Berkman and PRX have organized what looks to be a kick-ass conference this Friday and Saturday called Beyond Broadcast. It aims to explore how traditional public media (public broadcasters like NPR, cable access, etc.) can use new media to better serve the public. I haven’t generally been advertising Berkman events on my blog, but this one is near and dear to me. I’m a big fan of NPR in the US and the BBC in the UK, and greatly admire how willingly both of those organizations have embraced the net and changing modes of distribution. I see the net as this really amazing force to complete shake up the existing production and distribution model for radio, television, movies, and the like, and this conference is a great opportunity to see what progress is being made.

It is also insanely cheap as far as conferences go. Take cheap and relevent and interesting and you’ve got one massively sold out event. But never fear, Berkman is here! We are going to be streaming the proceedings live on the web to as many people as our fancy new XServe can handle (and yeah, I’m in charge of that…*gulp*). So check out the Beyond Broadcast site today and if you’re interested, tune in on Friday to see the proceedings. There is even an online questions tool so that remote participants can submit questions to the panelists, and if you’re into the crazy virtual world known as Second Life, you can join us from in there by visiting the Berkman island and crowding into the “virtual” Harvard Law School buildings.

Wow, we’re so cool. 😉