Chicago New Media Summit Event Introduces… An Invite Only Event & Landmark Education Recruiters?

This observation is by no means a knock on the immense effort of the Chicago New Media Summit, but it’s more of a reality check of the groups, people, technologies, companies and trends that need to be researched, contacted, highlighted and brought to the table before having what is dubbed “The TED of the Midwest” in September.

First, having a New Media Summit in Chicago is a terrific idea, however, I don’t think an ‘invite only’ event in September bodes well for the ‘warm and loving’ feeling that the New Media council board members shared with the rest of us who looked on.

The Chicago Cultural Center was host to a brainstorm/planning meeting for the upcoming September New Media Summit, headed by Pixel Brothers’ John Patterson. I ran into a handful of good friends in the digital media space, along with representatives from various City departments. Who I didn’t see and who didn’t know about this free event included many fellow CIMA Board members or agency folks I come in contact with every day. A few media/tech journalists didn’t know about the event and RSVP’d after a random conversation we had on the phone.

The crowd listened to a letter written by Mayor Daley, a panel discussion that included 37 Signal’s Jason Fried. Jason’s comments about the importance of big Chicago media highlighting start-ups, along with reminding the crowd to stop having Second City Syndrome was refreshing.  What wasn’t refreshing was when an audience member, upon hearing Jason mention the company, Threadless, wrote ‘Threadless’ in his notebook, followed by a question mark.  Threadless’ has been one of Chicago’s poster children for start-up success stories, yet a good deal of people still don’t know who they are (they are also on the cover of Inc. magazine)

I noticed a heavy concentration of people with a film background – which is phenomenal. Chicago’s steeped in film history and the operation Howard Tullman started, Flashpoint Academy, has the most unbelievable equipment – it’ll make any visual arts lover cry.  What I didn’t notice are the endless media strategists and visionaries like Critical Mass’ David Armano or Denuo’s Rishad Tobaccowala at the event or on the Ning site created by Pixel Brothers. There’s till time until September, so perhaps they will be in attendance or invited.

Something a fellow attendee said to me the next morning made me more confused.  At the evening mixer, he met a series of folks that are members of Landmark Education.  There was also a Landmark Education banner in rotation with the rest of the evening’s sponsors.  My friend was asked multiple times by different people to join Landmark. I know a few people that have gone through Landmark’s courses and I also know people that aren’t comfortable with Landmark’s practices. According to my friend, by the time the night drew to a close, he didn’t know if he was at a New Media event or recruitment session for Landmark.

I don't know how many other people were approached in this fashion, but it would be such a shame that a tech/media event was overshadowed by discomfort from people that felt the same way my friend did.

Is this a criticism against Landmark or the New Media Summit? Nope. What I am presenting is a terrific opportunity to reach out to various groups in the city that can help plan September’s Summit.

One sticking point I can’t shake, however.  Why is this invite only? Who will be invited? Conferences like Davos and TED bring in the heavy hitters like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, but they also invite folks like Kevin Rose, Robert Scoble and Vosges’ Founder, Katrina Markoff.

I suggest making this event open to anyone and everyone that would like to learn about Chicago’s New Media activities. I know the evening Gala will be open to the public, but recent successful Chicago gatherings including Tech Cocktail, SEED, CIMA Bytes, coupled with the upcoming Social Media Summit, ad:tech conference and Internet Retailer show that keeping educational gathering ‘public’ is the way to go.

TED and Davos can invite the ‘elite’ because the people behind those organizations have a sense of the ‘who’s who’. Until Chicago New Media Conference gets the complete picture of the ‘Who’s Who’ in Chicago New Media,keep it open and continue the spirit of Daniel Burnham that was mentioned in the opening remarks.

The Columbian Exposition of 1893 invited the world to come to Chicago - why should the Chicago New Media Summit be any different? Burnham would like it that way.

Comments

[Best Ro]

Yes I agree with your thoughts, I wanted to know where were all the women? I was a bit confused about the mission and the event in the fall. They need to continue to reach out to the whole media community and other schools Art Institute and Columbia College. I was impressed on how they were able to pull off this event and gather the amount of support they did in only 90 days.

