I was lucky enough to get an invitation to a reception tied to the The Media Center’s conference on Mobile Media. It was a case in point of the number of people, and industries, who are starting to see the special place that the mobile phone has in daily life.

The Media Center’s Andrew Nachison has stressed before, and did so again tonight that we aren’t just part of a technology trend, but also a social one with some interesting behavioral implications. In a flashy presentation they pointed out examples that point to change: blogs have effected traditional media; organizations are changing in the face of a creative, vocal, and selective audience (who now have more power to effect and create). A recent example that some of you may have read: The Vatican is now asking people to e-mail/sms the pope! It isn’t that these channels of communication between audience and producer didn’t exist before (As the BBC pointed out people still call into radio stations, write letter’s to the editor, and fax), but now there is greater power in the richness of the interactions between the communities who share common interestes, and with those industries who serve them. We in the technology space probably take it for granted that these are obvious developments, but The Media Center reminds us that these are large organizations who traditionally don’t move with early adopters, but here they are, changing. It says something big.

I had a great chance to chat with Marc Brown, Anita Wilhelm, Alistair Jeffs and many new faces from all over. It was great to “imagine” with people who had spent the entire day thinking about mobility and what it means!