Old Media Meets New

Sometimes you're just struck by the ironies. We re-visited Hyde Park this weekend, and meandered through the FDR Library & Museum, which is running an exhibit on FDR's First 100 Days. Lots of interesting things to compare. Back in 1933, FDR revolutionized political communication with the simple introduction of radio 'fireside chats', bringing conversation from a sitting president into the living rooms of American households for the first time. The museum is wall-papered with thousands of letters and telegrams to that president from all corners of the country, expressing support for the simple fact of his efforts to share his thoughts and plans informally in a time of national crisis . Fast forward, we've got a new president whose campaign showed us how to harness the grassroots power of the Internet to engage audiences, and who has recently taken some heat for 'over-exposing' his message through a marathon series of appearances on TV news and talk shows.



At the end of the museum visit we got back in the car for the 90-minute ride home. And did what along the way? Listened to a CD of personal short stories from a live event sponsored by The Moth, an organization that brings busy people together in cities to hear well-crafted stories from well and lesser-known storytellers. The next day, I took an early walk while plugged in to the latest Slate Gabfest podcast on my ipod. Marveling that the old radio magic of 'listening' is still with us today after all.

Eventful Media

This is a big week for events in NY. The world leaders are all at the UN. In other parts of town, though, I went to two forums celebrating innovation in media.


On Tuesday evening, Ashoka, the leading social entrepreneurs organization, hosted an event to introduce three Fellows from their News & Knowledge Initiative (http://knowledge.ashoka.org/) Senior Fellow Jimmy Wales spoke about the vision for Wikipedia, and the new fellows, journalist Juanita Leon from Colombia, film entrepreneur Stefan Kaspar from Peru, and tech entrepreneur Nicholas Reville, founder of the Participatory Culture Foundation, presented their programs and took questions from a group of NY media pros. Their ongoing initiatives - an independent, participatory online news site; a network of micro-cinemas in rural Latin America; and free open-source video players -- all serve the broad mission of providing access and inspiration to people globally through information. It was refreshing to be in a room of people who celebrate media for its social and political value.


Yesterday, I dropped in on several of the Advertising Week sessions at Times Center and the Paley Center - where the interests are far more commercial. All very well-attended. Most notable was COO Sheryl Sandberg's presentation about Facebook. Her pitch was aimed largely at making the case for Facebook as a marketing platform (a partnership was announced with Nielsen Online and Sony Pictures' Michael Lynton took the mike to share Sony's successes in promoting movies through the social network). More interesting was the opportunity to soak in the sheer numbers of people in 'the conversation' (300 million Facebook users, 50% who visit the site daily) and the mounting evidence about how Facebook has infused itself into the pop culture. Not just a platform for connecting friends but also, occasionally, a network that's filled in the missing links in a crime investigation or through which people have turned first to send SOS signals in an emergency. (Sandberg's advice: Call 911 first!)

Saturday in the Park with David

So, on Saturday we're in from the 'burbs, staying at our Upper West Side apartment, and we decide to take in the Natural History Museum and then a walk in Central Park, where it's all sun and clear air, a perfect last weekend of Summer. The museum still has its glory but it feels dated and the dinosaurs seem trapped in another era, and anyway it's too dark to be inside on a sunny day. So we cross the street and into another world. We have entered the serendipity of Saturday in the Park.


We're watching the rowboats on the lake, when the sound of guitar music drifts in from somewhere across, and we're looking over at a hill of New Yorkers sitting on the grass listening to a guitar guy. Later we discover his name is David, and apparently he's a regular (we're not, so we didn't know) and he sings Simon & Garfunkel and easy mellow tunes that appeal to us baby boomers in the crowd. A bride and her photog entourage cross the field and everyone applauds, then he sings a love song in their honor. Turns out our David also writes songs, whose lyrics have a bit of bite that brings us back to reality, fittingly, because let's be honest, this was a week in which the 24/7 cable news cycle was all about outbursts of uncivility. He sings out his latest tune, "Glenn Beck Scares Me" whose verses include "Tom Cruise Scares Me" and "Dick Cheney Scares Me" and you can fill in the blank and sing all day. The audience is with it, he gets an easy laugh up and down the grassy hill, and some even sing along. It's New York after all, and we're enjoying a carefree day in the park, but we're never more than a few hours away from our ideologies. And then as fast as they came, things go from politics to whimsy, and ThatGuitarMan (turns out that's his URL) challenges the crowd to get up and skip.

And some people say New Yorkers are jaded? Have a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLoT1c43MW0&feature=related

Coming Late to the Party

To blog or not to blog? I've thought about it lots of times and come up with the standard excuses: time, commitment, what to say out loud, what to keep to myself, what hasn't already been said? No one will accuse me of being an early adopter on this one. But it's too compelling an opportunity, and a fascinating time to be inside the media business. So, I've decided to dive in.

I'm starting this blog, MediaCoordinates, for a couple reasons. In my day-to-day life, I have two perspectives: that of the avid consumer of media and information, and that of an entrepreneurial executive search business owner who consults to media companies and investors. I spend my days with (mostly) interesting people, ideas, and companies, in (mostly) one-on-one conversations. And I get to 'see' things from multiple angles. Here, I'll be able to weigh in occasionally with perspectives that pass my own idiosyncratic screen as interesting, thought-provoking, , or just worthy of a few extra minutes' consideration.

There we go. Let me know what you think. Looking forward to the broader conversation.