Last revised: Feb. 20, 2008. Subject to change. Please check back or follow the conference blog for updates.

Travel Planning
Arrive in time for the opening reception at 6 pm on Tuesday, Feb. 26, with return travel late Thursday evening or any time on Friday, Feb. 29. The formal activities conclude at lunch on Thursday, Feb. 28, but that afternoon is scheduled for informal meetings, workshops and working group conversations: this is the perfect time to capitalize on your networking.

Tuesday, Feb. 26

6 – 7:30 pm Reception and World Press Photo exhibit
Sponsored by the University of Miami School of Communication

Dinner and meetups on your own

Wednesday, Feb. 27

7 am Registration opens: Check in, coffee, get comfortable

8 am Welcome: Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin, Co-Founders, iFOCOS

8:30 am Keynote Conversation I | Print is Dead
With Jeff Gomez, author, Print is Dead and Roger Black, Principal, Danilo-Black

9 am Keynote Conversation II | Print Reincarnated (and other media)
With Richard Sarnoff, President, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, and William C. Weiss, Chairman &CEO, The Promar Group, Chairman, iFOCOS

9:35 am Break

9:50 am The Power To Change The World
With the traditional media losing its monopoly on information, opinion and storytelling, all sectors of society now have the power through media and communications to make themselves heard. How can we use this new power to make the world a better place?

Session Chair: Andrew Nachison, Co-Founder, iFOCOS

• J. Sebastian Traeger, CEO, Razoo
• Jim Brady, Executive Editor, Washingtonpost.Newsweek.Interactive
• Katrin Verclas, MobileActive
• Jean Marc Coicaud, Director, United Nations University
• The Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., CEO, Hip Hop Caucus
• Darya Shaikh, Executive Director, OneVoice

Closing Thoughts from Brian Reich, author, Media Rules!

10:45 am Break and Networking

11 am Concurrent Sessions:

1. Political World | Hype vs. Reality in Campaign 08
It’s supposed to be the YouTube-MySpace-power-to-the-people campaign. So why are online political junkies so frustrated with what they’ve seen so far?

Session Chair: Brian Reich, author, Media Rules!

• Ellen Miller, Sunlight Foundation
• Catherine Geanuracos, Live Earth
• Carolyn Washburn, Executive Editor, The Des Moines Register
• Michael Silberman, EchoDitto
• John Della Volpe, SocialSphere
• Amy Schatz, The Wall Street Journal
• Anthony Wojtkowiak, MTV Street Team

2. Search World | Trust, relevance and rights
If you can’t google it, does it exist? Search functions unlock the Internet’s potential, but how can we make it easier for everyone to find relevant information and act on it? Innovative thinking about metadata, permissions and trust could provide the necessary breakthroughs.

Session Chair: Jim Kennedy, VP Strategy, The Associated Press

• Fabrice Florin, Executive Director, NewsTrust
• Mary Hodder, Founder, Dabble
• Josh Cohen, Director, Business Development, Google News

3. Informed World | The citizen’s guide to media literacy
Who can you trust in the We Media landscape? Where’s the line between commerce and information? No more is it a question of parsing the biases of individual media outlets: It’s time to define a global media-education agenda so everyone can understand how today’s media works, and how best to use it. Our goal: Create a set of guidelines for media literacy today.

Session Chair: John Bell, Managing Director, 360° Digital Influence, Ogilvy

• Vinita Srivastava, Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
• Sam Grogg, Dean, University of Miami School of Communication
• Sara DeWitt, Senior Director, PBS KIDS & Parents Interactive

12:15 pm Lunch (opens at noon)

12:30 pm Demo: Make Your Own Mobile Site
Sponsored by Proteus

1:15 pm Healthy World | The Future of Information & Communication Technologies in Health
Sponsored by the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, AARP, Kaiser Permanente and Microsoft

Leading edge thinkers discuss one of the most important and personally meaningful issues of the 21st century: How communications technology and the content delivered through it will be used to improve the health and quality of life for people worldwide.

