We’ve just taken the plunge and opened a new “home away from home” on Facebook. Please join us there, become a fan and recommend us to your friends.

It’s here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/WeMedia/248421350296)

Of course … you can also follow on Twitter (@wemedia) or through email updates or feeds found at: www.wemedia.com/fans. Or go old school and read/share your thoughts on the We Media web site. It’s been spiffed up – we’d love to see and chat with you there/here/anywhere you find us.

We’ll be checking in here frequently, but here’s an update on new features, new relationships, and ways you can help spread the clicking.

___New Features____
*Mobile Web Version
Use
SeeClickFix from your smart phone and experience the new mobile phone
optimized version.  We can’t wait to get your feedback.  There’s
nothing like reporting your issue on the go.

*Photo Gallery
Ever
wondered what’s going on across the world on SeeClickFix.  In addition
to the activity feeds, you can now review all photos published in our
Photo Gallery at http://www.seeclickfix.com/gallery.  I love it.

*Issues Page New Look with Facebook Share
Each
Clicket now as an issue home page which lists nearby activity and top
local issues.  Let us know what you think.  Notice you can now share an
issue with your friends on Facebook, too.

*Watch Area Landing Page

Similarly, each SeeFix watch area has a home page.  Let’s you know what’s going on nearby geographically.

*SeeClickFix for Your Site
Now it is even easier to build
SeeClickFix into your website with either an embeddable web widget or an
RSS feed.  Learn all about it at http://www.seeclickfix.com/widget.

*Feedback via Get Satisfaction
There
is now a SeeClickFix for SeeClickFix.  You can publicly post feedback
on the site and discuss it with other community members.  Watch for
the Feedback blue tab on the right-hand side of your browser.

___SeeClickFix News____
*Mayoral Candidate Endorsement
York, PA, has a Mayoral candidate who has embraced SeeClickFix see
http://blog.seeclickfix.com/2009/03/mayoral-candidate-in-york-pa-runs-with.html.

*Lot’s of Media Websites
SeeClickFix is a part of Boston Globe, New York Times and Philly.com
websites along with many others.  Check out the blog to learn more
details.

*Police and Crime Attention
In our home town, New Haven, we’re
seeing a lot of interaction between the police and the community around
drugs and traffic.  See
http://blog.seeclickfix.com/2009/03/heroin-dealer-busted-on-leads-from.html
and http://blog.seeclickfix.com/2009/03/operation-clickfix.html.

How you can Help Spread the word and keep up to date.

Become a SideClick:

-Sign-up at http://www.seeclickfix.com/become_a_sideclick

*Stay in Touch – Read Our Blog or this Blog
We’ve been posting lots of new stuff to http://blog.seeclickfix.com.  Check it out once a week and/or add to your RSS reader.

*Refer a Friend
Tell
your friends about SeeClickFix.  In fact, forward them this email?  Or
send them over to http://www.seeclickfix.com/helps/show/3 to learn more.

*Become Our Facebook Fan
We’re
moving from the Facebook group to a Facebook page.  What’s the
difference?  Who knows, but that’s what Facebook wants.  Please become
a fan at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SeeClickFix/78040287852.

Note: This week we’re holding our fifth annual We Media conference in Miami. Along with our research and other projects at iFOCOS, the We Media conferences, awards and community explore the cultural, political and business implications of a world connected and empowered by digital networks. This new research contributes a small piece to a big story: the beginning of a new era of humanity. You can read more on the big idea here. Thanks for your feedback, input and ideas.

MIAMI – Most Americans are putting their faith in small business owners, entrepreneurs and science and technology leaders to lead the U.S. to a better future – and they are significantly less hopeful the news media, government or large corporations will do the same, a new We Media/Zogby Interactive poll shows.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (63%) said small business and entrepreneurs will lead the U.S. to a better future, while 52% said the same of science and technology leaders. Americans are far less optimistic about the leadership of government (31%), large corporations and business leaders (21%), or traditional news media such as newspapers, television, radio, and magazines (13%).

