2008 has been an eventful year for the People's Republic of China. Massive snowstorms paralyzed mass transit during the heaviest traveled holiday of the entire year. The unrest in Tibet made headlines throughout the world. The Sichuan earthquake, the torch relay drama associated with the Olympics, and the recent news that the government would establish sites for approved dissent of policies near Olympic grounds capture an image of a nation in the midst of profound tensions and opportunities as a new face of China emerges.

Against such a backdrop, the 2008 Global Communication Forum took place in Shanghai. The forum was hosted by the School of Media and Design of Shanghai Jiaotong University, June 21 and 22, 2008, and cosponsored by the International Communication Association, the Global Communication Research Institute of Shanghai Jiaotong University, and the Department of Communication at Purdue University.

The 2008 Global Communication Conference focused on new media developments in China and throughout the world. More than 200 communication scholars, Chinese industry leaders, and Chinese government officials addressed aspects of the conference theme "New Media and Social Reform." Several speakers provided remarks at the opening ceremony, including Zhang Guoliang, Dean of the Global Communication Institute at Shanghai Jiaotong University who welcomed all participants and provided an overview of the conference theme. Patrice Buzzanell, ICA President, also welcomed and addressed the opening assembly. In this address, she spoke about the various initiatives underway at ICA that directly affect and would welcome participation by conference attendees. Opening plenary speakers also included: Jiao Yang, Director of Shanghai Press & Publication Administration and Shanghai Copyright Bureau; Ding Ganling, Member of the Chinese Social Science Committee of Chinese Education Ministry; Zheng Chengliang, Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; and Pamela Shoemaker of Syracuse University as the Forum Chairperson.

After the opening ceremony, Howard Sypher of Purdue University moderated six keynote addresses. These talks provided different slants on the new media theme with regard to disaster information, career processes, community development, cultural change, and industry. In all cases, they were setting or revising agendas in light of the conference theme.

While speakers addressed the following topics, they also specified concerns, needs for research, and possible pragmatic implications of their work. Specifically, Atsushi Tanaka, Director of Tokyo University's Center for Integrated Disaster and Information Research, discussed the dissemination of disaster information to save human lives. Xiaoming Hao, Deputy Director of Singapore Nanyang Technology University's School of Communication and Information, shared his research on the role of Internet in China's rural development. Graham Murdoch from Loughborough University's Communication Research Center in the UK, underscored the clash between forces of solidarity and separation in networked times. Haiping Yan, Director of Graduate Studies of Cornell University's Department of Theatre, examined the implications of the rising of the visual culture in the era of globalization. Huilin Hu, Professor of Cultural Management at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, outlined the development and major characteristics of Chinese cultural industry. Patrice Buzzanell discussed challenges of integrating career communication theory and practice in a mediated and global world.

During panel discussions, papers spoke to the promise of the new media in a global context. In general these papers covered a wide range of topics: media theories and practice, media technology, media functions and cultural implications, media changes and social reforms, audience and effects research, media environment and policy making, media economies and industry development.

During the second day of the conference, students from Shanghai Jiaotong University organized and moderated a forum that featured speakers from China who participated in the Earthquake Rescue Process. Through these communication specialists, conference attendees were able to experience--through firsthand accounts, photographs, stories about school children's resilience, China Telecom decisions, audioclips when people found family members, nonprofit organizing--not only what happened at the time of the earthquake but also about the continuing power of mass media.

Xie Chen, Director of Photography with the Sichuan branch of the Xinhau News Agency, was the first one to send photos and report on the earthquake at Sichuan. He displayed his initial and subsequent photos while discussing how the disaster and relief efforts unfolded. Of note were his observations about how the military engaged in rescue efforts but that there were many instances and imagery of people helping each other out.

Rongxin Cheng, an expert of youth social work and psychological rehabilitation, described the tent city set up to house and provide services for children in the earthquake region. As a psychologist, he headed Shanghai volunteers and discussed how rehabilitation efforts took place.

Yijun Zhou, leader of the "Earthquake Relief" project team for the China Telecom Best Tone Company, discussed hotlines and other emergency work. On the first day of the earthquake, over 3 million calls were made which overwhelmed the system. However, they were able to work through network issues and reunite 4000 individuals with their families. He also described other services that utilized new and mass media to handle earthquake-related issues.

Finally, Zhiyun Wang, Assistant Director of Nonprofit Organization Development Centre of Pudong New Area and member of a community organization called "Xin Tuo Feng," described the use of new media in organizing not-for-profit service organizations and volunteers to assist with earthquake relief.

There were many more speakers who addressed this conference and provided insights into the changing nature and roles of mediated communication in different regions of the world. Representatives of the academic sponsors for this conference made closing remarks and described their plans for future collaborations.

These plans include cosponsorship of the third annual Global Communication Forum which most likely be held in June 2009 in Shanghai. In addition, there were meetings about EXPO 2010, whose opening coincides roughly with ICA's 2010 conference in Singapore. Patrice Buzzanell and Zhang Guoliang discussed not only the upcoming conference but also the possibility of a pre- or postconference in Shanghai based on new media and EXPO themes.