Introduced by Dr. Pascal Goldschmidt, Dean, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Session Chair: Kendall Lockhart, Co-Founder, Nenuphar Mobile Media

Keynote conversation with Scott Mowbray, Editorial Director, Health.com

1:45 pm Forum conversation:

• Bert van Hoof, Director, Microsoft Health Solutions Group
• Don Jones, VP, Health & Life Sciences, Qualcomm
• Emilio Pardo, Chief Brand Officer, AARP
• Dr. Andrew Wiesenthal, Associate Executive Director, The Permanente Federation
• Grant Harrison, Vice President, Integrated Consumer Experience, Humana

3 pm Break and Networking

3:15 pm Concurrent Sessions

1. Pitch It | Tomorrow’s best start-ups
Founders and would-be entrepreneurs pitch their big ideas to a panel of business-launching experts. Even if you’re not pitching an idea, come watch the competition to start the next big thing.

Chair: Rick Ducey, EVP, BIA Financial Network

• Suha Araj, Founder and VP of Strategy, Real Girls Media
• John McKinley, Founder, LaunchBox Digital
• Joe Natoli, SVP, Business & Finance, University of Miami

2. Leadership World | Women, Media and Technology
Women and girls are a powerful force online: They users, creators and participants, as well as marketing targets for advertisers. Yet women-led businesses and gender-balanced teams in new media are more an exception than a rule. What can some of today’s female media leaders tell us about building successful businesses, leading strong teams and creating a more egalitarian workforce?

Session Chair: Susan Mernit, Senior Director, Yahoo! and blogger, Susan Mernit’s Blog

• Mary Hodder, Founder, Dabble
• Judith Meskill, Co-Founder, Crowd Fusion
• Carolyn Washburn, Executive Editor, The Des Moines Register
• Barbara Kahn, Dean, University of Miami School of Business
• Jan Schaffer, Executive Director, J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism

3. Pro-Am World | Developing meaningful partnerships
The hierarchy between journalist and audience has broken down. While some fear the change, others see the enormous potential in bringing the work of professional and amateur journalists together. How are eyewitnesses, often using social networks, creating new story-telling models? What is the best way to leverage the experience of professional journalists in this new world?

Session Chair: Lou Ferrara, Deputy Managing Editor for Multimedia, The Associated Press

• Michael Tippett, Founder, NowPublic
• Kate Marymont, Executive Editor, The News-Press, Ft. Myers, Florida
• Lauren McCullough, Online Editor, The Associated Press
• David Cohn, Editor, NewAssignment and NewsTrust

4. Nonprofit World | Endowed Journalism
As commercial journalism evolves, the influence and impact of nonprofit media is expanding. Non-profits are developing new journalistic models; advocacy groups who once relied on journalists are now making the news themselves. How do these changes effect the delivery, dissemination, and our understanding of news? What are the potential risks and benefits?

Session chair: John Bracken, MacArthur Foundation

• Jon Sawyer, Executive Director, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
• Ellen Miller, Executive Director, Sunlight Foundation

4 pm Break

4:15 pm Concurrent Sessions

1. Innovation World | Knight News Challenge
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation invests $25 million in innovative approaches to journalism to strengthens local communities.

Session Chair: Eric Newton, VP, Journalism Programs, Knight Foundation

• Nora Paul, Director, Institute for New Media Studies, University of Minnesota
• Amy Gahran, Content Strategist and Independent Journalist
• Gary Kebbel, Journalism Program Officer, Knight Foundation

2. Activist World | Social networks for social good
Winning others to your social cause has never been easier. Hear how three new-media organizations are leveraging the power of social networks to prevent cancer, support the arts and much more.

Session Chair: Suzanne Turner, CEO, Turner Strategies

• Joan Peckolick, Founder, Selfchec
• James Carlson, CEO, Bucketworks
• Deron Triff, Co-President and CEO, Changents
• Matisse Bustos Hawkes, Outreach coordinator, WITNESS

3. Widget World | The Me Revolution
Sponsored by NewsGator
Advertisers and media companies are undergoing a dramatic transformation that impacts how they target and reach consumers and business users alike. Widgets and syndication services are enabling a new generation of capabilities that puts the consumer in the center and allows them to surround themselves with content from their favorite sources and discover new relevant content. Advertisers, aka “brands”, are similarly responding to this shift in behavior as they invest in creative new technologies that more deeply engage consumers and lead to richer interactions. This workshop will cover these topics and provide examples of what you can do take advantage of this shift.

