Along with setting up iFOCOS – and trust me, there’s lots of paperwork – we’ve been working on plans for the next We Media conference, which is February 8 – 9, 2007, in Miami. We have the beginnings of a program in place, and registration is open. We’ll be adding more details in coming weeks.

Here’s the conference site, with a link to register: www.ifocos.org/wemediamiami

We’re planning to get an “official” announcement out soon. First, here’s an update for our closest friends and advisors. Thanks if you’ve found us or care about what we’re up to. You’re welcome to share this and link to our new site (which is still a work in progress).

Dale and I have left The American Press Institute and formed an independent organization called iFOCOS, the Institute for the Connected Society. We’ve affiliated the organization with the Integrated Media Systems Center at the University of Southern California, but we’ll remain in Reston, Va., where we’ve established offices.

Change is good. The creation of iFOCOS allows us to more fully address the changes sweeping media, its businesses and audiences. We’ll continue to convene the We Media conference – the next one is scheduled February 8-9 in Miami, so save the date. We’ll expand other activities to provide intelligence, education and collaborations on the changes transforming media and society globally. The affiliation with IMSC and USC enables us to incubate new projects shaping media and an informed society.

We’ve received great support from friends and funders in forming the new organization. We’re not sure what becomes of The Media Center – that’s up to API. Happily, Gloria Pan joins us as communications director. More on all this to come. We’ll issue a press release in coming days. And we’ve created a web site at www.ifocos.org with initial info. We’ll be building out the site and launching a series of communications as we move forward.

We hope to see you online and in person soon, and we hope you’ll continue to be a part of our story.

Here’s how you can contact us:

• Andrew: andrew AT ifocos.org
• Dale: dale AT ifocos.org
• Gloria: gloria AT ifocos.org

Conference Archive

Here’s where you can find details on what happened, background on the program and archived audio and video (soon).

• Program
• Sponsors
• Participants
• Photos
• Blog | RSS
• Film Fest

Audio and Video Archive

• Introduction – Dale Peskin and Andrew Nachison
• Community session
  Part 1 | Part 2
• Investment session
  Part 1 | Part 2
• ‘Soft Power ‘ session
  Part 1 | Part 2
• (ADDED 2/17/07) Gen Next: The Content Creatives
• (ADDED 2/17/07) Town Hall: Behold the Power of Us: The future of media, democracy and community
  Part 1 | Part 2

Mashup

Di-Ann Eisner of Platial hosted a mash-up breakout. In less than an hour, the group brought together video, photos, blogs, their own information. The site explains how they did it and what they used.

• WeMedia Mashup
• Pet Rescue

More Background and Pre-Conference Details

When: February 7-9, 2007
Where: Storer Auditorium, University of Miami
Presented with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
In cooperation with the University of Miami School of Communication and the University of Miami School of Business.

View The Program (PDF)

What?

We Media Miami explores and fosters the use of digital media to build and improve real communities in a connected society.

This is the third year for the We Media conference. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore spoke at We Media 05 hosted by The Associated Press in New York; BBC Managing Director Mark Thompson, Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, actor Richard Dreyfuss and Nitin Desai of the United Nations participated in the We Media Global Forum in 2006 hosted by Reuters and the BBC in London.

In Miami, the conference will focus on two connected themes:

• Community: How can media and communications in a multitude of forms, produced or influenced by an ever-expanding multitude of sources, serve and strengthen the communities where people live?
• Investment: In a shifting communications marketplace, how will investors, public and private funders or new formulations of social entrepreneurship pay for and sustain the civic enterprises of news and information?

The program includes a series of roundtable discussions and a variety of participatory activities involving communities, individuals and organizations to help participants understand and address the challenges of a changing multi-media world, and to stimulate innovation and investment in projects and services that strengthen communities.

Who Attends?

We Media gathers about 300 international participants: senior executives, decision makers, storytellers, artists, investors, innovators, strategic thinkers, developers of information technologies, entrepreneurs, community leaders and researchers from media, advertising, public relations, marketing, news, entertainment, finance, telecommunications, technology, philanthropy, government, NGOs, social activism and academia.

Why Attend?

A diverse group of leaders from a variety of industries and professions come together to learn from each other and to think about, explore, be inspired by and build upon the shared knowledge and the collective intelligence of the connected society. Their collective efforts spawn new ideas, information, services and businesses.

