Participants in both the National Conference on Media Reform and Be the Media! shadow conference this weekend in Madison are invited to blog their experiences; the hope is that the blog becomes a neutral space for a sharing of critical perspectives on the events, outside of the dazzle and hubbub of the conferences themselves, resulting in some good collective coverage.
Those attending either conference are encouraged to contribute to the the coverage by e-mailing bethemediablog@yahoo.com with contact info, and they’ll set you up with access as well.
Webcasting plans are also quickly falling into place. Streams will be available in both MP3 and Real Audio formats. Because there’s so many sessions happening simultaneously it will be impossible to webcast them all, but with two separate servers we may run multiple streams. Otherwise the two will simulcast the same content. URLs to the streams themselves will be posted to the Be the Media! blog and Free Press web site early Friday; conference action kicks off Friday afternoon.
We still have no studio to coordinate a constant streamfeed, which may mean a stop-and-start webcast for listeners and rebroadcasters. Additionally, while the venue where the musical and keynote events will take place has broadband access, we still need to set up a temporary wi-fi bridge to access the connection (located in the theatre office).
Should be quite the weekend. Check the Be the Media! blog for ongoing coverage and back here next week for a wrap-up.