• Jeff Nolan, VP Business Development, NewsGator

4. Civil Discourse
Sponsored by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive

New media is defined by online interactivity; no blog posting or article is complete with a comments section, for example. How do such virtual conversations influence, inform and reflect real-life public conversations? How can online community organizers keep participants on track and maintain order without stifling the conversation?

Chair: Hal Straus, washingtonpost.com

• Mark Jones, Global Editor for Community, Reuters
• Steve Arend, VP Digital Services, Head of Technology Innovators Group, CMP
• Robin Miller, Editor, Slashdot and SourceForge, Inc.
• Chris Tolles, CEO, Topix

5 pm Break and Networking

5:15pm Concurrent sessions

1. Social World | Social experiences in business
Sponsored by Fleishman-Hillard

Social networking, un-conferences, wikis and other web tools can not only strength communities but also build momentum for brands and causes. Their success, however, depends on more than just digital connections. How can companies make the connection between online networks and real-world outcomes?

Session Chair: Susan Mernit, Senior Director, Yahoo! Personals

• Maria Gallagher, Senior Vice President, Fleishman-Hillard
• Kaliya Hamlin, Founder, Unconference.net
• Elisa Camahort Page, Co-Founder, BlogHer
• John Todor, Principal, The Whetstone Edge
• JB Holson, CEO, NewsGator
• Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky, Dean, University of Miami School of Education

2. News World | Traditions and Transformation
Traditional (legacy) news organizations have no choice but to continue to change in order to respond to the growth of aggregators and other WeMedia players. Learn how leaders in the field are tackling editorial, business and management challenges in the culture of empowered content creatives.

Session Chair: Carin Dessauer, Senior Fellow, iFOCOS

• Neil Budde, former VP and Editor-in-Chief, Yahoo! News
• Kinsey Wilson, Executive Editor, USAToday and USAToday.com
• Jennifer Sizemore, Executive Editor, MSNBC.com
• Maria Thomas, SVP, National Public Radio

3. Indigenous World | Telling our own stories
Indigenous communities around the world have long had their stories told for them by anthropologists, journalists and documentary-film makers. Today, more and more of these communities are online, telling their own stories.

Introduced by:
Sanjeev Chaterjee, Director, Knight Center for International Media

Session Chair: David Sasaki, Rising Voices

• Cristina Quisbert, Producer and Eduardo Ávila, Director, Voces Bolivianas
• Luis Ramiro Beltrán, Bolivian communications-research pioneer
• Leonardo Ferreira, author, Centuries of Silence

6 pm Mojito Reception in The Grove

6:45 pm We Media Video Fest in The Grove
Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. While networking and nibbling, we’ll screen a selection of videos illustrating how We Media transforms entertainment, pop culture and politics.

Curator: Mary Hodder, Founder, Dabble

7:30 pm Dinner and meetups on your own; shuttle departs for Sonesta Bayfront hotel.

Thursday, Feb. 28

8:45 am Registration & check-in

9:15 am Developer’s World | Emergent content: Yours, mine, ours

Rather than trying to control content spiraling through the mediascape, enterprising businesses allow content to have a life of its own, as others repost, edit, parody, mashup or comment on it. While surrendering control may seem a counter-intuitive business strategy, content free-for-alls, with soft brand associations, can expand audiences, reach and influence.

Session Chair: Dale Peskin, Managing Director, iFOCOS

• Chris Willis, Footnote
• Eduard Danilo Ruiz, Danilo Black
• Michael Smolens, CEO, DotSUB
• Adam Hoey, Director, Enterprise Business Development, Proteus

10:15 am Social Entrepreneurs | Journalism as a Cause

As the economics of industrial journalism give way to the disruption and innovation of a digital, connected culture, new models of financing and practicing journalism are emerging. What lessons from social entrepreneurship are applicable here? If journalism makes the world better, should we think of it as a social cause rather than a commercial venture? Can journalism still produce financial results?

