Hi there! Casey Rae, your friendly neighborhood Interim Executive Director for Future of Music Coalition here.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know about the upcoming Future of Music Summit (Oct. 28-29, Georgetown University, Washington, DC). I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

One thing you might not know about is how our partnering with Georgetown University on Summit 13 fits into some broader educational goals.

When I first started out with Future of Music Coalition in 2007, I was blown away by the sheer amount of informational material that the organization had already assembled. It was clear from the outset that education for the entire music community was a top priority for everyone at FMC. I’ve certainly been the beneficiary of these efforts. My amazing colleagues continue to do exemplary work in documenting and translating the complex issues in music, technology and policy—from the cool tools that Kristin Thomson creates to she and Jean Cook’s amazing work around Artist Revenue Streams.

A few years ago, I was honored to join Georgetown University as adjunct faculty in the Communications, Culture and Technology department. Over time, it became apparent within our organization and among our Georgetown associates that FMC’s educational emphasis, along with the knowledge and expertise that Summit attracts, represent a real resource for learning—whether in-classroom or online.

For Summit ’13, we’re thrilled to be back at Georgetown for all of the presentations, panels, keynotes and roundtables. We’re also making a deliberate effort to capture the experience in a way that can extend the life of the conference through innovative teaching tools.

FMC and our friends in Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) are collaborating on a pilot project called Music and Public Policy in the Age of Modern Media.

This project aims to prepare students and others for online or in person attendance at the Future of Music 2013 Policy Summit. We’re also looking to enhance student learning in several on-campus Georgetown undergraduate and graduate programs (including my class). Core areas of focus for this pilot include: access to technology; new business models for digital distribution; policy developments around copyright; and artists as social change agents. We’re hopeful that some of the energy and information from Summit can be harnessed to make an even broader impact.

To our knowledge, this kind of thing hasn’t been done before—at least not with a focus on issues around creative culture, social justice, technology and policy.

We’re delighted to be working with the CNDLS team in capturing what you already know makes Summit so special: the conversation and dialog. Unlike other conferences, ours is not a debate society; it’s a place for people who are passionate about music to come together and consider the issues with an eye towards practical (and sustainable) solutions.

I’m personally honored to be working with brilliant and forward-looking educators like Anna Celenza, Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music; Bernie Cook, Associate Dean & Director of the Film and Media Studies Program; and Benjamin Harbert, Assistant Professor in Music. Suffice it to say, I’m learning a ton. And isn’t what it’s all about?