aspects of human society taking a backseat to the more concrete… will art eventually be assimilated by commerce? I think governments and politicians underestimate how fluid the global workforce has become - and how easy it can be to lose the people who drive this innovation with the wrong policies. London is experiencing this now, as many are talking about decamping to Geneva because of tax issues. Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore know this well.  But that said, there is no doubt that politics and economics drive reality.  Hub Culture is connected by technology and freedom of mobility, and events show how quickly these things can shift. Maybe art is always eventually assimilated by commerce, if it has value recognized by other people, and the pressures of economics do corrupt.  But this is where the shift always occurs - whenever that happens something new rises to take its place.  I think much of the cultural ferment happening now is actually happening online.  We live in a homogenizing world surrounded by McDonald's and Starbucks, 'green' and Frank Gehry, but online worlds are exploding with creativity, new social codes and ridiculous expression.  I am sure, somewhere, the Studio 54 of our generation is taking place in a MMORPG with players from the Philippines to Chile to New Hampshire all leading the charge. As it becomes increasingly difficult to sift through what's important and pertinent and what isn't in terms of the information we consume, what do you do when you need to jump out of the pool and 'dry out' for a bit? The truth is sad: I don't think its very easy, these days, to dry out, and I'm not at a place right now where its very easy to shut off. Curators are becoming more important, and will soon be invaluable, because we live in a digital sea and there's no land in sight. But that's okay.  I was thinking it would be fun to go to Tajikistan and Kazakstan this summer, places that seem like they're not touched by a Facebook status report. But then I realized I was still thinking of it terms of Hub Culture, and wouldn't it be more fun to do it as a road rally or trek or something with our members and blog it on the BlackBerry?  A couple of years ago I went to Antarctica for nearly a month.  Nothing can compare to standing on a glacier with nothing but that immense silence all around you.  Completely unconnected.  The sound of water rushing under your feet, well below the ice and the sun glinting off endless snow. But even then, everything was melting, the scientists were on Youtube, and I turned all the orca and penguin footage into a DVD of video art. There is no escape. Visit Hub Culture online at http://hubculture.com/