Keynote conversations with:

• Alberto Ibarguen, President, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
• Diana Wells, President, Ashoka

Moderated by Keith Hammonds, Ashoka

10:45 am Break and Networking

11:15 am Networked Economics | Leveraging connections
Everything is networked: friendship, professional life, customers, knowledge, causes and commerce. These networks represent new opportunities to invent, innovate and disrupt. What do philanthropists, advocates, social entrepreneurs, tech startups, journalists, venture capitals and everyday users now have in common? Have networks changed the nature of business?

Session Chair: Merrill Brown, Chairman, NowPublic

• Lawrence Wilkinson, Founder, Global Business Network
• Chris Tolles, CEO, Topix
• Nic Fulton, Chief Scientist, Reuters Media
• Tom Bosco, VP, Video Sales, Fox Interactive Media
• Suha Araj, Founder and VP of Strategy, Real Girls Media
• Jennifer Carroll, VP, New Media Content, Gannett
• Randy Paynter, Founder and CEO, Care2

12:15 pm Conference Wrap-Up / Intro to Open Space

As we sharpen our questions and conclusions — and reflect back on the conference experience through a multimedia presentation from Vuvox — we will also set individual agendas for the afternoon’s “Open Space,” where we will break up for meetups, working groups and networking to define our next steps. Think about who you want to meet and what you want to do before leaving the conference.

12:35 pm Lunch

2 – 5 pm Open Space | Bringing your ideas to life
Self-organized meetups, workshops, demos and networking define next steps, actions and agendas. Kaliya Hamlin, an experienced unconference producer and facilitator, will support peer-to-peer learning and sharing this afternoon. Take this opportunity to dive deeper, share ideas and integrate all you heard at We MediaMiami 2008. Anyone at the conference is welcome to put forward a topic–a couple have been arranged in advance (see below).

Don’t miss this exciting afternoon. The space will be open from 2-5 pm with a 30-minute closing discussion at 4:30 pm.

2:00 – 3:00pm NewsTrust Salon | Good Journalism

Join a fascinating group discussion on how to find good journalism online, hosted by NewsTrust.net, our social news network. We will have a diverse group of journalists, educators, technologists and community leaders for this conversation. After a short presentation about NewsTrust, we will break into small work groups. First, groups will review an article together and then talk about how to discriminate between good and bad journalism. We will also discuss best practices for helping citizens sharpen their news literacy skills.
Some of the questions we’ll discuss in this one-hour event include:

what is good journalism? how can you tell it apart from misinformation?

how can we join forces online to share quality news with each other?

how can we encourage more citizens to grow their news literacy skills?

how can we improve NewsTrust.net to serve these goals?

During the meeting, we will introduce what we’re doing at NewsTrust to address these questions– and ask your thoughts on how to best expand this public service — to help more citizens make informed decisions about their lives and governments.

Program size is approximately 20 participants. Please email your RSVP to reserve a spot. More at blog.newstrust.net .

Session leaders: Fabrice Florin, Rory O’Connor and David Cohn, NewsTrust.net, a non-profit social news network dedicated to good journalism.

2:30 – 3:30pm Concurrent Open Space meetings, including:

1. Workshop | Harnessing a distributed world

In a networked culture, innovation and creativity emerge everywhere. This workshop will illustrate how small networked teams of part-time employees and volunteers collaborate to produce Global Voices Online, a human-powered aggregator of ideas emerging from every corner of the planet.

Session leaders: Solana Larsen and Georgia Popplewell, Co-Managing Editors, Global Voices

2. Working Group | Change The World
How can media and technology be used to facilitate meaningful and measurable change in our society?

Working Group Chair: Brian Reich, author, Media Rules!

• Ruth Behar, professor of anthropology, University of Michigan
• Luis Ramiro Beltrán, Bolivian journalist and scholar
• Andrew Karanja Githeko, Chief Research Officer & Head: Climate and Human Health Research Unit, Kenya Medical Research Institute
• Tom Kennedy, Managing Editor for Multimedia, Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
• Pedro Paulo Poppovic, Editor, Sur International Journal of Human Rights
• Tini Tran, correspondent, The Associated Press
• Wang Wei, Senior TV anchorwoman and journalist, Shanghai Media Group

4:30 pm Open Space Wrap-up

5:15 pm Shuttle returns to Sonesta Bayfront Hotel

Dinner and meetups on your own

tags:iSIGHTINGS

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