The organizers of the upcoming Dublin congress encourage attendees not to worry about potential disruption from the Icelandic volcano. CEPIC president Christina Vaughan sent out a note stating: “The worst of the disruption took place in April, and the authorities have now learned how to deal with it.”
This year’s program includes speakers such as Irish minister Mary Harney and executives from Google, AT&T, Cisco and Harvard alongside photo-industry insiders such as Jerry Kennelly. The founder of Stockbyte, which was purchased by Getty Images for $135 million, promises to reveal “the next big thing” during his 1.5-hour speech on the morning of Thursday, June 10.
Also on the program is fellow Irishman and social media expert Mark Little. Little took a leave of absence from a prominent journalism job to develop and launch Storyful, dedicated to journalism in the age of the social Web.
In addition, French cultural heritage expert Jean-Paul Bessiére will speak during the panel on mass digitization programs. The panel will discuss the Google Book Settlement, the Europeana project and others; Bessiére will focus on digitization of cultural heritage, the plans of French government and opportunities for picture libraries.
Other topics of interest scheduled to be addressed during the Dublin congress include sustainable Internet practices, funding growth, and the future of photojournalism. CEPIC has also organized numerous local cultural and social events, such as an evening of horse races at Leopardstown and literary and whiskey tours (though some require separate fees).
To encourage attendees who may suffer from what CEPIC has dubbed “irrational ash phobia,” the organization has extended its early bird discount.