We’ll be having the conference on the campus of Harding University
Here’s a quick link to the plancast page set up by Keith Crawford:
We’ll be using the Heritage Building. Keynotes will be in Cone Chapel. Rooms 209, 210, and the Liberty Room will host Breakout Sessions.
We’re on Twitter with @BraveNewMedia1. We also have an event page on Facebook, titled “Brave New Media Conference.”
Casey Neese is the social media manager at Heifer International, a global development nonprofit that works to end hunger and poverty by providing livestock and training to smallholder farmers in more than 50 countries. Casey and his team build vibrant online communities that engage long-time supporters and reach new ones. Prior to joining Heifer, Casey led public relations initiatives in the corporate and education sectors. A native of Pennsylvania, Casey is a graduate of Harding University. He lives in Little Rock.
His Keynote is titled, “Unlikely Humanitarians: The new way to fight global poverty and what it means to you”
Keith Crawford is a believer in the power of networks. He’s been a Network Engineer for the past 10 years, specializing in network
infrastructure and security. Four years ago he discovered the revolutionary power of social networks to connect people and communicate ideas, and he’s been an evangelist ever since. He has a passion for creating communities through these networks, as well as helping churches and non-profits utilize this medium to change the world around us. He is an organizer of Little Rock Tweetup, the founder of Arkansas Tweetup, a leader in Southern Socials, a collaborator of Refresh Central Arkansas, and serves on advisory boards for several non-profits. On the rare occasions Keith isn’t at the keyboard, you’ll find him serving in his local church or . He lives in Central Arkansas with his wife and daughter.
Keith will be giving one of our keynotes. His talk is titled “#ARwx: How Twitter transformed weather reporting in Arkansas.”
Ian Thomas is an adjunct professor currently teaching at Pulaski Technical College. Most of his research is in contemporary literature and popular culture and has recently focused on the role of the big novel in American culture. When not teaching or reading very long novels, he is generally enjoying what he can figure out about the digital humanities. In his teaching, Ian has embraced the EduPunk movement and uses social media and open source CMSs to create a more democratic learning space. Ian graduated from Harding University and holds a Master’s Degree in English literature from West Chester University.
Ian is another of our classroom speakers. His talk is titled “EduPunks, Tweets, and Textbooks: Using Social Media to Fight the Commercialization of the Classroom.”
Dr. Mark Elrod has been teaching political science at Harding University since 1987. He holds degrees from David Lipscomb (BA, ’84) , Vanderbilt University (PhD, ’94) and teaches courses on international relations, political theory, comparative politics, and American foreign policy. Professor Elrod also serves as a sponsor for several campus organizations including The Roosevelt Institute, HUmanity, Pi Sigma Alpha, and the Harding Academic Team. In addition to his work in the college classroom, Elrod works in the Harding Honors Symposium and at the Arkansas Governor’s School. He is a native of New Castle, Delaware, a veteran of United States Navy, and recipient of a 2010 “Burksy” Award as Harding’s favorite teacher.
Dr. Elrod is leading another of our breakout sessions. His topic will be “Micro-lending and Social Networking.”
Alex Cone is the Online Branding Manager for the New York City Charter School Center, an independent non-profit committed to expanding access to high-quality public schools for all students regardless of where they live and the challenges they face. He is responsible for helping develop and execute the organization’s web and e-communications strategies. A Little Rock, Arkansas native, Alex has helped develop digital media strategies for several non-profit organizations including the American Red Cross and Reach Out and Read Arkansas as well as for Arkansas congressional candidate John Adams. Alex graduated from Harding University and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from James Madison University. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Krista.
Alex will be providing one of our three keynote talks. His lecture is titled “Social Change Through Social Media: Nature vs Nurture.”
Dr. Bowman is leading one of our breakout sessions. Her talk is titled “A Thousand Little Things: How Crafting Networks Turn Social Organization Into Material Productivity”
Dr. Bowman provided this description:
The power of social networks to compile and distribute information, and to facilitate in-person and online organizing, is well accepted. Not as well understood is the potential intersection between virtual connection and the creation and manipulation of the material world. Thanks to clever and sensitive tools like Ravelry.com, people and information are being brought together to foster an explosion in handcrafting impossible in previous media environments. We will explore several examples of how well-designed user-formed database and activity organization can impact not just cyberspace, not just relationships, but the tactile, concrete world we shape with the skill of our hands.
HUmanity, the Harding chapter of Roosevelt Institute, and the Harding College of Communications are proud to announce the Brave New Media Conference! Brave New Media is a social media conference scheduled to be held on the campus of Harding University on March 26. Our subtopic will be the revolutionary nature of social media. We intend as the ways in which it can be revolutionary and how those play out in spheres from the classroom to the international system.
With recent events, the timeliness of such a conversation seems to be increasing by the day. Social media is a medium so often predicated upon the tenuous aspects of our world. Trends and information are shaped and spread with remarkable agility. We think this can be a powerful quality, but we also see the potential for affecting lasting and meaningful change. We envision this conference as a way to combine the interconnectivity of the digital age with organic, face-to-face interactions. We hope that it serves to further ignite the passion and discourse that fuels our own growth and betterment.
We’ll be hosting keynote talks from Alex Cone, Keith Crawford, and Casey Neese. Additionally, classroom sessions will be lead by Dr. Mark Elrod, Dr. Donna Bowman, and Ian Thomas.
ATTENDANCE IS FREE.
Kick-off is at 10 am. We’ll be running through the day; the final keynote is planned for 8 pm.
Lunch and dinner will be on your own. Breaks will be provided.
Check here for updates, as well as additional information on our speakers and session leaders.
 | alextcone on About the Speakers: Alex Cone… |
Brave New Media Conference 