The Modern Journalist

Forget the Experts, Meta Talk Goes Real Space

I’m on the Advisory Board for SXSW Interactive, which basically means I’ve been going to this event for 15 years (I think) and I’m too nerdy to conceive of a time when I wouldn’t be here.

I do some writing, help choose panels sessions after the glorious SXSW folks do the heavy lifting, evangelize the awesomeness that is Austin and SXSW; however, my favorite part is moderating. I love a good discussion and throughout the years, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. (I was once described as the hip-hop Jerry Springer, which is great since I’m from Cincinnati.)

But the nerd-averse and Flesh Space are crashing together this year as SXSW is encouraging participants to use live chat to discuss what people are saying while the panels are going on. Holy loss of control.

We’ve seen the power of the collective wisdom challenging people at panels, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a conference actively encourage its participants to group together and challenge the experts. Which is great, by the way.

It’s Read/Write. It’s the perfect example that experts don’t have to be all right, just mostly right. And the collective masses fills in the blanks.

Now, will there be some folks who don’t like this? Absolutely. They will be challenged to keep themselves in check.

But this is the model for news. Opening up the discussion.

Hell, I’m doing that before I post my notes from MY presentation. I already know what I messed up, so I collected everyone’s email and when I post the video, I’m going to post the “post-mortem fact check” document that hopefully checks my own wild ego…which sometimes gets away from my head.