Americans think leadership toward a better future is more likely to come from family and friends (38%), non-profit groups (32%), or even themselves (36%). The Zogby Interactive survey of 2,397 adults nationwide was conducted Feb. 11-13, 2009, and carries a margin of error of +/- 2.0 percentage points. The survey results will be featured at this week’s fifth-annual We Media Conference in Miami (www.wemedia.com), hosted by the University of Miami School of Communication and organized and produced by iFOCOS, a Reston, Va.-based media think tank (www.ifocos.org). This is the third year of the survey.

“Americans are deeply dissatisfied with traditional media’s leadership today – and they also don’t expect much in the future,” said Andrew Nachison, founder of the media think tank iFOCOS, which organizes the We Media conference, awards, community and web site (www.wemedia.com). “I’m not sure what’s worse – the dissatisfaction with the current performance, or the low expectations for the future.”

Dissatisfaction with the news media, corporations, and government runs deep

Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the leadership currently provided by large companies, government and traditional media – and they are not confident the leadership from these groups will improve in the future. The survey shows 71% are “not very” or “not at all” satisfied with the leadership provided by traditional news media. Even greater numbers of Americans are unsatisfied with the leadership of the government (74%) and large corporations and business leaders (81%).

While just one in four (27%) Americans are satisfied with the leadership provided by traditional news media, Internet media – including blogs and social networks – fared far better, with 56% satisfied with online media leadership. Fewer than a third of Americans (32%) believe online media will provide leadership in the future, but they are much more confident in the potential of Internet media to guide the U.S. in a better direction than they are in traditional news media (13%).

“The public’s sense of who will lead in the future is, sad to say, a painful reflection of the place that newspapers and other traditional media hold in American culture. Most Americans don’t think they provide much leadership now, nor will they lead us to a better future. They look to science, technology and entrepreneurs for that leadership,” said Nachison.

“This raises an old question that takes on new meaning as the world’s economy reorganizes around diminished returns: what’s the purpose of a news enterprise? Is it simply to produce, package and distribute data? Or is it more? Is there a purpose to the endeavor?

“We think there is, and we look to publishers and journalists to lead us to a better future. However they are configured, news enterprises must lead. And to lead they must change. That’s a call to action to improve performance and to raise the bar on expectations.”

Americans most likely to look online for breaking and daily news

Nearly half of Americans (46%) said they first turn to Internet news sites for information on breaking news about national and government issues and nearly as many (40%) said online news sites are where they get most of their news and information. These online sites far outpace traditional news sources, such as television (25%), radio (14%), and newspapers (12%), as a source of daily news and information. It comes as no surprise that younger Americans are most likely to favor online news sources, but only those age 65 and older are more likely to turn to television (36%) over the Internet (29%) to get their news.

Methodology: Zogby International was commissioned by iFOCOS to conduct an online survey of 2497 adults. A sampling of Zogby International’s online panel, which is representative of the adult population of the US, was invited to participate. Slight weights were added to region, party, age, race, religion, gender, education to more accurately reflect the population. The margin of error is +/- 2.0 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

For content, media inquiries and interviews, contact:
Beth Laing
iFOCOS
404-895-7406
blaing@ifocos.org

For methodology information, contact:
Stephanie DeVries
Zogby International
(315) 624-0200, Ext. 273
steph@zogby.com

You can find the latest program here, follow along in the We Media blog or via Twitter @wemedia, and share your ideas and contact details in the We Media Community, www.wemediacommunity.org.

Here are just a few updates on what’s happening and who’s coming to We Media Miami:

Workshops: Deep dive discussions, exercises and agenda-setting on Innovating out of the recession, Reinventing advertising, Getting social, Journalism without news companies, Decoding the culture, Rebooting business and democracy and Education for the digital generation.

Special Interest Caucuses: Set an agenda, solve a problem, meet with peers. We’ve organized caucuses for Entrepreneurs, Storytellers, Public Media and Social Media. You can organize your own, too.

