Currently I am hurtling backward across the Driftless, en route to the Online News Association conference. It's my first trip on Amtrak's Borealis, which connects the Twin Cities to Chicago, via Milwaukee, but it will not be my first time at this conference.
My first visit to ONA was to Washington, D.C., in 2010, when it was the first non-academic professional conference I ever attended. I was a young punk, excited to be on my own in D.C. and badge-scanning wasn't part of the conference tech stack yet, so bought a ticket to the cheapest workshop and snuck in to all three days of programming. I attended sessions about how to deal with internet commenters and how to distribute digital media internationally when countries all have different laws. It was enlightening, but I should have attended more sessions concerned with business sustainability, if they were even offered.
The trip coincided with the high mixology era, so I cocktailed all over town. One evening I was on the list at the 9:30 Club, where my friend's band opened for Local Natives. I have blurry memories of hanging out with Tokyo Police Club sometime on that trip. Ah, to be young and curious in a time of hope and good music! I was very lucky. I am still very lucky.
I'm pleased to have graduated to paying for my own trip to ONA, as a very serious professional with zero lingering "I was out with the band" aromas. If you see me in a session or walking the booths, say hi. I will trade stories of conferences of yore for whatever you'd like to share or are jazzed about. I'm hoping to develop a working blueprint for how digital news organizations are incorporating AI to solve audience-facing problems: Who is using knowledge graphs? How are we navigating brand and content discovery? Is there a long-term future for the so-called Creator Economy? Where do revenue generation and ad tech fit in? How is on-site semantic search being incorporated? I want to hear about what you're working on, how you're building it, and what brilliantly human audience insights you're uncovering.
In about a month, will also be attending the Knowledge Graph Conference at Cornell Tech in NYC. That will be an experience of a different, far nerdier kind. Shout if you want to grab a drink or graph some knowledge May 6-8.
I'm always up for exploring a new point of view, and Wisconsin, backwards! It has been a revealing experience, writing in reverse for hours, but the essay I have been working on is gobbledegook, and I will table it for a later date. In the meantime, I will be observing where tech and media collide in person and returning here with my thoughts next week. Based on recent conversations, I'm confident that, if there's an upside to this horrific time, it's an ideal moment sketch better futures.
–DC
The Content Technologist is a newsletter and consultancy based in Minneapolis, working with clients and collaborators around the world. The entire newsletter is written and edited by Deborah Carver, an independent content strategy consultant.
Affiliate referrals: Ghost publishing system
Cultural recommendations / personal social: Spotify | Instagram | Letterboxd | PI.FYI