Conference Update

The first Media Mindsets conference is less than two weeks--it's Friday, Oct. 13--and we have added several speakers and panels since the original invitations went out.

The theme for the conference is "Where Is My Audience Going? New Media, New Challenges, New Solutions." We will explore how changes in the media are affecting content, economics and, most importantly perhaps, media audiences.

Our first speaker will be Bob Papper, who will bring us up to date on Ball State's Middletown Media Studies project. Bob is a telecommunications professor at Ball State and has done a number of research projects for the Radio Television News Directors Association.

Other scheduled speakers are Lauren Rich Fine of Merrill Lynch, one of the top media/ publishing analysts in the country, and Robert Schettino, chief marketing officer for BuzzLogic, a new tool for PR and marketing professionals to track the Internet conversations about corporations.

Two faculty members will be reporting on their recent research. Dr. Stan Wearden, director of the School of Communication Studies, will present his new communication model for studying today’s media, and Gary Hanson, JMC professor, will talk about his research on how college students are using the new media options.

In addition, the noon program will feature two groups of Kent State students. In a focus group moderated by JMC director Jeff Fruit, students will discuss ways the new technologies are changing their use of the media. We will ask them to talk about how they are using cell phones, iPods and other new media.

Student leaders of the Daily Kent Stater and student-run TV-2 will then talk about how convergence is shaping their news reports as they prepare to move into their combined news operation in renovated Franklin Hall.

An afternoon panel will provide three views on the future. Dr. Jung Kim of the Communication Studies faculty at Kent State will talk about developments internationally. She was an online news reporter for one of South Korea's largest dailies.

King Hill, president of DigiKnow marketing in Cleveland, will discuss trends in marketing, especially developments in interactive marketing. King is a Kent State alumnus and a member of the JMC Advisory Board.

The third panelist, Dr. John West, a noted researcher on liquid crystals, will provide a glimpse of what's ahead with the displays of the future. John is vice president of research at Kent State and hold 12 patents related to liquid crystal materials.

The conference, which will be held in the Moulton Hall ballroom at Kent State, is free, including lunch, but we do need to know if you are planning to attend. You can call Pearle Bower at 216.672.1458 or email her at pbower@kent.edu. Please respond by Friday, Oct. 6.

If you can't stay for the full day, feel free to come for part of the day. And if you have a colleague outside CCI or off-campus who would like to participate in the conference, please let me or Pearle know so we can invite her/him.