Roundtables bring together diverse groups of thought-leaders to expose and cross-pollinate thinking about strategic communication. The audience participates in discussion on site and online. Through discourse participants come to a new awareness of the challenges they lead and the values they find important.

Meetups, Mashups, Collaborations and Pitches

We Media Miami functions as a marketplace of ideas AND actions – and a meeting ground for an eclectic and ambitious group of funders, entrepreneurs, community activists, media executives and strategic thinkers on social action. Together they seek new collaborations, new relationships and new ways of thinking about opportunities to build a better-informed society.

Conference organizers facilitate presentations and discussions with venture capitalists and other funders, as well as facilitate independent meetings and discussions among speakers, participants and exhibitors.

Get Personal

Speakers will conduct small-group discussions or question-and-answer sessions. Funders and venture capitalists are available for pitches and collaborations to achieve new partnerships and projects.

Counseling and Mentoring

Speakers and other participants are available for a series of informal meetings, interviews and mentoring sessions on key, emergent issues and developments shaping the changing media ecosystem and the communities that are forming around them.

Plan. Meet. Collaborate.

Registered participants will have advanced access to collaborative networking software to create profiles and identify participants and speakers at the conference with whom they can arrange one-on-one meetings, mentoring sessions or interviews. Plan some meetings in Miami with other participants. The conference will facilitate these and other collaborations.

Workshops and Demos

In an exhibit area, organizations conduct workshops on technologies, tools, applications and systems that stimulate civic engagement and which organize and benefit communities.

Random Acts of Media

A showcase of innovative stories, ideas and applications that are being expressed through collaborative media, interspersed through the conference.

Video Festival

Submit videos from personal media devices for the conference’s “We Space” – a video festival open to community groups and the public. Videos will be shown at the Cosford Cinema on the University of Miami campus. Public workshops open the discussion and demonstrations to the community. Individuals and organizations contribute ideas and projects.

Register Online Now

When: February 7-9, 2007
Where: Storer Auditorium, University of Miami
5250 University Drive, Coral Gables, FL | Map

Arrive: Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Reception: 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Wednesday, February 7, 2007. Dinner on your own.

Start: Check-in for registered participants begins at 8 a.m. and the program begins at 9 a.m. on Thursday, February 8, 2007.

End: The program concludes around 3 p.m. on Friday, February 9, 2007.

Depart: Book your return flight for 5:30 p.m. or later on Friday, Febraury 9, 2007 – or find a way to stay longer and enjoy Miami.

Click Here To Register Online Now

Registration Fee

• Before November 15: $795
• Before: January 3, 2007: $995
• After January 3: $1,195

Participants are responsible for making their own travel and hotel arrangements.

Numerous hotels with a range of prices are convenient to the conference facilities at the University of Miami, including these (suggested prices via Yahoo!):

View Map

• Wyndham Grand Bay-Coconut Grove, 2669 S Bayshore Dr, Coconut Grove, FL | Phone: 305-858-9600 | Price: $118.00 or more
• Doubletree Hotel Coconut Grove 2649 S Bayshore Dr Miami, FL Phone: 305-858-2500 Price: $89 – $339
• The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove | 3300 SW 27th Ave, Coconut Grove, FL | Phone: 305-644-4680 | Price: $149 – $340
• The Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Ave Coral Gables, FL | Phone: 305-445-1926 | Price: $279.00 or more
• Holiday Inn University of Miami, 1350 S Dixie Hwy Coral Gables, FL | Phone: 305-667-5611 | Price: $59 – $125

Program (subject to change)
Updated: January 25, 2007

Wednesday, February 7

We Media Miami is presented by iFOCOS with major support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in cooperation with and hosted by the University of Miami School of Communication and the University of Miami School of Business.

Other Sponsors:

LANACION.COM is one of the leading news sites in Spanish. Monthly, LANACION.com gathers more than 2.4 million users who believe the most valuable attribute for a media company is to be trustworthy. Participation, interaction, opinions, and debate are the guidelines that LANACION.com follows to build a permanent conversation, a dialogue with its readers. LA NACION group has also led the development of virtual communities in Latin America since 1995, building successful sites such as DeRemate.com (auctions), DeMotores.com (autos), ZonaJobs.com (Job search), RollingStoneLA.com (youth culture), ZonaCinemania.com (movies), nexolocal.com (free classifieds), ZonaTicket.com (Entertainment) , Tegumi.com (contents for cell phones), and Igooh.com (Citizen Journalism).

