Bioneers Update
Posted: 12:55PM October 15th, 2011 | Comments
Perhaps it is my own radar that is tuned to media issues, but a major theme at this year’s Bioneer Conference is “media,” or more accurately, new media and how to better engage “the choir and beyond.”
In particular, Occupy Wall Street seems to be on a good number of minds; whenever mentioned, the crowd cheers and as, Steve Katz, publisher for investigate journalism vanguard Mother Jones, told a story about a journalist there who has been Twittering dispatches, the audience acknowledged with head nods that a new decentralized journalism is, indeed, on us.
But while Bioneers does a great job identifying and articulating important issues about community leadership, it falls short in providing practical playbooks. Perhaps that is not the point to provide a checklist for organizing a legislative drive to provide stronger animal rights, or a flowchart for shifting educational paradigms from textbook to nature-based.
Yes, Bioneers is inspiring, but it also is inspiring me to make sure that our Madison conference provides more hands-on instructions and points out some practical pathways forward.
And. . . entertainment-wise, I recommend heading straight to iTunes to download a couple Imogen Heap songs; formerly with Frou Frou, classical-trained pianist and a breathy voice, she has grown a decidedly green sensibility, and is serving as the Paul Schafer of the conference.
