Infotrust

FROM PLANNING TO ACTION

Eighteen months ago, about 60 people gathered on the American prairie and set out to describe a blueprint for a new information economy. On June 24, at that same prairie meeting spot, some of them will start building it.

Do you want to be among the 80 founders, architects and builders? If so, drive or fly over to “From Blueprint to Building: Making the Market for Digital Information,” Wed.-Fri. June 23-25 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Mo.

WHAT WE’LL DO

This is not a conference, or a summit. It’s a congress, organized by U.S. state press associations and by the Reynolds Institute, a news-industry ideas-experiments-research center affiliated with the Missouri School of Journalism, the nation’s oldest and near-largest.

You can arrive on Wednesday afternoon, or Thursday afternoon, and we’ll wrap up Friday afternoon, with optional additional research briefings on Saturday morning. Over three days you will:

• Hear and comment on the public unveiling of a business plan for a news-industry hub for sharing users, information and commerce. The Digital Information Marketplace will solve current problems for newspapers. It’s the inspiration of the Multistate Digital Task Force -- a seed group of publishers from Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.

• Help frame the structure, governance and mission of the Information Trust Association (ITA) a facilitator of trust, identity and information commerce on the Internet and mobile networks.

• Share ideas with some of the brightest minds in Internet law, copyright, technology, social networking, commerce, government and advertising about the ITA’s value, roles and limits.

• Call or join ad-hoc break-out sessions aimed at fostering ideas, experiments and solutions with the potential to sustain the values, principles and purposes of journalism in new or legacy forms.

• Unstructured break time for ad-hoc collaboration in one of the many meeting rooms at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, or at one of the dozens of restaurants and nightspots adjacent to campus.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Among people most likely to benefit from participating are state press association directors, newspaper and other media and telecom executives, producers, journalists, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, technologists, public-policy activists, bankers and – citizens! “From Blueprint to Building: Making the Market for Digital Information,” is a public event. All discussions will be “on the record.”

The Information Trust Association and the new Multistate Digital Marketplace Service Corp. (working title) are both likely to be guided by boards broadly representative of their constituencies. If you are ready to be considered for service, you should join us in Missouri.

FINDING MORE INFORMATION

The program and process for “Blueprint to Building” are under construction. Bookmark http://www.infotrust.org to check for updates in the program and to see who is signing up to participate. As we prepare to gather, you’ll begin to see links to recommended readings, resources and services from fellow participants. You can submit a resource for consideration to build@infotrust.org

WHAT IT COSTS / LODGING

Our core meeting spaces are designed for a maximum of 80 people and we’ll take them first-come basis until we’re full to capacity. Registration is now open and if you register between now and May 31, you can take advantage of the early-bird rate of $145 for the full three days or $95 for two days – including most meals. Our hotel partner is the two-year-old Hampton Inn, adjacent to campus, or you can choose from this list of other hotels.

GETTING HERE

Three airports serve Columbia. Both Kansas City (MCI) and St. Louis (STL) are mini-hubs for Southwest Airlines and they are served by the other major and regional carriers. In addition, Delta Air Lines regional jets serve the Columbia Regional Airport (COU), 10 minutes from campus, with four non-stop flights per day to Delta’s Memphis hub.

Columbia is in the middle of Missouri with Kansas City and St. Louis at either end. It’s a a hassle-free drive on Interstate 70 east from MCI (2.25 hours) or west from STL (1.75 hours) to Columbia via rental car or aboard the MoXpress van shuttle service. You will need to make a pre-paid reservation with MoXpress.

AGENDA DRAFT

Wednesday, June 23

• 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Optional tour and introduction to Reynolds Journalism Institute facilities; meet with key staff and researchers.

• 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m. – Cocktails and networking at the Hampton Inn.

• 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. – Dinner, the Hampton Inn, sponsored by the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Brief remarks by Bill Monroe, Dean Mills and Bill Densmore; intros and discussion of goals for convening. Organize car-pooling to campus.

Thursday, June 24

(hot breakfast available at Hampton Inn)

• 7:30 a.m. – Car pools leave for RJI Building on campus (1 mile walk or drive)

• 7:45 a.m. – Continental breakfast outside Fred W. Smith Forum, 2nd Floor, RJI Building

• 8:15 a.m. – Welcome and Overview – Bill Monroe/Bill Densmore

The Digital Task Force Business Plan

• 8:30 a.m. – What were our goals (task-force members)
• 8:45 a.m. – The plan outlined, in multimedia
• 9:30 a.m. – Facilitated reaction and discussion (including via CoverItLive/Twitter)

• 10 a.m. BREAK

The corporate forms

• 10:15 a.m. – The need for an association (Bill Densmore)
• 10:30 a.m. – The need for an operating entity (Bill Monroe)
• 10:45 a.m. – Association forms (attorney #1)
• 11:00 a.m. – Operating froms (attorney #2)
• 11:15 a.m. – Facilitated reaction and discussion

• 11:30 a.m. – Pre-lunch networking break

• Noon-1 p.m. – Lunch in RJI 101A (downstairs)
• Speaker – TBD

Breakouts: 1:15 p.m.-3 p.m.

Breakouts charged to return with two to five proposals to vote on.

• Breakout 1 – Confirm association mission, objectives, structure and governance
• Breakout 2 – Confirm operating entity equity and governance
• Breakout 3 – Information ecosystem needs assessment
• Breakout 4 – Fostering participatory democracy and community

=Report Back: 3:15 p.m.-4 p.m.

• Report out from breakouts

In this facilitated discussion, each breakout committee will report “bills” for discussion and first reading. Final votes will be taken on Friday morning.