SPECIAL: Half-day Citizen Filmmaking Workshop & Festival, Thurs., June 29 -- $40.00

SPECIAL OFFER FOR PDF ATTENDEES: Attend "Democracy & Independence" June 28-July 1 for $295 -- a 40% savings if registering before June 2 (just type "PDF attendee" in the "other information" box when registering online.  You must register online at the following address: https://www.aux.umass.edu/forms/conferenceservices/mgp/index.htm

 

"Democracy & Independence:
Sharing News & Politics in a Connected World" --

Summit aims to unite media, political, education, technology sectors in charting the future of journalism, democracy 

Traditional and citizen journalists, political strategists, educators, bloggers, developers, technology and media researchers will convene June 29-July 1, 2006 at University of Massachusetts Amherst for the first Media Giraffe Project conference. The Media Giraffe Project, a non-partisan, interdisciplinary research effort of the UMass journalism program, is hosting the roundtable summit and how-to sessions designed to:

• Consider and recommend answers to changes to the financing and practice of journalism
  
  
• Bridge the gap between new and traditional media
  
  
• Show and consider the impact of new media technologies on  journalism and the "public sphere"
  
  
• Spotlight emerging business models
  
  
• Create new networks of media innovators which bridge traditional carriers among journalism, education, politics and technology
  
  
• Watch and share innovations in media-literacy education.
  
  Who's attending besides Chellie Pingree, Jon Donley, Marty Baron, Teresa Hanafin, Stephen Silha, Chris Peck, Helen Thomas? (add your name)?

WHY ATTEND? 

Are you concerned about the future of journalism and the press -- America's vital Fourth Estate? 

Then break out of the everyday routine. Mix with visionaries in multimedia technology, politics, local online citizen journalism and media education.  Share ideas about what will sustain watchdog journalism. Talk to practitioners of citizen filmmaking and local online citizen journalism. 

Start your July 4 holiday week by joining Steve Garfield, Aldon Hynes, Jon Donley, Marty Baron, Helen Thomas, Lee Rainey, Rob Williams, Ellen Hume, Ed Fouhy, Teresa Hanafin, Tom Stites, Chuck Lewis, Richard Viguerie and many other visionaries at the first summit and conference of The Media Giraffe Project: "Democracy and Independence: Sharing News and Information in a Connected World," June 28-July 1, 2006 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. 

A few days before U.S. Independence Day (July 4) and the 230th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there will be ice cream, cake and a lot of smart, committed people eager to share information and try to make a difference.  We have a simple purpose -- share ideas that will make journalism and democracy work better.

(Who else is coming? Check our up-to-date wiki.)

If you accept our  invitation, you.ll be able to:

•  Learn from the pioneers of citizen journalism, and find out how they are building community on the web and in print.
  
  
•  Join and talk to some of the most-read and most-insightful political bloggers about what will happen in November, 2006,  and in 2008.
  
  
•  Meet some of the teachers and kids who are making civic engagement in the classroom cool -- and multimedia.
• Understand the possibilities for political and group participation . and journalism -- opened by cutting-(and bleeding)-edge Internet information technology.

Come for three days, or two. And don't plan on just listening.  At the Thurs., June 29 roundtable summit, join a series of small-group discussions with skilled leaders seeking fresh ideas and solutions from ever participant.

Who else is attending? Check the wiki-list -- and add your name!

 Share conversation and ideas in our .Media Café.. Organize a FREE post-conference meeting with your group or friends. And at the end of the formal program, take a summer afternoon to raft, hike, bike, view museums of cartoons, basketball, colonial America . .  . attend a broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" . .  . shop . . .  or just embark on a long Independence Day weekend in rural New England.

 Most important, leave Amherst with a new sense of optimism and purpose about the future of journalism, media. . . having shared ideas and plans with kids and veterans, geeks and  techno-peasants . . . all of whom have one purpose in mind  . . . fostering participatory democracy and community.

 This is not a one-industry conference. We want to open conversations about the future of  governing and community which cross industries, cross cultures, cross politics and cross ages.  And we need your help to do it.  This exploration is taking place on a great university campus . with dozens of volunteers helping in a non-partisan, non-profit effort.

 Register through June 2 for $295 ($195 for Fri/Sat only) and save at least 40% off the full-event conference price of $495.00. For your discount, just type "PDF attendee" in the "other information" box when registering online.

  Choose hotel lodging or stay in a university dorm room -- fresh sheets and wired Internet-- for only $28.00 a night.   Still short on time or money? Choose our Friday-Saturday only track and register today for only $195.  Worried about travel costs? Competitive fares are available to Hartford-Springfield's Bradley International Airport, just over an hour from campus.

 TO LEARN MORE, VISIT OUR WEBSITE NOW or email us.

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