Here are the proposed panels for this year’s conference. Panelists and final topics are being confirmed and will be announced shortly.
Military and the Media
Panel will examine the changing role of traditional and nontraditional media and their coverage of defense issues and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. How did the different kinds of media coverage change and evolve over the past 10 years of conflict? What were the key accomplishments and what will defense coverage look like going forward as a new defense posture and budget realities emerge in a post-war era?
Moderator: Jamie McIntyre, (NPR)
Panel: Jim Dao (NY Times), Greg Jaffe (Washington Post) Austin Wright (Politico.com)
Benefits: Promises Delivered, Delayed or Dismissed?
After a decade plus of combat operations the issue of how we care for our veterans is taking center stage. From changing retirement time frames to medical care and wounded warrior programs, this panel will examine if the promises made to our fighting forces are being delivered, delayed or dismissed.
Moderator: Rick Maze (Military Times Newspapers)
Panelists: VADM Norbert R. Ryan, Jr., USN-Ret (MOAA), Tom Tarantino (IAVA), Brandon Friedman (VA), Terry Howell (Military.com), Kristle Helmuth (Author: The Story of a True American Hero, His Princess, and their Struggle with TBI/PTSD), Chazz Pratt (USAA), Mike Brinck (House Veterans Affairs Committee for the Economic Opportunity subcommittee)
Rise of Social Media in Service Branches
From the Arab Spring to the Twitter war between NATO and the Taliban; social media is the next emerging voice in covering world news and defense issues. Is social media a source for news? An extension of a blog? Is it the front lines of direct communication between entities, or just an information source? This panel will look at how the service branches have responded to the rise in social media and examine how social media is changing reporting and information dissemination in the defense arena.
Moderator: Frederick P. Wellman, Moderator (ScoutComms)
Panelists: LCDR Chris Servello (Navy), Brittany Brown (Army) Mark Fayloga (Marine Corps), Chris Lagan (Coast Guard)
Pen and Sword: MilBloggers Who Had An Impact
Discuss with key military bloggers their experiences blogging from and about the front lines. This panel will look at the evolution of milblogging and how it changed the information flow out of war zones as well as how it made stories that became headlines. We’ll talk to key bloggers about their process, the roadblocks they faced from the military and how they evolved as writers and newsmakers in their own right.
Moderator: Jacey Eckhart (SpouseBUZZ)
Panelists: Alex Horton (VA), Matthew Burden (Blackfive), JP Borda (Milblogging.com), Matt Gallagher (IAVA), Tara Crooks (Army Wife Network- Loving A Soldier, USAA), and 1st Lt. Hannah He (US Army)
