During one of my first panels here at the Conference on World Affairs, someone in the audience threw out the idea that perhaps society was crawling so far up into our technology that we were losing the ability to interact on old-fashioned, face-to-face terms. Were we doomed? Sounds like a reasonable fear, but considering even just the people I’ve met at this conference so far, in reality nothing seems further from the truth.
Selfishly, I report that I am having an amazing time up here in the mountains of Boulder. From the charming UC sophomore who gamely picked me up from the airport in the middle of the night to the gracious family that has opened their lovely home to me this week, to the scores and scores of amazing speakers and planners and attendees with their insightful, daring questions, this has been an experience I’ll be turning over in my mind for a long, long while. In session after session I’m forced to both re-evaluate what I think and incorporate ideas I would never normally even come into contact with because that’s how these people play “conference panel”. There’s a topic title (no description–that’s open to interpretation) and three or four panelists from all sorts of backgrounds. Then, the moderator shouts go and we are off. And man can we talk.
During my time so far, some over-arching themes have started to emerge. The world is in a great period of recalibration–not only economically, but socially, politically, and technologically. In the technology sphere, media creators (pro and amateur and combinations in between) are evolving in terms of the stories they tell and the many sophisticated methods they can now choose to use to tell them; the consumers are changing their habits and standards right along side them. After a period of happy, shiny gadgetry, we’re also looking more closely at what our technology does and how it can be refined to meet our needs better. Though admittedly it may be a little scary sometimes, everything is in play, and so it is a vital time of experimentation that is best embraced rather than feared–maybe now is the time to take a lesson from the past and not jump to judgment about the evils of evolutionary change. Sometimes we might leave behind things that are valuable, and we’ll have to learn the hard way and reincorporate what
we find we miss, but we don’t need to let that slow us down. Really, most of us are speaking internet technology as a second language, anyway, and it shows. It’s the generation coming up that will most likely truly teach us what we can do with this rocket ship.
We talk a lot about the shrinking attention span of the audience in a tone of voice that tends to imply “less sophisticated audience,” when what we’re really dealing with is the phenomenal increase in competition for people’s eyes and ears and minds. In response, we’re learning better ways to get our message across–in words, in audio, in video. Long form isn’t dead, even if it’s (arguably) a bit unfashionable at the moment. Where commercial demands force us to sacrifice what we feel is too much (smaller newspapers, commercial radio, Hollywood movies) we move to new venues (often, the internet) that provide what we need.
I’ve also been into deep conversations about the future of radio, the benefits to society presented by the economic fallout, and the evolution of women’s artistic voices, and then observed some of the more heavy-hitting political and religious panels. Strangely, and yet in another way obviously, a certain refrain followed me along: Focus on the real goals at the core of your being or your business, and let the rest fall away when it prevents you from moving towards them; do unto others as you would have done unto you. Good for commerce, good for society, and good for the soul.
Okay, the creative commons/copyright panel is tomorrow. Look out.