It's been a long time in the making, but I'm just back from sealing and signing a deal to co-host a major event in Washington, DC on March 19, 2008 at the J.W. Marriott -- the Internet Video Policy Symposium. My partner on this conference is Reed Business Information, publishers of a slew of publications including Multichannel News, Broadcasting & Cable, Variety and Twice Magazine.
Reed Business has also pioneered a number of very successful private, off-the-record events that assemble top industry leaders to tackle tough subjects, all of them so off-the-record that you haven't really heard of them. A few weeks back, Reed held an HD Summit in California that really dug into the impending digital transition and anybody who needed to be there was there.
The Internet Video Policy Symposium will also be off-the-record, but that's perfect for the subjects we plan to tackle. However, I plan to blog about the Summit beforehand, and Reed plans to put out a special issue of Multichannel News filled with articles (some of which I'll author) on the wide range of issues teed up for the Symposium.
I'll be back with more details as we iron them out, but here's the barebones framework for now:
1. We're going to develop a very thoughtful agenda that talks about Internet video, how it works, what's at stake, who's involved and, of course, what the thorny policy issues are -- all of the issues. This is not a net neutrality event; we hope it's a way of laying some kind of foundation for coming to grips with the major disruptions in business, law and policy that Internet video is fostering.
The Symposium won't be designed to reflect any particular viewpoint and we're not doing it at the behest of any particular industry or company or interest group. Everybody is welcome to offer suggestions, topics, speakers and, of course, sponsorships. The goal is to elucidate and educate.
2. Given our goal of elucidation and education, the event is aimed at policymakers, regulators and top decision-makers throughout the government, who will be invited to attend at no charge.
3. We're not selling individual admissions to the Symposium, although sponsors will be able to attend. This event won't be a blow-out trade show or press-generating business conference (in fact, you won't hear anything afterwards because it's off-the-record, even to me and the great writers at Reed's publications.) We simply want all the right people in the room from the government, academia, and private sector to hash out ideas.
I'm very excited about the Symposium, my first DC-based event since I founded Emerging Media Dynamics. I'll be back with more as we get rolling. Drop me a line or give me a call (240-235-1994) if you have any questions, suggestions, comments or feedback. Stay tuned.
Cynthia Brumfield at 7:06 PM|Comments(2)
This is fantastic news. It's precisely what's needed on the Hill: more substantive, independent discussions about the future of video on the Internet and what policy's proper role is.
I heard you speak at the Video on the Net conference a few weeks back (great job by the way!). Had intended to introduce myself at the time but got caught up gabbing with the many interesting people at that event.
I'm very interested in seeing if there's anything I can do to help drive these conversations forward in DC so I'll be contacting you shortly.
In the meantime, here are some thoughts on issues that warrant discussion:
- Piracy as Crime or Competitive Threat? Who Should Get Punished?
- P2P: Not Just Piracy (Though Not Much Else)
- Trying to Censor That Which Cannot Be Censored
- Redefining Broadband Based on the Delivery of Video
- Video Needs Bandwidth: How Do We Get More of It?
- Pursuing PEG and Encouraging Community Media
Obviously, I'm just scratching the surface here. I'll follow up with an email with more extended thoughts.
In any event, this should be a terrific opportunity to elevate the debate and facilitate constructive conversations about these issues, and I look forward to (hopefully) being able to participate!
Posted by: Geoff Daily at December 18, 2007 11:05 AM
Hi, Cynthia. Congratulations! Looks like a great shindig.
I'd like to see participation from Skype and Microsoft on the VoIM side of things. Both should advocate on behalf of the hundreds of millions of people who use Skype and Messenger to talk with webcams. Video policy must serve the speech needs of the American people, including protected speech.
I suspect the temptation will be to leave conversational video out of the room as hollywood and broadcast and cable jockey for attention.
Good luck.
- Phil
Posted by: Phil Wolff at December 17, 2007 3:00 AM
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