FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Jennifer Myers
Director of Public Affairs, The Aspen Institute
202-736-2906/jennifer.myers@aspeninstitute.org
Natalie Raabe
Communications Director, The Atlantic
(202) 266-7533/nraabe@theatlantic.com
ENGAGING WITH THE ASPEN IDEAS FESTIVAL –
WITH OR WITHOUT A PASS
Content being offered online and through social media to reach more people than before
Aspen, CO, June 26, 2012 – In its eighth year, the Aspen Ideas Festival has continued to expand the chances for people to engage with the Festival, its speakers, and attendees, whether you’re in Aspen or anywhere else in the world. As part of an exciting partnership through Fora.tv, a wide selection of sessions will be live streamed and available for on-demand viewing for 30 days to live-stream subscribers. More details are available at aspenideas.fora.tv. If you have iTunes installed, you can launch the Ideas Festival Collections in iTunes U and start browsing our selection of video podcasts from the 2011 festival; we’ll be adding clips and full sessions from the 2012 Festival this summer. Also, for the first time, the Festival is available on Flipboard—a place to see everything happening in our world in a beautiful, intuitive way on mobile devices; to flip through the things that matter. This will provide a new and engaging way to share ideas, videos, images, facts, quotes, and more. To download and find more details visit http://flpbd.it/aspeninstitute.
In addition to these new endeavors the Festival-specific Twitter (@aifestival) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/aspenideas) profiles will keep followers updated on everything going on at the Festival. On Twitter, followers can also join the conversation with the hash tag #AspenIdeas. These accounts also foster a year-round dialogue focusing on the topics and conversations coming out of the Festival. Additionally, with an expanded website, fans of the Festival can now follow our Aspen Ideas Blog (www.aspenideas.org/blog) for daily highlights and video clips from the Festival. Fans of the Festival can also get the latest pictures, videos, quotes, and behind-the-scenes details on Tumblr (http://aifestival.tumblr.com/). During the week of the Festival, we’ll regularly post key clips from sessions being filmed — and nearly all full session videos will be posted on the site in the weeks and months following the Festival on our website and YouTube (www.youtube.com/aspeninstitute).
At the Festival, attendees can participate in an Intelligence Squared debate on fracking. Festival attendees and followers alike can read up and cast their vote on the issue now and share with their social media networks.
Additionally, we’ll feature short interviews with Festival speakers on our website, provided by our friends at genConnect (www.genConnect.com).
“Every year we look for new and exciting ways to engage with the Festival participants and interested followers around the world,” said Kitty Boone, vice president of public programs at the Aspen Institute. “We are continuing to expand our online and social presence to find new ways to engage our audience and hear what big ideas interest them.”
You can also get more coverage of the Festival from our partners at The Atlantic with their “Ideas Special Report.” The special report will include:
- Video from the Aspen Ideas Festival
- A “Today at Aspen” photo gallery
- An #AspenIdeas Twitter feed
- Blog posts highlighting ideas from all sections of TheAtlantic.com, and responses to a new question we put to our readers each day.
The “Ideas Special Report” coincides with the July/August Ideas of The Atlantic in print and online, focused on The Most Powerful Ideas Shaping Our World. For more, visit TheAtlantic.com/special-report/ideas.
In addition to the coverage from The Atlantic, the following media outlets will be broadcasting live from the Festival, so watch for local listings and airtimes:
- MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”
- CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo”
- “CNN Newsroom” with Suzanne Malveaux
- APM’s “Marketplace” with Kai Ryssdal
- NPR’s “Talk of the Nation”
- NBC’s “Education Nation”
- BBC’s “The Forum” with Bridget Kendall
- “Facebook Live” on July 2 (Follow us on Facebook for details)
- Aspen Public Radio airing live and taped sessions. Check www.aspenpublicradio.org.
About The Atlantic
Since 1857, The Atlantic has played a central role in shaping the national debate on current affairs and cultural trends. Dedicated to bold, independent, diverse, and highly reasoned perspectives, its writers, bloggers, and critics represent the best in American journalism. The Atlantic’s award-winning commentary and coverage can be found in its magazine, on its website at www.TheAtlantic.com, and at more than 70 events a year produced by its industry-leading events division, AtlanticLIVE.
About the Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs, and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
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