I got this invitation in my e-mail this week:
Because press space at the invitation-only event is extremely limited, kindly contact me as soon as possible to secure a seat.
Following is background on the event:
WHAT: A unique invitation-only gathering of more than 100 senior leaders from media and technology, the UCBerkeley Media Technology Summit is being organized by the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. The summit, which will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the Googleplex, is intended to provide the leaders of traditional media companies with new insights into the technologies, consumer behavior and advertising systems that will affect their businesses at a time of momentous change (Sounds like the latest opportunity to smack around traditional media companies for being traditional, no? — ed). The Koret Foundation, Google and the McCormick Foundation are generously sponsoring the event.
I got my invitation from Alan Mutter, who blogs about the future of the news business at Reflections of a Newsosaur and someone whom I frequently ask for expert comments for my news stories. Because it’s from Alan, I know it will be interesting, and I wish I could attend (I’ll be in Toronto on covert military maneuvers for the Parti Quebecois for the Thomson Reuters investor day at the time).
One thing strikes me, however, and it’s been on my mind all summer: We need to come up with some answers about how to keep the news business alive in the 21st century. So far, the cycle tends to be: talk, scratch head, talk some more, scratch head, ask questions, blame newspapers for everything, blame the media, talk, scratch head, lay off some staff… and it goes on and on. Is this event really going to change anything?
If nothing else, it has an impressive list of companies that are attending (UPDATE: Mutter’s e-mail says that folks are coming from companies “such as” the ones listed below which means that maybe none of them will come! Thanks to Dan Hayes at Lee Enterprises for pointing this out. ). UPDATE 2: Alan Mutter tells me that people from the companies listed in the initial e-mail are registered to come. I’m sorry for saying in what I thought was a lighthearted manner that folks might not come. Alan is an honest operator and one of the smartest guys in the room when it comes to the future of news, and whatever happens at the conference, it’s going to be interesting.
