Oct 2021: Watch all Summit videos on YouTube

Oct 2021: Watch all Summit videos on YouTube And apply for our AI & Local News challenge! View this email in your browser

When we set out to plan this year’s NYC Media Lab Summit, we wanted to offer attendees a view of the future that was both optimistic and honest. We came to the word — imperfect. And so, Future Imperfect became the event’s organizing principle. What resulted was two fireside chats, five panels, six workshops, and eight demos. A rich gathering of ideas, people, and conversations.

And now — we’re sharing it with you. This month’s newsletter is chock full of new faces, new funding options, and a whole new collection of videos to watch and share.

Please, don’t be shy. We want to hear what you think we’re doing right, and what we can do to add to your Media Lab experience. So reach out, we’d love to connect.

Best,
Steve

Steven Rosenbaum
Executive Director
NYC Media Lab
steve@nycmedialab.org NEW & NOTEWORTHY All Summit 2021 Videos Now Available to Watch on NYCML’s YouTube Channel

Fireside Chat With NYU Tandon’s Laura Edelson & NYCML Director of Partnerships Erica Matsumoto

On October 6 and 7, NYC Media Lab brought together hundreds of students, faculty, executives, and innovators for “Summit 2021: Future Imperfect.” NYU Tandon’s Laura Edelson kicked off the Summit with an enlightening fireside chat with NYCML Director of Partnerships Erica Matsumoto. The two discussed Edelson’s efforts to ensure greater transparency around Facebook’s engagement algorithms, as well as actionable items for users, legislators, and social media executives.

Expert panelists and workshop leaders followed suit, engaging virtual audience members in thought-provoking conversations around the metaverse, green tech, space exploration, synthetic media, and augmented audio reality.

And the best part? We recorded every session. In case you missed a demo, or got pulled into a meeting mid-workshop, not to worry — you can access all Summit day one and two session recordings via NYC Media Lab’s YouTube channel.

APPLY NOW: AI & Local News Challenge

NYC Media Lab recently launched AI & Local News — a new initiative and community supported by Knight Foundation that bridges people, ideas, and tools from artificial intelligence and news to support sustainability and innovation in the journalism industry. Our initiative partners include the Associated Press, Brown Institute’s Local News Lab, and Partnership on AI.

To bolster that effort, we recently announced the AI & Local News challenge. Here are the specifics of the challenge, at a glance:

• The AI & Local News challenge is an opportunity for startups and university teams to develop projects that use AI to address the needs of news organizations.
• Applications are open to university teams (faculty and graduate students), startup teams, and teams based at news organizations.
• Each participating team will receive up to $7,500.
• The application deadline is December 1, 2021.
• The challenge starts January 31, 2022.

Interested in applying, or know someone who might be a great fit? Learn more and apply here.

And to stay informed on innovation and best practices at the intersection of AI and journalism, be sure to sign up for our AI & Local News newsletter and watch the AI & Local News Panel from our 2021 Summit.

Questions? Email our AI & Local News Project Lead Matt MacVey at matt@nycmedialab.org.

NYCML Welcomes Autumn Miller as Communications Assistant

We’re thrilled to welcome Autumn Miller as the Communications Assistant for the NYC Media Lab! Autumn is currently a first-semester master’s student at NYU Steinhardt, studying Media, Culture, and Communication. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University, where she majored in English and professional writing, with a concentration in creative writing.

When she’s not reading for class or glued to a screen for her job, she likes to read and write for enjoyment, bake, and go on long, meandering walks through Central Park while listening to the podcast Hysteria. And a Warm Welcome to Lauren Lumbra as Program Assistant

And we’re extra thrilled to have Lauren Lumbra join the NYC Media Lab team as the Program Assistant for the fall 2021 semester! Lauren is a current master’s student at NYU ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), studying the intersection of technology, design, and social impact.

Prior to joining the NYC Media Lab, Lauren was an Administrative Specialist for Tetra Tech ARD, an international development firm, where she supported the operational and administrative needs of approximately 30 projects. She’s also worked at Spectrum Youth and Family Services, providing assistance to youth living in their homeless shelter. Lauren holds a BS in community entrepreneurship from the University of Vermont.

Now Accepting Spring 2022 Applications for The New York Times NLP + Journalism Researcher Fellowship

NYC Media Lab & The New York Times R&D team are seeking university researchers to explore applications of natural language processing (NLP) in service of journalism during the spring 2022 semester.

Project Concept: NLP, one of the most active fields within AI, seeks to help machines understand human language. Advancements in NLP now power everything from voice assistants and automatic voice transcription to intelligent text analysis and new tools that can generate text. The New York Times R&D team is interested in the potential these breakthroughs may hold for journalism.

• Format: Graduate/PhD researcher fellowship
• Timeline: 12-week fellowship beginning spring 2022
• Funding: Up to $5,000 to each researcher per semester
• Application Deadline: December 1, 2021

Interested in applying for the spring 2022 fellowship? Submit your application (and please note the December 1, 2021 deadline). For additional questions, contact erica@nycmedialab.org.

Make a Tax-Deductible Donation to the NYC Media Lab

Our core mission here at NYC Media Lab is to connect media and tech companies with NYC’s universities to drive innovation and talent development. Friends of NYC Media Lab, we invite you to help support our programs and initiatives with a tax-deductible donation on a one-time or recurring basis. Donations can easily be made online here.

However you choose to support us — through a monetary donation, event attendance, or newsletter subscription — we sincerely thank you for helping us to continue to connect, collaborate, and innovate through 2022 and beyond. UPCOMING EVENTS NOV 8: TechDay Founders Summit

Founders Summit is a highly-focused conference designed exclusively for startup founders and their c-suite executives.

Admission is by application only. The program offers networking, education, and suppliers that will help founders become better, more successful business people. The conference features educational sessions presented by flourishing founders, academics, business professionals, and more.

Sessions address topics identified by founders as most important to the growth and success of their businesses, with an emphasis on post-COVID fundraising, staff recruitment and retention, infrastructure development, innovation and change management, marketing and sales, business analytics, time management, and so much more. You don’t want to miss this unique opportunity!

NOV 9–11: The 12th Annual AWE USA 2021

The XR community is meeting, in person, November 9–11 in Santa Clara, California to connect, learn, and grow the AR and VR ecosystem. Join this inspiring community of XR professionals — an XR ecosystem marketplace where end-users meet solution-providers in a curated setting.

Here’s AWE 2021 at a glance:

• 3 days on the bleeding edge of AR/VR
• 300+ speakers, including tech juggernauts, Fortune 500s, and startups
• 200+ sponsors and exhibitors
• Thousands of creators, developers, industry execs, founders, entertainers, investors, top press, and more participating both in-person and virtually
• Topics covered: Enterprise case studies, latest developer/creator tools, sales, marketing and branded experiences, AR Cloud, WebXR, 5G , AI, haptics, privacy and ethics, entertainment, education, and more

Get AWE-inspired, and get tickets! KEEP IN TOUCH

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We also publish 4 newsletters. Our monthly newsletter reaches 16,000+ students, faculty, startups, and innovators, and our DataDownload newsletter reaches 4,000+. Our Innovation Monitor newsletter reaches 700+ industry leaders, and our recently launched AI & Local News newsletter offers best practices at the intersection of AI and journalism. Subscribe here.

NYC Media Lab connects media and technology companies with NYC’s universities to drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and talent development. Visit our website or contact us at info@nycmedialab.org with any questions or comments.

Copyright © 2021 NYC Media Lab, All rights reserved.


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