The Pitch: 18 early-stage media entrepreneurs present their concepts in the We Media Pitch It Challenge Finals. Two of them will earn seed capital to help launch their ventures. We’ve got commercial and non-profit entries, and an all star group of judges, including LaunchBox Digital founder John McKinley and Ashoka President Diana Wells.

People: We’ve added: CNN’s digital mastermind, David Bohrman; Allvoices CEO Amra Tareen, UPI President Nicholas Chiaia, DailyMe President Neil Budde, Associated Press strategy head Jim Kennedy, The Knot CEO David Liu, Ogilvy PR’s social media guru, Virginia Miracle, GeniusRocket CEO Mark Walsh, World of Good CEO Priya Haji, Travel Channel strategy head Adam Sutherland, designers Roger Black and Eduardo Danillo, and Hip Hop Caucus founder The Rev. Lennox Yearwood. And many others.

FOWA: That’s a conference for software developers in Miami immediately before We
Media Miami gets started – and if you’re already registered for We Media you can get
a discount at FOWA. Details here.

Downtime: Dinners at We Media are on your own so you can debrief, unwind and network in smaller groups. Or – dive into Miami’s nightlife. Our optional Feb. 25 night out in Little Havana includes a tour, dinner and Afro-Cuban dancing. Pre-registration is required. Details here.

We Media is a one-of-a-kind gathering for leaders, executives, investors, marketers, activists, educators, entrepreneurs and game changers who see a rising tide of opportunity to change the world through media. We hope you’ll be there too.

Click here to register now.

RESTON, VA  – Online media star ZeFrank, mobile texting service Twitter, Obama campaign mastermind David Plouffe, Japanese digital designer Yugo Nakamura, Kenyan mobile alert service Ushahidi, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation are among the inaugural winners of the We Media Game Changers Awards to be presented at the We Media Miami conference in February.

Winners also include Innocentive’s crowd-sourcing model, Humana’s Freewheelin’ site and social network SocialVibe.

The awards recognize people, projects, ideas and organizations leading change and inspiring a better world through media. The winners will lead workshops and discussions on their breakthrough approaches at the annual We Media Conference at the University of Miami Feb. 24-26, 2009. The conference will also include case studies of the winners as well as one-on-one meetings with winners and judges. Registration is at www.wemedia.com/miami.

An international panel of pioneers from media, technology, business, social activism and blogging selected the winners from more than 250 nominations. The public selected SocialVibe in online voting.

The awards highlight achievements through transformational communications methods, novel business models, significant social impact, innovative design and powerful visions of media for the connected culture. More about the awards at: www.wemedia.com/awards.

Judges cited the winners for the following contributions:

– Twitter for changing the real-time communication game. A cultural phenomena that’s almost like ESP; nothing comes close to this digital mind-meld for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
– Innocentive for taking Web 2.0 to the marketplace. A prototype for employing the wisdom of crowds beyond mere conversation, the crowd-sourcing model does for business what Twitter does for the culture.
– The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for incubating innovation in news media. Shifting its focus and funding to the changing needs of communities, Knight seeds the rethinking of news media and media policy in a connected society that is expressing democracy in new ways.
– Ushahidi for redefining the ability of people to quickly communicate vital information for action. Unlike many citizen journalism initiatives, it dispenses entirely with the many-to-one model of information dissemination and instead makes it possible for many people to communicate relevant information to many people simultaneously. Created by young people during a crisis, it builds on low-cost, high-penetration existing technologies that foster participatory action into the future
– Freewheelin’ for demonstrating that the Internet is not just something on your screen. Humana’s program challenges the fundamental assumption that health insurance is only for after-the-fact-care, and redefines it as a partnership in preventative care and holistic health. Its suite of digital tie-ins helps translate the ambiguous ‘whole health’ benefits of biking into tangible results that spur people to long-term commitment.
– ZeFrank. Essential contemporary culture, Z proves that new a new type and scale of engagement and entertainment is possible. He creates the new rules with wisdom, personality and playfulness.
– Yugo Nakamura, the designer of Design and the Elastic Mind, for exploring non-traditional forms of storytelling through interactive systems in digital and networked environments.
– David Plouffe. The mastermind behind Barack Obama’s campaign for president, Plouffe mobilized millions with a methodical media campaign that utilized the Internet, cell phones and personal communication devices as never before.
– SocialVibe for unleashing the power of distributed advertising on personal media. A runaway winner in public voting, SocialVibe taps into the networks of the young and connected, creating a place where members get sponsored and give back. Social media meets syndication and social good.

