The May 20-24 National Innovation Mission which will swing from New York City to Seattle, will offer participants a view into themes and trends critical to media companies today.
Here are four themes you will see throughout the trip:
1. Intersecting media and technology
A variety of technology companies — all with lessons to be learned for local media — are on the docket. Amazon is likely the most significant one and there will be a full day there with deep dives into AWS, OTT Fire, Amazon Studios, Alexa and more.
At Betaworks — which launched Bittly and Chartbeat — attendees will get a first-hand look at early-stage start ups.
At YouTube, attendees will hear a few case studies and actually make a video.
And at SpokenLayer,which provides a turnkey pipeline for inexpensively creating daily audio content, attendees will learn about what the future of audio looks like for media companies.
Many of these visits intersect media and technology and attendees will leave with takeaways that help them think about how to either work with these companies or similar ones and/or make their own companies more technologically savvy.
2. The future of news
A visit with Molly de Aguiar, Managing Director, News Integrity Initiative, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, will provide a view into the school’s News Integrity Initiative. The $14 million fund is supporting efforts to connect journalists, technologists, academic institutions, non-profits, and other organizations from around the world to foster informed and engaged communities, combat media manipulation, and support inclusive, constructive, and respectful civic discourse.
In addition, on a visit with the Facebook News partnership team, attendees will not only get updates from Facebook but take part in brainstorming and feedback sessions with product managers and engineers.
3. Culture and solving problems with design thinking
As it has been with all Innovation Mission visits, culture will be a common topic at all of the companies but it will be front and center at Mercer. They are charged with reimagining the future work force. The Mercer Innovation Hub adopts a focused, dedicated, and independent approach to disruptive innovation. The Mercer team will share some of their research and a group discussion will take place around some required reading. Finally, a two-hour design-thinking exercise will focus on an industry problem.
4. Television stations moving the needle
With visits to both Sinclair and Tegna (they have been invited), attendees will hear from companies that are driving their business forward at scale.
Sinclair Digital is creating new technologies that help make media more connected. And at Tegna’s King 5 in Seattle, attendees will learn firsthand how the station has become a poster child for innovation.