The Conference
It’s probably a little pompous to call something “The Chicago Media Future Conference.” After all, who really can say for certain what the future holds for local print and online news publications? And yet, that’s the name we’ve chosen.
February’s Chicago Journalism Town Hall brought tremendous energy, intellectual curiosity and talent together in one room. The discussion sparked many conversations and ideas, online and offline, about a range of topics. Having been in on many of these discussions, we knew the desire for another event was palpable. So we (Mike Fourcher, Barbara Iverson and Scott Smith) decided to hold our own event focused on one of those discussion topics: How news coverage can successfully migrate to profitable on-line distribution. (See below for bios of all three organizers.)
The Chicago Media Future Conference will be held Saturday, June 13 at Columbia College’s Film Row Cinema (1104 S. Wabash) from 1:30pm to 4:45pm. The FREE event will consist of two 90-minute, moderated, five-person panels, with a 15 minute break in between. Each panel’s topic will be introduced by a 10-minute “scene-setting” informational presentation.
We planned The Chicago Media Future Conference with a few stipulations in mind:
- The conference would be about the future of news. We broadly define news using the intentionally broad dictionary definition, “1: a report of recent events 2: previously unknown information.”
- The innovative future of news will take place online, while print, television, and radio will remain necessary and vital mediums for analysis and reporting.
- People are already paying for news online, in direct and indirect ways. These solutions need to be acknowledged and discussed in detail.
- Most people are interested in retaining the commonly-understood ethical standards for news delivery currently followed by offline media. Many standards and best practices already exist for online news delivery, though some sites don’t always follow them. Some ethical standards have yet to be established, as technology often outpaces “the rules.”
- Our panels should look forward, not backward. The time has passed for lamenting what used to be. We’re not interested in talking about problems unless we’re also discussing solutions.
We really want this conference to include new voices, new viewpoints and new strategies. We want you to be a part of this collaboration. Here’s what we want from you:
Input
What do you think about all this? Does it sound interesting? Do you foresee some problems? What topics do you think we should be discussing on these panels? Let us know at info {at} chicagomediafuture(.)org.
We’re also hoping you’ll help us fill out our two panels. More details on that in The Panels section.
People
This is a pretty big undertaking. There’s a lot to do, and we’re hoping to get some smart, talented folks to help us. Here are the tasks we need help with:
- Day-of assistance with check-in, answering attendee questions, herding people around, etc.
- Audio and video recording of the event (and possibly to edit said footage)
- Photographing the event
Just a note: Everyone involved in this project - including our fantastic Web designer Stephen Schmidt - is volunteering their time and talent (though it’s possible we might buy you a beer at some point) for this non-profit venture. But we will go out of our way to credit you for your work and throw a little business your way, if we can.
Speaking of money, we’re also looking for…
Sponsorship
There are some incidental costs associated with a free event like this (renting the space, buying refreshments, hiring a tech person to run sound, etc.) so we’re hoping some local businesses out there will be interested in throwing a tiny bit of cash our way in exchange for the honor and prestige of being named a sponsor of the first Chicago Media Future Conference. Think of it: You will be able say you were at the forefront of the revolution of Chicago news! How often does an opportunity like that come along? Once in a lifetime!
Ahem.
Lastly, we need lots of help with…
Promotion/Word of mouth
We want your help in telling people about The Chicago Media Future Conference. Write about it, blog it, Twitter it, text it, Digg! it, post it on your Facebook page, and tell your smart friends about it.
We want this conference to include new voices, new viewpoints and new strategies. We want this conference to be a room full of people working together on the future of Chicago news who then go out into the world and turn words into action. I hope you’ll join us on June 13th and online at ChicagoMediaFuture.org. Thanks for being a part of this collaboration.
The Chicago Media Future Conference organizers are:
Mike Fourcher
Mike Fourcher is founder of Purely Political Consulting, with dozens of state and local candidates across Illinois. He has built a dozen political websites, served as staff to California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez on Capitol Hill and served in the in Clinton Administration on the personal staff of then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. More recently Mike wrote for Chicagoist, founded Cloutwiki.org and RudyGiulianiMarriedHisCousin.com. After obtaining an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003, Mike consulted for daily newspapers and lead an investor group to purchase alternative newspapers around the country.
Barbara Iverson
At Columbia College, Barbara teaches, talks and blogs about blogging, citizen journalism and digital technology. She blogs at Currentbuzz.org and is also co-editor and publisher of ChicagoTalks.org. She has a Ph.D. in Public Policy Analysis from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a specialist in web publishing, interactive multimedia, integrating technology into arts and media courses, and training teachers to use technology in the classroom.
Scott Smith
Scott Smith is now a Senior Editor at Playboy.com, having recently spent two-plus years at Time Out Chicago as Web Editor. He previously worked as co-editor at local news and culture blog Chicagoist, where he wrote about music and movies, and has spent time in radio promotions, teaching, tech support and social work. He has also freelanced for Metromix and Centerstage Chicago, and has been a commentator on Chicago Tonight, WGN Radio 720, and Filmspotting, a film review podcast.