I am sitting in the belly of the beast, as Che Guevara once said. I am listening to a battery of mainstream media folks talking to themselves about the impacts of RSS on their world, at the IDG Syndicate conference in New York.

I wonder: will I hear something other than how to monetize RSS?

I am hearing (again) the blogosphere's impact on the mainstream. There is a desire, openly acknowledged, to embrace RSS and blogs as a way to "remain relevant" (Tim Ruder, VP Marketing, Washingtonpost Newsweek Interactive), ways to use this "new channel" to get people to look at specific places on news sites ( Richard Caccappolo, Senior Vice President, iVillage, who wins the award for the most uses of the term "monetize"), and an awareness that these new trends represent a move toward a conversation with the community (Peter Horan, CEO, About.com).

I think I am going to have to wait till my mind catches up with the rhetoric here, before I can assimilate what it means.

Am I hearing that the value chain has changed so dramatically -- in the shift to open media -- that much of the old mindset is not only broken but dangerous. I wonder if that will be outed, here.

This is a group that is set and determined to talk about content, who think in terms of page turns, click throughs, and leading the readers by the nose around pages to get to specific ads. Although they talk the talk about good writing (although they call it content), they are not talking about good reading. They are not primarily interested in the activities and goals of the active reader.

I admit it. I am starting the first panel in the first day already frustrated.

[tags: Syndicate, social+media, blogging, events]