NOKIA NSERIES is a range of high performance multimedia computers that delivers unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences by combining the latest technologies with stylish design and ease of use. With Nokia Nseries products, consumers can use a single device to enjoy entertainment, access information and to capture and share pictures and videos, on the go at any time.

REUTERS is a global information company providing indispensable information tailored for professionals in the financial services, media and corporate markets. Its information is trusted and drives decision making across the globe. Its core strengths lie in providing the content, analytics, trading and messaging capabilities needed by financial professionals. Reuters’ open technology, based on industry standards, enables its customers to search, store and integrate its information with content from other sources, facilitating the way they work. Reuters provides financial institutions with specially designed tools to help them reduce risk and distribute and manage the ever-increasing volumes of market data. Its electronic trading services connect financial communities, helping them to gain access to the best prices and to trade efficiently and effectively.

The idea for SCRAPBLOG was born during the first Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in October 2004. We wondered how photo sharing would evolve, now that many of the technical limitations of the Web are disappearing. After comparing a photo album to a scrapbook, we realized that the existing photo sharing sites are the online equivalent of the traditional photo album. So, we set out to take the craft of scrapbooking online! Scrapblog was founded by the same four partners of Nobox Marketing Group. Nobox is an award-winning interactive agency whose long-term clients include Toyota, Scion, Lexus, Verizon Wireless and Procter & Gamble. We are a winning team that knows how to build a profitable business. Furthermore, we are passionate about creating amazing online experiences and contributing to the development of the Internet.

TOPIX.NET: Topix.net is the leading news community on the Web, connecting people to the information and discussions that matter to them in every U.S. town and city. A Top 25 online news destination (Hitwise, November 2006), the company links news from 50,000 sources to 360,000 lively user-generated forums. Topix.net also works with the nation’s major media companies to grow and engage their online audiences through forums, classifieds, publishing platforms and RSS feeds. Based in Palo Alto, Calif., Topix.net is a privately held company with investment from Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB). For more, visit www.topix.net.

WASHINGTONPOST NEWSWEEK INTERACTIVE is the online publishing subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO). Its mission is to develop the company’s editorial products and businesses on the internet and across all electronic content delivery platforms. WPNI’s flagship products include Slate, washingtonpost.com, Newsweek.com, and BudgetTravelOnline.com. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Va.

Media Sponsors

DIGITAL MEDIA WIRE launched in early 2000 with a simple yet compelling proposition to provide busy executives with a daily briefing of the most important news stories about the business of digital media. On July 20, 2000, we published the first issue of Digital Media Wire Daily — our daily email newsletter dedicated to objective coverage of news stories about the convergence of media, entertainment and technology. Today, the newsletter is considered a “must read” by industry insiders and has a senior level readership at the majority of the major media, entertainment and technology companies.

TECHNORATI is the world’s leading authority on what’s happening in the world of blogs. Currently tracking more than 30 million blogs in near real-time, Technorati surfaces new content within moments of its being published. With services for bloggers, readers of blogs and businesses interested in the blogosphere, Technorati helps you to see who’s saying what — right now — on the world wide web.

MEDIABISTRO.COM is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, television producers, graphic designers, book publishers, people in production, and circulation departments—in industries including magazines, television, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and graphic design. Our mission is to provide opportunities (both on- and offline) for you to meet each other, share resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects, improve your career skills, and showcase your work.

Other Support

The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation was established in 1982 for charitable, scientific and educational purposes, including the improvement of the quality of the practice of journalism among various media. This support includes funding for creative projects and research that promotes excellence in journalism and instills and encourages high ethical standards in journalism. Funding is not available to individuals, but is available to formal organizations via an application and review process.

For information about additional sponsorship opportunities, contact:

email: dale AT ifocos DOT org
phone: (703) 251-4807

Researchers

Bowman

Willis

In 2002, The Media Center commissioned Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis to document an emerging phenomenon: the rise and impact of participatory journalism. We called it “We Media.” Their prescient report published in 2003 has become the reference point for a movement that engages citizens everywhere in the transaction of content and commerce online.

We Media launched a global conversation. The report, which has been translated into Spanish, has been downloaded more than 25,000 times. To participate in a thread of that conversation and to learn more about Bowman and Willis, go to:

Hypergene MediaBlog