David Brauer // I'm a Minneapolis-based journalist who covers media, politics and random civic-ness for Minnpost.com via Braublog. I'm also on Twitter and Facebook. This is a personal blog; stuff here doesn't always meet professional standards.
Sorry for initial formatting screw-up. Hope this fixes it.
So says the PiPress' Julio Ojeda-Zapata, who has a generous write-up on #ofon using Google Wave for conference planning. (By the way, it was Taylor Carik who started the Wave, even though I jumped in with both flippers.)
Yeah, I may seem niche-hip now, but then again, I was the guy they were laughing at Tuesday night when I mispronounced "Posterous" at an #ofon planning meeting. Seriously, they looked at me like I was Stork in Animal House.
The cutting edge, it bleeds.
Schedule update
Here's the agenda for the Other Future of News forum, Saturday, Dec. 12, 10a-5p at Spill the Wine, 1101 Washington Ave. S. Minneapolis. (You can read more about the event here)
First, a caveat:
We nailed down the topics, but made them a bit broader than the ideas we were all voting on in the Google Wave.
Basically, there are three groupings - the business side (how can we get the coin we need to do the content we're trying to do, and how existing orgs can be successfully reshaped), the tech/tools side (what's out there, or will be out there, to enable better content?) and the content-generation side (not only what audience wants/needs, but how great stuff is being made now and might be made in future).
Really, these are just loose groupings for the 5-minute presentations. (We need volunteers for presentations -- see below.) We'll try to organize appropriately, but remember our new motto - "Unclench." If really cool things fit between categories, we'll figure out a way to get them in.
One last thing: the 2-hr sessions may seem long, but they'll be split roughly in half - an hour of 5-minute presentations, and an hour of discussion among all of us on the topic.
10a-10:15a - Intros, ground rules, etc.
10:15a-12:15p - Session One: Better Business/Organizational Change/Organizationless?
A combo of topic ideas #1 and #3. How to pay for whatever you're doing (or want to do), and how news orgs are evolving, structurally.
12:15p-1p - Lunch (You're on your own, but the Spill the Wine folks would probably love to serve you. Grumpy's is just down the block.)
1-3p - Session Two: Tech/Tools.
Topic idea #4 below, more or less. Focused on the tools and technology that can make for more effective news content, or actually shape content we might be doing. Developers, coders, etc.
3-5p - Session Three - Content
Topic ideas #7 and 8, but more broadly, but also some tips from people making good content right now.
5p-on - Retreat to bar and keep arguing ... er., discussing.
--
So you want to do a presentation? We want you to do a presentation!
This is the place to volunteer -- pick a session ... we might re-arrange based on which ones get more, but don't sweat it too much right now. We're more interested in you (list name) and topic (list that) at the moment. You can talk about something you've done, something you want to do, something you've done within an org, something on your own ... whatevah.
(If you have access to the Google Wave, you can self-nominate there. You can also self-nominate here ... just add a comment below.)
We'll probably have room for 5-10 presentations per session, but we'll winnow later ... and we'd really like to have that problem.
Session One: Business/Organization
Session Two: Tech/Tools
Session Three: Content
So #ofon is coming into focus. We actually have places to meet!
The idea here (begun by David Brauer and Taylor Carik) is to fill in some of the blanks left by MPR's Future of the News conference. It's tentatively scheduled for Spill the Wine restaurant, 1101 Washington Ave. S. on Saturday, Dec. 12, tentatively 10a-6p. There will be beer. (How that gets paid for is unknown at this point.)
Update: There will be a forum planning session at Grumpy's Downtown Minneapolis, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 7-9p. If you want a say in what happens beyond this Wave or future wiki, mark it in your calendar!
Among other concepts:
1. Presenters should skew young - not dominated by old white guys, but younger folks who ARE the Future of News, as consumers at least. Gender, racial diversity, too. See subject ideas below.
2. One session should focus on what's working right now. No bitching about the state of the industry or how we got here, unless it informs a solution.
3. Programmers/developers a must. Not just reporters, wordies, multimedia journos. It all must come back to content, but non-techies must learn from techies. (Techies probably much more aware of non-techies.)
4. Beer. Drink responsibly.
5. Informal. No ponderous panels, but some guided/moderated discussion. Short presentati ons (5 minutes each, mulitple people per session) inspiring longer discussions. We're thinking 90-minute sessions at this point
The Twitter hashtag for this is #ofon
There's a Google Wave going on this. Let @dbrauer know if you want in. Give him your Wave address.
SESSION IDEAS - We'll probably pick three. These are in no particular order right now.
#1: AFTER THE NEWSPAPER
(Questions: What does an effective news org look like in 2011? Is it more valuable to follow five good people on twitter than buy a paper in the morning? Will all positions be for multi-media journalists? How important is archiving and SEO to media orgs? What are the essential tools for current journalists? Do journalists need institutions to succeed?)
#2: WHO IS THE AUDIENCE?
(Can new media orgs extend beyond niches? Will audiences all be small or aggregated? Is there a connection between print pubs and online usage? Can local orgs tap into national outlets like Hulu, Youtube, xbox live, etc.? How does "citizen journalism" create localized outlets? Will some audiences pay for content and some not?)
#3: BETTER BIZNESS
(How does new media monetize when none of pay for any damn thing and get everything on twitter and private torrent pages?)
#4: TECH TALK
(How is site design hurting the media industry? What technologies should all media orgs be currently using? Using in the future? How can reporters develop their own social networks?)
#5: THE WHERE OF NEWS
(How is mobile and real time reporting impacting news? What is the future of info sharing and its impact on news?)
#6: IMPLEMENTING CHANGE IN LEGACY NEWS ORGANIZATIONS
#7: WHAT DOES THE AUDIENCE NEED?
Often lost in the rush to new business models for news is the fact that the public's need for journalism has been evolving as rapidly as new information and connections are being made available online. Much of what we call news has become commoditized, but many truths remain hidden (at best) or (at worst) suppressed by powerful interests who savvily control the public narrative. In this context, what kind of journalism do we need? What stories are going uncovered, or under-covered? How can journalists reframe their purpose in light of the public's need for information, instead of in terms of their need to fill the news hole or beat the competition?
#8: WHAT DOES THE AUDIENCE WANT?
It's always very easy to sit in our towers and determine what the people need. But really, what do they want? Ask any one from legacy media and they'll tell you, "We're just giving the audience what they want." How news organizations of the future best balance what is popular and what is important?
