Two weeks have gone by since Edelman’s New Media Academic Summit 2008 in Chicago, plenty of time to digest some thinking and take a look at other people’s thoughts as they’ve posted them since the event.
I discussed my own impressions in FIR #358 on June 30, overviewing the event, what the panels discussed and my thoughts about the issues everyone is grappling with regarding social media (which are broadly the same wherever you are, whether in the US or in Europe).
For your convenience, I’ve extracted that segment and it’s here if you want to listen. About 8 minutes:
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A good starting point for other views would be the short video interviews taken at the conference venue by Robert French, one of the academic PR world’s true innovators in not only widely experimenting with social media but also introducing it to hundreds of next-generation PR practitioners who experience it in the direct context of their (traditional) PR studies.
The video embedded above (go here if you don’t see it) is of five conference attendees from the academic community with their views on the event, what they expect to gain from it and what they think could have been different.
A terrific written commentary in three parts on her impressions of the conference comes from Karen Miller Russell, who’s also featured in the above video.
Karen captures well some common views plus what I heard from some of the other participants – Part 1 (the global perspective), Part 2 (measurement) and Part 3 (general overview).
Part I covered the panel discussion I was on. And that reminds me of something that has been bothering me since I read the summary of that discussion by the Edelman bloggers which quotes me saying that “Journalism is dead.” I was sure I never said that; indeed, I’m sure I actually said “Journalism isn’t dead” or something similar.
Luckily, the panel discussion was videoed – as were all the sessions – and that video is now posted [link opens in new window or tab]. Around the 49-minute mark, you can see me saying that I don’t agree with the idea that journalism is dead.
A pity I can’t embed that video here but at least you have a link to go see it there.
So, I would summarize the Edelman New Media Academic Summit 2008 by saying that it was undoubtedly an event seen as valuable and worthwhile by everyone who participated, from the academic world as well as from the business side.
Well organized by Edelman. I’m glad to have been part of it.
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5 responses to “What academics think about social media”
Hey Neville, thank you. I was happy to have the chance to see you again in Chicago. Thanks for your kind comments.
I’ll be posting your video interview from the conference later this week.
I also figured out how to, um … borrow the clips from Edelman’s site. I put yours on the front page of PROpenMic as an example. Then, I linked to the videos at the Summit08 site. Thanks for tipping me off that they are out and ready for us.
Take care.
You’ve done some great interviews, Robert, in addition to the one I’ve highlighted in this post. A nifty camera that Flip :)
It was great to see you in Chicago!
Neville, glad you liked the posts — would’ve liked to do more but was frustrated by the lack of wireless. At any rate, it was nice to meet you and thanks for the link.
You too, Karen. Thanks for those excellent posts.
Ah, the wifi! Yes, that was a big disappointment not being able to be freely online. I would have blogged myself (and twittered).
Looking at it from the postive viewpoint, though, not being online all the time meant you could pay full attention to all the panels. ;)
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