The awards are organized and administered by iFOCOS, the media think tank and futures lab that organizes the We Media conferences and global membership community.

The We Media conference also features a media-venture startup gallery and an early stage media-venture startup competition with up to $50,000 in seed capital awarded to winners.

About We Media
The We Media conferences, community and awards are organized by iFOCOS, a media think tank and futures lab founded in 2006 by media visionairies Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin. They help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. We Media programs function as a marketplace of ideas and actions for business and social innovators. They connect individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world better through media. More about We Media at: www.wemedia.com.

Here’s the formal press release:

Media and technology strategist Brian Reich has joined iFOCOS (www.ifocos.org), the media think tank and futures lab that organizes the We Media community, conferences and awards. He will serve as the Director of Community and Partnerships and as Managing Editor of the We Media blog and community (www.wemedia.com).

Reich will be responsible for growth and projects serving the global We Media community (www.wemediacommunity.org). He will also play a lead role in planning We Media conferences, new venture pitch competitions and other programs. The annual We Media Miami conference is Feb. 24-26, 2009 (www.wemedia.com/miami/).

“We are excited that Brian is bringing his considerable talents to iFOCOS,” said Andrew Nachison, the co-founder and CEO of iFOCOS. “We Media is a movement and a way of thinking about the changes taking place in our world today – and Brian knows as well as anyone how to make sense of what is going on.”

“Its really simple: We Media is the future, and iFOCOS understands that,” said Reich. “I want to be involved with the people and groups who are having an impact on the future of media, technology and society – and this is an incredible opportunity to do that.”

In addition to his work with iFOCOS, Reich is a Principal at EchoDitto (www.echoditto.com), one of the most successful Internet and online communications firms in the nation. He has previously served as both the Director of New Media at Cone Inc, a brand strategy and communications agency in Boston, and a Senior Strategic Consultant for Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, an interactive agency which helped many leading corporations, associations, non-profit organizations and governmental entities leverage the communication opportunities created by technology. From 2000- 2004, Brian ran his own consulting business, Mouse Communications, which helped political and non-profit organizations use new technology to improve communications, drive action, and support fundraising. Brian launched Mouse Communications after serving two years as Vice President Gore’s Briefing Director in the White House, handling both official activities and activities during his 2000 presidential campaign. He has spent much of his life working in and around politics and political campaigns.

Reich is also a regular writer and speaker on the issues involving the impact of the internet and technology on politics, society, and the media. He is the editor of Thinking About Media (www.thinkingaboutmedia.com), a blog examining little ‘m’ media around the world (among other things) and blogs as an expert on FastCompany.com. His book, Media Rules!,: Mastering Today’s Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience was published by Wiley & Sons in December 2007. Brian attended the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Columbia University. He and his wife, Karen Dahl, and their son, Henry, live in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

About We Media
The We Media conferences, community and awards are organized by iFOCOS, a media think tank and futures lab founded in 2006 by media visionairies Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin. They help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. We Media programs function as a marketplace of ideas and actions for business and social innovators. They connect individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world better through media. More about We Media at: www.wemedia.com

Our judges are now reviewing the finalists – and online voting is open for the public to select the Community Choice award winner. So please check out the winners, rate them and add your comments at gamechangers.wemedia.com. The winners (and judges) will be featured at next year’s We Media Miami Global Forum, Feb. 24-26, 2009. More about the conference and the online registration link is here. Yes, this is a good time to register, book your travel and reserve a room in our conference hotel.

