Jtm-mn

New Pamphleteers/New Reporters:
Convening Entrepreneurs Who Combine Journalism, Democracy, Place and Blogs

June 4-6, 2008 / Minneapolis, Minn.
Minnesota Journalism Center at the Univ. of Minnesota

The first national gathering for local, online citizen journalists and entrepreneurs, sometimes called "placebloggers." Designed for existing and prospective journalists and entrepreneurs. Including workshops on the legal, business, journalistic, marketing, advertising and social aspects of starting and running a local online news and commerce communty.

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REGISTER NOW

Key objectives:

Share best practices for community, business, social success

Learn about available tools, networks, software and partnerships

Understand the relationship with legacy media

Consider forming national business/professional/advertising collaborative

WHY NOW?

Part pamphleteers, part reporters and part entrepreneurs, America's new online citizen journalists are inventing a new business and a new passion -- the business of building local, literate, digital domains on the web where community and commerce flourish. But there been only infrequent efforts -- and little structure -- to share best practices.
We invite you to join the Journalism That Matters collaborative, the Minnesota Journalism Center at the University of Minnesota, the Media Giraffe Project at the University of Massachusetts, the Minnesota News Council, MinnPost.com, Minnesota Public/American Public Radio, the Citizen Media Law Project at the Berkman Center of Harvard Law School and the Center for Citizen Media at Arizona State University at this national "placebloggers" convention.

We're inviting some of the best examples of local online news operations run/owned by citizen/journalists for a sharing of best practices. This is less an event to show these folks to the outside world and more an internal, sleeves-rolled-up working session for them to learn practical things from each other -- almost continuing education. These citizen journalism and new media entrepreneurs from Minnesota and around the country will share successes and failures, and to collaborate to take the next steps to ensure quality storytelling in service to democracy.

• We'll serve as an incubator / think-and-do tank for those who are consider starting their own civic engagement / citizen journalism projects in urban/rural Minnesota and nationally.
  
  
• We'll use MinnPost, Public Insight Journalism, TC Daily Planet, LocallyGrownNorthfield.org, Minnesota E-Democracy.org local issues forums, and other innovative Minnesota online journalism and community experiments and services as case studies, and ask their operators to share their solutions for sustaining growth.

Who to expect

Active citizen journalists and placebloggers sharing best practices.

Potential local website operators looking for advice and launch support

News professionals seeking citizen collaborators

Technologists with "open source" or low-cost tools to share

What to expect

Intimate, roundtable discussions about best business, reporting, community, people and legal practices and ethics.

Latest ideas on how to promote local, participatory democracy online

Advice on the future of placeblogging and local online services

Briefings on the latest technology tools

A workshop on cyberlaw -- including libel and defamation

Discussion about forming a co-operative national service organization for independently owned local placeblogs

Strategies for advertising and listing sales and network

Combined registration saves $70

The early-bird registration fee of $139.00 for the event, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, June 4, all day Thurs., June 5 and the morning of Friday, June 6, includes dinners both evenings, continental breakfasts and lunch. Our event ends just before opening of the Fourth National Conference for Media Reform,(Fri.-Sun., June 6-8) at the Minnesota Convention Center. Through a special arrangement with Free Press, convenor of the NCMR, Journalism That Matters can offer combined registration in both events for $270 -- a savings of $70 off registering separately. To register once and attend both events, go to:

Speakers

Among speakers and co-convenors will be (alphabetical order):

Richard Anderson, founder, VillageSoup.com

David Ardia, director, Berkman Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard

Stephen Clift, of e-Democracy.org local issues forums

Bill Densmore, Media Giraffe Project at UMass Amherst

Dan Gillmor, Center for Citizen Media at Arizona State Univ. (tentative)

Jeremy Iggers, director, Twin Cities Media Alliance / TC Daily Planet

Kathleen Hansen, director, Minnesota Journalism Center

Joel Kramer, publisher of MinnPost.com

Chris Peck, editor, Memphis Commercial Appeal

Jan Schaffer, J-Lab, Univ. of Maryland-College Park

Stephen Silha, Washington News Council / Media That Matters

Lisa Williams, owner, H2oTown and Placeblogger.com

Len Witt/Griff Wigley, Kennesaw State University / Representative Journalism

Agenda

The agenda will be a mix of practical workshops on specific best practices and open, circle-round discussions. There will be ample opportunity for networking, and for planning collaboration. A detailed schedule, with tentative breakouts, will be posted by May 9.

Tentative schedule

Wed., June 4

• Noon -- Registration opens, McNamara Alumni Center, Univ. of Minnesota
  
• 1 p.m. - 2 p.m. -- Optional workshop TBA
• 2 p.m. -- 3 p.m. -- Opening plenary session
• 3 p.m. -- 5:30 p.m. -- Open circle / setting agenda for Thursday
• 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. -- Reception
• 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. -- Dinner and program TBA

Thurs., June 5

• 8 a.m.-9 a.m. -- Continental breakfast and networking
• 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. -- First breakouts and roundtable discussions
• 10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. -- Break
• 10:45 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. -- Morning check-in (news/new breakouts)
• 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. -- Second breakouts and roundtable discussions
• 12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. -- Luncheon / talk: "A passion for place," concepts for the American Society of News and Community Forums (ASNCF).
• 1:15 p.m. - 3 p.m. -- Facilitated planning/launch session for ASNCF)
• 3:00 p.m.-3:15 p.m. -- Break
• 3:15 p.m.-3:30 p.m. -- Afternoon check-in (news/new breakouts)
• 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. -- Third breakouts and roundtable discussions
• 5:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. -- Closing circle
• 5:45 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. -- Hor d'oeuvres reception
• 6:30 p.m. - ???? -- Meetup with NCMR principals; entertainment

Fri., June 6 (optional)

• 8:30 a.m. -- Bus departs to St. Paul studio
• 9:30 a.m. -- 11 a.m. -- "The Passion of Place," a two-hour discussion about the motivation, passions, fears and successes of local online news/community entrepreneurs, facilitated and videotaped for public distribution. (Up to 30 attending local placebloggers/entrepreneurs invited to participate).
• 11:00 a.m. -- Conference ends

LOGISTICS

• A block of rooms will be set aside at a nearby hotel. If you register, you will be advised when this is set up. The rate should be around $109/night.
• Dormitory lodging will also be -- $46/room single; $68/room double.
• Wed. dinner; Thurs. Lunch / dinner / Friday continental breakfst included in registration
• Campus dining hall breakfast: $3-$6

SUMMARY

• Event Name: New Pamphleteers/New Reporters: Convening entrepreneurs who combine journalism, democracy, place and blogs
• Short Name: JTM-Minnesota: New Pamphleteers/New Reporters
• Location: Minnesota Journalism Center / Univ. of Minnesota / McNamara Alumni Center
  

Address: 200 Oak St., S.E.
City, State, Zip: Minneapolis, MN, 55455

• Event URL: http://www.mediagiraffe.org/wiki/index.php/Jtm-mn
• Registration URL: https://www.123signup.com/register?id=tzfmb
• Information Page URL: https://www.123signup.com/event?id=tzfmb