Business News

A Crystal Ball for the Media Industry: Future of Media Summit Connects Insights Between Silicon Valley and Australia

Friday 04. July 2008 - The third annual Future of Media Summit will be held simultaneously in Sydney and Silicon Valley on 15 July, 2008. The Summit is organized by Future Exploration Network, a global strategy and events firm.

“The extraordinary pace of change in the global media industry means that it is critical for participants to gain insights into where media is going,” says Ross Dawson, chairman of Future Exploration Network. “The first two Future of Media Summits were hugely successful, selling out each year, creating a world first in linking panel conversations across continents by video, and attracting close to 200,000 downloads for the Future of Media Report.”

Key features of this year’s event include:

— Video and blogs linking speakers and participants across continents.
Media industry leaders from the United States and Australia will share
experiences and perspectives to gain unique insights into the global
media market. A new world first will see direct video conversations
between participants.
— Prediction markets for the future of media. Summit attendees and other
media leaders globally will collectively make predictions for key
issues in the future of media, such as the death of print newspapers
and when IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) overtakes broadcast TV.
— Conference and ‘Unconference’ formats. For the first time a
traditional conference will be combined with an ‘Unconference’ format,
in which participants set the agenda and run the event themselves.

Topics to be addressed at the Future of Media Summit 2008 include:

— The future of journalism. Newsrooms are laying off staff, print
journalists are being asked to use video cameras, bloggers are going
professional, and sub-editors are writing headlines for search
engines. Who will the journalists be and how will they earn a living?
— The future of privacy and personalized advertising. ‘Behavioral
advertising’ provides the audience with advertising targeted to their
profile. Advertisers will pay far more for it, but will our desire for
privacy win out over commercial interests?
— The future of TV and video. HD and multi-channeling will provide a
wider choice of broadcast TV in Australia. Before long TV and video
over the Internet will provide an alternative to cable and free-to-air
for many Australians. Where will the money and viewers go?

Confirmed speakers include:

— Loic Le Meur, CEO of Seesmic
— Chris Saad, Chair of DataPortability.org
— J.D. Lasica, Co-Founder of Ourmedia
— Mark Dorney, CEO of Macquarie Media Group
— Wendy Hogan, MD of CNET Australia
— US and Australian media industry leaders