Here’s the formal press release about the awards finalists:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2008

Online voting will choose the Community Choice Winner

RESTON, VA – Digital journalism from Iraq, a mobile news project from Kenya, two social networks, two digital artists, two science research collaboratives, two foundations and two online advertising marketplaces are among 35 finalists for the 2009 We Media Game Changer Awards.

The awards recognize people, projects, ideas and organizations leading change and inspiring a better world through media.

An international panel of judges will help select the winners. The public will select the Community Choice winner through online voting.

The finalists, selected from 150 nominations, can be rated and reviewed by the public at: gamechangers.wemedia.com

“It’s hard to do something unique that genuinely changes how people think and look at the world,” said We Media co-founder Andrew Nachison. “So its honestly breathtaking to reflect on the amazing display of creativity among the finalists. They’ve all come up with novel approaches to informing and improving the planet through media.”

The winners will be celebrated and featured speakers at the We Media Miami Global Forum, Feb. 24-26, 2009, where their stories will become the content of the conference.

To register for the conference, visit: www.wemedia.com/miami/

The awards highlight achievements through exceptional story-telling, novel business models, significant social impact, innovative design and powerful visions of media for the connected culture.

The awards are organized and administered by iFOCOS, the media think tank and futures lab that organizes the We Media conferences and global membership community.

The 2009 awards finalists are:

Akron Beacon Journal/American Dream

Beanstockd

BlogHer

Born in September/Charity Water

Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister/CBC

Creative Visions Foundation

David Dunkley Gyimah, Founder, Viewmag

David Kidder, Founder, Clickable.com

Design 21 Social Design Network

Digg Labs/Stamen Designs

Dotsub

Footnote/The Wall

Freewheelin

Genius Rocket

Innocentive

iStockphoto

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Jonathan Harris

MediaStorm

NewsTrust

NPR API

Off The Bus/Huffington Post

OneVoice

PhotoVoice

Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Reuters Iraq Anniversary

SETI@HOME

SocialVibe

The Hype Machine

The Knot

Twitter

UChannel

Ushahidi

Will Wright

WITNESS/ Witness Hub

ZeFrank

Register for the We Media Miami conference at: www.wemedia.com/miami

About We Media
The We Media conferences, membership community and awards are organized by iFOCOS, a non-profit media think tank and futures lab founded in 2006 by media visionaries Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin. They help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. We Media programs function as a marketplace of ideas and actions for business and social innovators and they connect individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world better through media. More about We Media at: www.wemedia.com.

####

Inquiries to:

Beth Laing, Project Manager, iFOCOS, 404-895-7406, blaing@ifocos.org

Please be sure to say hi to Dale and me if you’re coming – and plan some time for a museum tour after we wrap up Wednesday afternoon. If you won’t be there, you can follow along or catch up online. You’ll find blog reports here, and look for live “backchannel” chats and group discussions in The We Media Community. As usual, we’ll attempt to collect and organize the various dispatches and blog reports and twitter tweets. The conference will be conducted in Spanish and English.

Here’s a “pre-game” shout out of thanks to Guillermo Riera, our Buenos Aires director. He’s put in long hours and has done a magnificent job organizing the conference for us. As usual, our project manager, Beth Laing has played a critical role behind the scenes.

Finally, a special thanks to the summit’s sponsors. We’re taking reservations now (and registrations) for sponsors of our next big event, our 2009 global forum, We Media Miami, Feb. 24-26, 2009. If your company would like to participate as a sponsor, call me or send a note via email: andrew <::at> ifocos dot org.

Thanks to these sponsors in Buenos Aires:

An international panel of pioneers from media, technology, business, social activism and blogging will judge nominees for the new We Media Game Changers Awards. The awards recognize people, projects, ideas and organizations leading change and inspiring a better world through media.

Winners will be celebrated and featured speakers at the We Media Miami global forum, Feb. 24-26, 2009, where their stories will become the content of the conference.

Nominations are open through September 15.  Anyone can submit multiple nominations.

Please submit nominations online at: www.wemedia.com/nominate.

