One part Wired, one part Economist, with a celebrated Late Night host and a social media maven as marquee attractions, the Wired NExTWORK Conference kicks off tomorrow, June 22. Addressing “the promise and peril of the network’s future,” the one-day event is “not a technology conference in the traditional sense,” say organizers. And we can’t wait to see the results.
Some of the network industry’s top business leaders, technologists, futurists, economists and academics have been culled right from the pages of Wired and The Economist to address three key topics crucial to the future of the network: The Value of Connectivity, The Challenge of Connectivity and The Opportunity of Connectivity.
Keeping it in perspective will be SNL staple and Late Night leader Jimmy Fallon, who will interview Napster cofounder and social media bad-boy Sean Parker. What will the two talk about?
Jimmy Fallon
Details have yet to be released, but we hope that Fallon engages press-shy Parker on The Social Network and how he was portrayed. Justin Timberlake, who played Parker in the movie, is an SNL regular and was one of Fallon’s first guests on Late Night. The two will also most likely discuss what’s next for the Web, although it might take some grilling for erratic and private Parker to share any of his predictions.
Fallon was a regular on Saturday Night Live in the late 90s and early 2000s, when his musical parodies, snarky celebrity impressions and “Weekend Update” appearances reigned supreme. He was known as “that guy who can’t keep a straight face during skits” (and neither could we). Today, he’s stepped into Jay Leno’s shoes as host of NBC’s Late Night and has garnered applause (as well as an Emmy) for reinventing the show’s format, throwing in short video skits that are ideal for viral distribution. Late Night’s website itself has also drawn attention, with Fallon receiving the Webby Person of the Year award. Watch out, Conan.
Sean Parker, who’s probably best known as Facebook’s founding president, also ruffled more than a few feathers as a16-year-old hacker and the 19-year-old co-founder of music-sharing site, Napster. Justin Timberlake’s portrayal of Parker in The Social Network has codified him as a cocky, freewheeling, hard-partying poster boy for Internet entrepreneurs everywhere. Whatever his image may be, his knack for spotting the Next Big Thing has landed him in pivotal roles in a number of game-changing companies. At age 30, he is now worth close to $1 billion. These days, Parker is concentrating on Causes, an online advocacy and fundraising application within Facebook that allows users to initiate grassroots campaigns for social issues and non-profit organizations. To date, Causes has seen $30 million raised for non-profits.
Sean Parker
Fallon and Parker are just the opening act, so to speak. Other luminaries hitting the stage include actor Edward Norton, Funny or Die President and CEO Dick Glover, founding father of the Internet Vinton Cerf and US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra.
FORA.tv will host the event LIVE and for free. Register now!