









AirPlay’s rules are soft and slow.

So if everyone hates them, they’ll change. But who decides what “everyone” wants? Not me. I agree with this anonymous commenter: “Who died and made you GamerGate God?”

So on Tuesday, I’ll announce a small committee of GamerGate connoisseurs who will wrangle all the angst. That’ll be deliciously controversial unto itself, but at least the controversy will be smarter. It’s become obvious to me this week: What I know about GamerGate wouldn’t fill a phone call.

More on that committee in a moment. First…

AirPlay is part of an existing journalism conference called Forging the Future. (Yes, I help organize it. No, I didn’t name it.)

It’s really just a series of small, intense workshops that end with an awards ceremony. It’s co-sponsored by the Florida chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

On Saturday, August 15, in Little Havana, one big room will be dedicated to AirPlay, which will be split into three distinct debates…

10-10:50 am: Give Me The Bullet

All sides talk in broad strokes for a novice audience. That means no acronyms or acrimony. The goal of the first hour isn’t to convince the crowd who’s right — it’s to convince them this is important.

11-noon: What’s That Again?

For those fascinated by the first hour, the panel drills down on crucial concepts. Time to delve into precise points and specific moments.

noon-1 pm: Lunch Break

If you registered for the conference, it’s free. If not, it’s only a few bucks for a bag lunch. (More on that in the money section.) You’re also welcome to bring your own lunch, order Domino’s, or starve.

1-3 pm: Let’s Get It On

Send the kids to bed and lock up the pets. Time for hardcore warfare. While all three debates will seek audience participation, it’s probably unstoppable here.

3 -5 pm: Talk Amongst Yourselves

While the video crew packs up at 3 pm, you can hang out. We have the room till 5 pm, so if everyone wants to keep talking/arguing/fighting — and record and share footage on their own — well, just don’t bleed on the furniture.

I’ll moderate the first two hours, since I figure I’m now the most knowledgeable ignorant person about GamerGate. The AirPlay committee, in concert with the GamerGate community, will decide who moderates the next two hours.

What happens from 3-5 pm? I think the crowd should decide.

The plan is, no one pays for anything…

For attendees

Forging the Future costs between $15 and $50 for journalists and journalism students. It’ll cost nothing for those who just want to attend AirPlay.

The only real difference? Registrants get a free boxed lunch and a silly conference badge on a lanyard. You’ll have to pay for lunch, and you’ll be lanyard-less.

For speakers

We’re raising money to defray or even cover their travel expenses. I have a small budget from SPJ I’m trying to make bigger, and we might crowdsource the rest. I’d hate for the best speakers to bow out because of a cash crunch.

I’m working with college and pro journalists to live-stream AirPlay with a multi-camera setup. They’ll use every trick to make AirPlay look high-production-value for very-little-money.

To exasperate trolls, the stream will be hosted in many places. If one gets hacked, we’ll tell you how find another. And another. And so on. If the trolls are going to win, they’ll have to work for it.

Within a week after AirPlay, all footage will be open-archived for public re-use. That means anyone can find it, download it, and chop it up for their own purposes.

I hate bureaucracy. Someone once said, “A committee is a group of the unprepared, appointed by the unwilling to do the unnecessary.”

But in this case, a committee is necessary, and I’ve recruited some willing people who are preparing for a tough job…

Speak up about speakers

I’ve perused nearly all the comments, straw polls, and subreddits — and it seems clear a shortlist has emerged. Now the committee needs to publicly pick only a handful.

I expect the 3-5 committee members (some are still mulling over my loaded offer) to deliberate in the open, on the same forums where the speaker suggestions were first posted.

Spread the word

I know how to reach journalists, and the committee knows how to reach gamers. Since AirPlay is being planned in the open, we’ll seek opinions from both groups as we settle the details.

In my experience, if no one complains about something, they either approve or don’t care, so we’ll move on. But if a decision leads to gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, we’ll rethink it as a group.

Read more about the committee — maybe they’ll come up with a clever name for themselves — on Tuesday. Till then, comment below with your wanton praise or withering criticism, and it’ll become part of the progress.