[Jason Fried]

I agree with you -- I don't understand the "invite only" part of this. What's the point? It smacks of elitism. If Chicago wants to conquer new media (and I don't think I'm the only one who's not entirely sure what "new media" means anyway), everyone should be allowed an opportunity to buy a ticket to attend. You don't become number one by shutting people out.

[Mark Smithivas]

Exactly but you don't go far enough. A lot of this feels very "top down" approach, whereas the best events/communities I've been a part of are "bottom up" (grassroots) driven. Apparently the price to attend is also steep: $450

P.S. Their Ning site sucks.

[Tim Courtney]

First, I agree with you on the sentiments around 'invite only' and I share your surprise at people and groups that either weren't there or weren't aware.

Second, I was the friend Blagica mentions above that was approached by Landmark in a hard-sell manner to attend a seminar. I've confirmed with others that they were also. My digging since the event confirmed my suspicions about the nature of the group, and further causes me to question Landmark's intentions for involvement in the CNMS.

A good friend and very connected businessman in Chicago was shocked that Landmark was involved. He told me the group's background and accounts from friends' experiences who have been suckered into attending. What he described to me almost identically matched the account on this page:

http://www.religio.de/therapie/landmark/landmark.html#2

Also, I found this high-level overview of practices here:

http://skepdic.com/landmark.html

Given what I've learned from both others' experiences and the Internet, I think Landmark is dangerous to the credibility of the CNMS. Frankly, the summit is above the likes of Landmark, and I'm not sure why organizers have risked tarnishing it's reputation in this way.

[Michael Alan]

I give great credit to the organizers of this event for starting a conversation on behalf of new media in Chicago. If we chose as a city to tackle something we are passionate about we will succeed. As was said again and again during the presentation, Chicago is the home to tremendous creativity and we bring a unique synthesized perspective to the national stage.

I find the title of this post odd. I don't know why it references Landmark Education recruiters. No one tried to recruit me into anything. In fact that is actually my one small complaint about the event itself. There was no real action to take coming out of the event. I would have liked to have had the opportunity to hear more about the projects and initiatives that the people who were attending the event were actually involved with. You were basically on your own to meet people and find out what they were involved with. That was difficult given how loud the music was at the reception.

While there were somethings about the event that were a little bumpy, and I didn't like that there were no women were in the panel discussion, one cannot fault the spirit of the event. Daniel Burnham's maxim "Make no small plans" is a call to all of us as Chicagoans.

Just one other thing about Landmark Education and this post. I know a lot of people whom I respect who have done some of their courses and liked them. I have read through the two websites that Tim Courtney listed in his comment and they do not match my friends experience. But then again, as far as internet veracity is concerned, If I did not know better I still would not be able to tell if Barak Obama is a Muslim or not.

Any way- good work to the people behind this summit- just find a way to make it easier for us to start making things happen. :)

[Andy Angelos]

Exclusivity surrounded the event from my initial introduction to the CNMS...after registration, constant reminders of "you must RSVP" and "only several seats left" flooded my inbox on a daily basis. Email reminders? Is this "new media"? Jason doesn't understand the concept and I am similarly confused. However, I do think transparency and authentic opinions are integral to the "new media" mess and were clearly lacking at the event.

Also, meeting several of the companies representing the large "film" entourage mentioned by other commentors was frustrating. "We are the only live online video network," remarked one gentleman. Really? I could have sworn Qik, Blip, Seesmic, etc were providing similar utility.

Apologies for the rant...I hope the event materializes into a continued positive addition to Chicago's emerging technology scene. Shifting the focus to "Let's get educated, honest, and innovative" instead of "Let's boast about our accomplishments" might assist in the organization's longevity.

[Colleen Egan]

I believe the CNMS launch was a successful start to a growing movement. There are always growing pains to any organization and I agree with some of the comments, but as a woman, an executive in the technology world and a believer in collaboration, I feel more inspired and encouraged that these efforts will be successful as the organization grows and matures. I would encourage all of us to help CNMS with our support and experience.

[Dave from U Sphere]

If I don't get an invite, I suggest we have our own meeting. Seriously...

BTW, I spun through the Landmark site. Is Tom Cruise behind it? Looks awfully cultish.

[Michael Burns]

To learn more about Landmark Forum tactics, be sure to check-out AFF's Cultic Studies Journal, at www.csj.org or www.factnet.org. They are NOT to be taken lightly.