Nominees can work in any field, including journalism, marketing, technology, advocacy, film and music. The awards will highlight achievements through exceptional story-telling, novel business models, significant social impact, innovative design and powerful visions of media for the connected culture.

The awards are organized and administered by iFOCOS, the media think tank and futures lab that organizes the We Media conferences and global membership community.

The judges for the 2008 awards are:

• Suha Araj, Co-Founder and V.P. Strategy, Real Girls Media
• John H. Bell, Managing Director,  360° Digital Influence, Ogilvy PR
• John Fischer, Strategist, Infinia Foresight
• Jim Kennedy, Vice President; Director of Strategic Planning, The Associated Press
• Solana Larsen, Managing Editor, Global Voices
• Ory Okolloh, Founder, Kenyan Pundit
• Sameer Padania , Manager, Witness Hub
• Alex Steffen, Executive Editor, Worldchanging
• Katrin Verclas, Co-Founder/Editor, MobileActive.org
• Alan Webber, writer and founder, Fast Company Magazine
• Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus, CEO

The judges will evaluate finalists selected by the awards organizers and the public will vote for the Community Award  through an online voting system.

Learn more about the criteria at: www.wemedia.com/awards

Register for the We Media Miami conference at: www.wemedia.com/miami

About We Media
The We Media conferences, membership community and awards are organized by iFOCOS, a non-profit media think tank and futures lab founded in 2006 by media visionaries Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin. They help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. We Media programs function as a marketplace of ideas and actions for business and social innovators and they connect individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world better through media. More about We Media at: www.wemedia.com.

Executives from Google, newspapers, blogs, advertising and PR firms will meet at the Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art (Malba) October 14 and 15, 2008.

An influential network of media and technology executives, bloggers and social entrepreneurs will meet in Buenos Aires this fall for a regional summit focused on business and social innovation.

We Media Buenos Aires will be October 14-15, 2008 at the Museum of Latin American Art (Malba). Participation is limited to 240 people.

To register, visit: www.wemedia.com/buenosaires.

The conference is organized by iFOCOS, a media think tank and futures lab founded by media visionaries Andrew Nachison and Dale Peskin to help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. Nachison and Peskin will be featured speakers at the Buenos Aires summit. Other keynote speakers include John Bell, global creative director for the digital influence practice of Oglivy Public Relations, Eduardo Hauser, CEO of media-tech startup DailyMe.com and Josh Cohen, business product manager of Google News. Other participants will include CCR CEO Guillermo Oliveto, Carlos Pérez, BBDO Argentina President, Americo Martins Dos Santos, Regional Executive Director for Americas and Europe of BBC World service, and Victor Kong, VP and managing director, MySpace Latin America.

The program, conducted in English and Spanish, includes a series of forums to help participants understand and address the challenges of a changing multi-media world, and to stimulate innovation and investment in new projects and services.

The Buenos Aires conference, presented by the Clarin Media group, is a regional affiliate of the We Media global forum conducted annually in Miami.

For more information visit: www.wemedia.com/buenosaires.

For inquiries about speaking and sponsor opportunities, contact: Guillermo Riera, Event Producer, iFOCOS, +54-911-5962-4084, Guillermo Riera

About We Media: In a world connected by digital information networks and devices, the power to produce and distribute media and communications services is now in everyone’s hands. The We Media conferences, membership community and awards help anyone create, operate and sustain ventures in a media-centric culture powered by everyone. They function as a marketplace of ideas and actions for business and social innovators. We Media connects individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business and to make the world better through media. The We Media conferences, membership community and awards programs are organized by iFOCOS, a non-profit media think tank and futures lab headquartered in Reston, Virginia. More about We Media at: www.wemedia.com

Inquiries to:
U.S./English: Beth Laing, Project Manager, iFOCOS, 404-895-7406, Beth Laing

Buenos Aires/Español: Guillermo Riera, Event Producer, iFOCOS,
+54-911-5962-4084, Guillermo Riera

We’ve been on the move in Europe and the U.S. in recent weeks – and also hunkered down at We Media HQ working on a group of new projects. Now we want to share with you what we’ve been up to. The big news we hope you’ll share and act on: We’re announcing and seeking nominations now for the new We Media Game Changers Awards. We also want to give you a preview of plans taking shape for We Media Miami 09. We’d like to see you there and urge you to register now to confirm your seat. There’s more, so read on.

