New Media and Social Software: MIT Enterprise Forum Event

By now, we've all seen the news that we have been selected as Time's Person of the Year. The article is a hopeful celebration of the individual and his or her ability to create, to connect and to build communities via the Web.

Favorite snippets from the article (gives me goosebumps!):

It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before.

It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. Silicon Valley consultants call it Web 2.0, as if it were a new version of some old software. But it's really a revolution.

How fitting, then, that months ago, the folks at the MIT Enterprise Forum selected Web 2.0 as the topic for the annual winter conference, to be held on February 7th. Yesterday we issued the media advisory for the event, recapping this great lineup, which is still a work in progress. (More to come!) There are a few out-of-towners on here, but this roster underscores the point that new media and new stuff is happening here on the East Coast.

Keynoters:

• Jeremy Allaire, Chairman and CEO of Brightcove (keynote)
• John Furrier, CEO of PodTech (keynote)

Other notable speakers to date:

• Adam Bain - executive vice president, Technology & Production, Fox Interactive Media
• Laurie Baird - director of technology partnerships, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
• Jose Castillo - president of thinkjose.com
• Steve Garfield - blogger, videoblogger and Boston correspondent, Rocketboom.com
• Tom Gerace - founder and CEO, gather.com
• Nick Gogerty - founder and CEO, InClue
• Phil Hollows - founder and CEO, FeedBlitz
• Henry Jenkins - co-director, Comparative Media Studies Program, MIT
• Joseph B. Lassiter III - professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School
• Amber MacArthur - new media reporter/host, CityTV
• Andy Plesser - founder and CEO, Beet TV
• Juliette Powell - CEO and executive producer, Inspiration Festival
• Scott Smigler - founder and president, Exclusive Concepts
• Jeff Taylor - CEO, Eons
• Jon Udell - evangelist, Microsoft

The Forum's open source conference last year, which featured Red Hat's CEO Matthew Szulik and JBoss's CEO Marc Fleury, was a lively time. Based on this year's roster, the event promises to be more adventurous. You can register here. And the Forum events are so, how shall I say it? Cost effective! Only $95 for a Forum member, $120 for non-members and $25 for students.

See you February 7th at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston.