The Changing Face of Communications: The Digital Revolution

The Changing Face of Communications: the Digital Revolution” was one of ten panel discussions that was held on October 4, 2013, during the 4th USJC Annual Conference.

Panelists

Moderator: Mr. Kelly Ogilvie, Founder, Chairman, President and Chief Operating Officer, Quemulus, Inc.
Speaker: Ms. Nicole Forrester, Director – Young Leaders Program, Pacific Forum CSIS

Description

One out of every seven minutes online is spent on Facebook, according to Mediabistro. Since Twitter’s launch, 170 billion tweets have moved markets and inspired revolutions. The world of communications is rapidly changing. The internet, social media, mobile computing and web technologies have dramatically changed how people interact, communicate and share information. This panel brought together expertise from the private, public and non-profit sectors to assess the impact of these trends, discuss the generational implications of new media and explore opportunities to reach the next generation of stakeholders in the U.S.-Japan relationship.

Summary

Special thanks to moderator Kelly Ogilvie for providing this summary!

“One out of every seven minutes online is spent on Facebook.” – This astounding fact served as a teaser for the Media and Communications panel, which drew a large crowd thanks to its speakers and timely content. The panel explored how the internet has fundamentally changed the world by examining digital trends, new technology and shifting demographics. The panel also discussed how such changes affect how we communicate, interact and form identities.

Moderator Kelly Ogilvie and Speaker Nicole Forrester first provided a high-level view by providing context to the rapid growth of social networks. Analyzing the precursors to Facebook and Twitter helped frame the conversation around how we got here, what is happening now and where we are going. Ms. Forrester gave an insightful presentation on the difference between US millennials and Japanese millennials, complete with survey data. This served as an excellent complement to Mr. Ogilvie’s presentation on trends as it related to internet expansion, mobile computing and social network expansion.

The room was full with a highly engaged audience. As the panel progressed, phones buzzed continually as audience members tweeted rapidly and shared content from the presentation. The discussion played out simultaneously in real-time, in the social media-verse that the speakers were describing.

This session was truly faithful to its title. Communication is not waiting for one’s chance to speak, but is the act of listening, analyzing, and synthesizing. This was on full display during the session: questions from the audience were directed not only at the panel, but also to one another; likewise, the answers came not only from the panel, but from audience members to one another as well. This made for an engaging discussion that everyone seemed to learn from.