Here are the details …

We Media Game Changers Awards – Submit Your Nominations Now: We’re launching these awards to recognize people, projects and organizations leading change and inspiring a better world through media. The We Media Game Changers Awards will identify, amplify and draw lessons from the most significant achievements with media in the connected society. Winners are beacons of inspiration and will be featured participants and speakers at We Media Miami 09.We’ve recruited a stellar group of judges who are game changers themselves, including Fast Co. founder Alan Webber, Hip Hop Caucus founder Rev. Lennox Yearwood, MobileActive founder Katrin Verclas, Associated Press chief strategy officer Jim Kennedy and Real Girls Media founder Suja Araj. The first step is gathering nominees. Read up on the awards and criteria here, then submit as many nominations as you can think of with our online nomination form. This fall we’ll ask you to vote for the Community Award. For now, help us gather nominations. Yes, you can nominate yourself or your company. Tell your friends, clients, customers, readers and employees about the open nomination process. Also, let us know if you’d like to sponsor the awards.

• Nomination Form
• About the We Media Game Changers Awards
• Join the We Media Facebook Group

We Media Miami 09 – Feb. 24-26, 2009: Registration for We Media Miami 09 is OPEN. It’s our 5th annual global forum, so we’ll have reason to celebrate and we’re planning to make it special. It’s still going to be intimate – we cap registration at 300. We’ll be at
the lovely University of Miami for a full two days (ending with mojitos under palm trees at sundown on Feb. 26), and we’ve already confirmed more than a dozen people we admire will be there, including Witness Hub director Sameer Padania, Kenyan Pundit Ory Okollah, DailyMe CEO Eduardo Hauser and WorldChanging founder Alex Steffen; we’re ELIMINATING panels and instituting a new 2max rule (no more than two people at a time in conversations on the main stage), and we’re adding
some optional small dinners and tours in South Beach and Little Havana. Contact us if you’re interested in sponsorships or exhibit space – and check out the new self-service signup for sponsors at the Supporters and Catalysts levels.

• Conference details here.
• Online registration and sponsor signup here.

Pitch It: We’re expanding our Pitch It competition to seed and inspire the next generation of game changers. Stay tuned. We’ll be making the formal announcement and seeking applicants in September. Finalists will do live pitches of their big ideas on the main stage at We Media Miami – and we’ll be offering a $50,000 investment to the winning pitch. Let us know if you’d like to become a sponsor – or plan now to enter your big idea in the competition this fall.

Buenos Aires: Come to the We Media Regional Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct. 14-15, sponsored by Clarin. Participation is limited to 150 people. Speakers will include Oglivy PR’s global digital guru, John Bell, Google News GM Josh Cohen and CCR CEO Guillermo Oliveto.

• Register Now
• More Details

WeMedia.com: We’ve launched a new web site to expand our reporting and analysis – and to help anyone create, operate and sustain media ventures in a media-saturated culture. That includes analysis of media business models, partnerships and opportunities for innovation – and of media’s role in the connected culture. The site will also be the online home for the conference, awards and community-organizing around We Media. Please drop by and say hello to the brand new WeMedia.com. You also may want to update your feed reader since this is where we’ll be publishing our analysis and news from here on. You can also find links to our social outposts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Also: We’re looking for global correspondents to provide reports, links and analysis on trends and innovations in media and communications around the world. Contact us if you’re interested in contributing to WeMedia.com.

As you can see, game changers and dreamers are the heart of the We Media story. Clearly, there’s much more to come.

All of this is made possible by the participation and financial support of members and by our shared commitment to explore, collaborate, inform, inspire, influence and define what comes next in the We Media movement. Thanks for your continued interest and involvement, for renewing your membership or joining the We Media Community if you haven’t done so already – and for urging your company and others to join.