About a month ago, I attended "Where Do We Go From Here?" a panel discussion hosted by EMP that hoped to address issues related to the future of independent music in the digital age.

Panelists included musicians I know or know of (Jenny Toomey, Dave Dederer, Krist Novoselic, Reggie Watts, and Dave Allen, among others); the moderator (Ann Powers) was a friend and personal hero of mine; and in the crowded audience of the JBL Theater sat about two dozen people I am at least friendly with, and many more whom I respect. The topic was dear to my heart, so I sat and watched as a roomful of intelligent, concerned people gathered in common purpose for two hours and proceeded to talk both about and around the issue at hand.

Some of the comments were profound (Michael Bracy from the Future of Music Coalition was particularly insightful), some were inane (a note: comparing the U.S. to Stalin's USSR will always make you sound like a moron), and others were simply self-congratulatory. In the end, nothing concrete was achieved; beyond the communication of a few new facts, the questions confronting the panel remained unanswerable. But the spirit of the room was positively enthralling. It was two hours of rumination and fulmination with no purpose other than discourse. And discourse, while hard to market, is always healthy.

This is why, in the most roundabout of ways, the NAMAC conference--whose nebulous raison d'être is to "share work, examine trends, and grapple with issues shaping the future of independent media"--sounds intriguing. At first, the conference seemed like an excuse for itself, a convocation of people patting themselves on the back for being "independent" while savaging the evil corporations for their lock on mainstream media. It sounded like every night at any bar in town. I wish I could remember where I heard about the recent poll showing that there were more people in Seattle than in any other U.S. city who identified themselves as "artists."

But the more I thought about the speakers--who will include DJ Spooky, Sherman Alexie, Kalle Lasn of Adbusters, and Mark Hosler of Negativland(!)--and events (most of which are opportunities for artists to share and discuss work with other artists, and for local indie exhibitionists to show off their wares), the more I was reminded of the EMP panel. And the more excited I got.

There may not be a concrete goal to the NAMAC conference, but that never got in the way of a lively discussion.