UGA CONNECT 2009 Conference

I attended University of Georgia, Grady College, CONNECT 2009 conference today, September 19, 2009 in Athens, GA. Porter Novelli is the lead sponsor for the conference.

Panelists and audience debated the value and impact of social media communications.

The hashtag for the conference is #connect. You can also find out more about the conference, speakers and discussions at the following locations:

Twitter: @UGAConnect
Blog: ugaconnect2009
Flickr: ugaconnect09
Delicious: UGAConnect2009
YouTube: UGAConnect

The panels included the following:

Is Social Media Transformational? – Panel Discussion
Melanie James – University of Newcastle (Australia) (via Skype)
Dan Greenfield – Bernaise Source Media, Atlanta, GA
Aaron De Lucia - Porter Novelli

Integrating Social Media in Non-Profits Panel
Tom Watson – Bournemouth University (United Kingdom) (via Skype)
Richard Waters – North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
Sara Valkova – Emory Healthcare, Atlanta, GA

Integrating Social Media in Business and Industry Panel
Jeremy Pepper – Palisades Systems, Los Angeles, CA
Toby Bloomberg – Bloomberg Marketing/Diva Marketing, Atlanta, GA

Speaker: Lauren Fernandez, Public Relations Blogger, Dallas, TX

Legal Issues with Employee Blogging
Perry Binder- Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA

Integrating Social Media in Government Panel
John Tedesco - Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Lt. Connie Braesch – U.S. Coast Guard, Washington DC (via Skype)

Speaker Bios can be found here and here.

The nice thing about this conference is that it is small enough for the audience to actively engage and debate the presenters. Nothing is taken for granted and controversial perspectives on the theme are not held back

Voices in the Technology For The Turnaround Conversation

I received the Spring 2009, Pomona College Magazine and was sitting by the pool reading it when I realized the magazine editors had compiled a timely and comprehensive set of articles on the present and future of journalism. The articles were written by Pomona College alumni ranging from Bill Keller, Class of 1970, and New York Times Executive Editor to Molly Goodson (@mollygoodson), Class of 2004, Editorial Creative Director at PopSugar.

The title of this post refers to the University of Georgia, Grady College, New Media Institute, Technology For The Turnaround (my blog post) event I attended April 25, 2009. That event focused on the future of journalism, public relations and mass communications. At the end of the event, all attendees agreed this is an evolving discussion and a critical piece to the future of the social web ecosystem. If you want to review the conversation and discussion that occurred during the event, use the hashtag #tech4turn and do a search on Twitter.

I believe journalism and journalists are very important to researching, analyzing, synthesizing and reporting on local, national and international events. I also believe that bloggers are and will become more like journalists and journalists will become more like bloggers and vloggers. It is the merging of professional and practiced journalism technique with social technologies that will lead to the future of what we currently call newspapers and magazines. Once newspapers, magazines and journalists truly embrace social technologies and become unencumbered by the spatial requirements of paper, they will both deliver far more depth and insights and more concise stories. Journalists must embrace tools like Twitter that enforce a 140 character limitation while also taking advantage of the infinite space afforded to them on websites and blogs to deliver far more background and depth to their stories that were edited out in the past.

There was also an excellent debate last night (July 6, 2009) on #Journchat (@Journchat) about journalism and public relations specifically related to a New York Times story: "Spinning The Web: P.R. In Silicon Valley" and the corresponding arguments about this article on TechCrunch: "The Reality of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray" and Dave Taylor's The Business Blog At Intutive.com: "Mike Arrington Doesn't Understand PR At All..." Both blog posts make strong arguments about the pros and cons of PR today and how integration of traditional and new media approaches are required to be successful.

Below are links to the Pomona College Magazine articles on the present and future of journalism. Read and enjoy.

• Endangered Species: The Future of the News, The Reporter - Richard Perez-Pena (@perezpena), Class of 1984 (full disclosure, I am also a Pomona College alum, Class of 1984)

• Revolution Redux: The Future of the News, The Columnist - Mary Schmich (@MarySchmich), Class of 1975, Chicago-Tribune Columns
  

• Not With A Bang: The Future of the News, The Editor - Bill Keller, Class of 1970

• Holding On & Letting Go: The Future of the News, The Blogger - Teresa Valdez Klein, (bio @tetesagehen) Class of 2005

• Search Your Feelings: Professor Sara Sood's Cyberquest for the Heart of the Blogosphere - This is a very interesting article and research project as Prof. Sood is trying to figure out how to search on emotional context of a word or phrase instead of literal meaning.

• Gossip Girl: Molly Goodson, Class of 2004, Feeds The Endless Cycle of Celebrity News at PopSugar

• A Glimmer of Hope: Tom Redburn, Class of 1972, Sees Hope For Newspapers In New Technology

I hope you enjoy these articles and I look forward to the continuing conversation around this vital topic during the weekly #journchat and #blogchat events or at a future University of Georgia, Grady College CONNECT (CONNECT Blog) or New Media Institute events.

July 8, 2009 Revision - I am adding this blog post: "Thoughts on the Future of Journalism from the Purple List" as another good discussion on the future of journalism.