The conference was subtitled "Making Convergence Real," and, according to its "Welcome" statement, sought to "explore the progress and implications of media convergence—how the separate futures of the Internet, communications, media and entertainment industries are fusing into one." Multimedia becomes unimedia.

Eisner was a perfect point man for the exploration. His history shows him to have a firm grasp of reality, if not an insight into the nether-reality of the collective unconscious. He turned around three entertainment industry giants: first ABC, then Paramount and, finally, Disney. Since 1984, when he assumed his current position at Disney, the company's annual revenues have grown from $1.7 billion to $23.4 billion, and its stock value has multiplied by 34.

(That kind of record gets him a standing room only crowd at a business school.)

His sensible nature kept him from venturing into predictions. "Any time there's a 50% chance of getting something right, there's a 90% chance you'll get it wrong," he quoted (Yogi Berra) and then, "Never make forecasts, especially about the future" (Sam Goldwyn).

And this wasn't a mouse-to-mouse speech. "At the end of the day, the best technology becomes obsolete while ideas endure."

He stuck with what brung 'im. Content. Eisner spoke about the nature of content, "There is no formula to creating it," adding, "In this regard, technology is easier to create than content. With content you always have to start from scratch."

And he generously gave away a few secrets. "Successful entertainment usually connects emotionally," suggesting three rules of content (it is timeless, has no set formula, and is easy to transport).

He presented a two-step path to success in a content-driven business. First, "great content results from great content creators." It is necessary to put together the right team and "shape an environment that fosters great content." Second, there is "the need for businesses to have the right of ownership for what they create."

"Content is big business," Eisner said, offering statistics. Content was 2% of the GNP in 1997. By 1999, it was up to 7%.

He said that Disney understands the business potential of the Internet. The company has a five-step strategy to make the Internet secure for content. One, they are "turning to Washington." Two, they are "turning to governments around the world." In other words, they are looking to lawmakers, both federal and international, for enforceable copyright protection.

Three, "education." Eisner says he believes most people are honest and only need to know what is right and what is wrong with regard to the Internet. (The company, however, apparently prefers the realistic approach, thus implementing the four other steps as back-up. And Eisner may mean something more akin to cultural re-education-creating a different mindset so that it becomes uncool to steal.)

Four, "the entertainment industry as a whole should take meaningful technological measures" to protect their property. Five, on the economic front, the industry needs to "provide product at a fair price." This last point may be a slight nod to inflated CD prices, which some say have spawned the widespread music piracy.

Eisner was only part of the show. The Stanford Graduate School of Business, recently named tops in the country, showed its class by bringing in top experts and professionals from around the U.S. to populate twelve panel discussions held in the morning and afternoon. The quality was such that panelists, when done with their assigned group, joined the audience to hear other panels. Even Eisner stayed for the afternoon.

Four panels were held in the time slot before the keynote: "Mega-Mergers in Media and Entertainment," "New Models of Advertising and Marketing," "Broadband Infrastructure," and "Intellectual Property in a Digital Age."

This last panel, with four attorneys among the five panelists. was moderated by Stanford Law School professor Margaret Jane Radin. The ease of digital reproduction has had the law grappling with IP (intellectual property) rights. Radin, giving the scholar's perspective, said, "One of the interesting problems is whether we can solve this by government regulation. . .and it is particularly interesting because it is a global problem."

Daphne Gronich, (Senior Vice President, Litigation and Intellectual Property, Fox Group) gave an example of the global problem. "When we release a film in the U.S. on Friday, it is in Hong Kong or Malaysia (pirated) on Sunday."

Copyright law, property law, the Fair Use Doctrine, litigation versus legislation, and of course, Napster and MP3, all entered into the discussion.

Two sessions followed lunch, each with a quartet of panels: "Interactive TV," "Digital Effects," "Electronic Publishing," and "Music: A Creative Perspective;" and then, "Film: Digital Distribution," "Creativity in Content," "Music: A Business Perspective," and "Interactive Gaming."

"Music: a Creative Perspective" juxtaposed nicely with the earlier "Intellectual Property in a Digital Age." John Perry Barlow, a Grateful Dead lyricist, and two other panelists (representing ARTISTdirect and ArtistOne) spoke against the tyranny of the major record labels and championed Napster-like peer-to-peer commerce. "Right now, peer-to-peer is not rocket science — too many companies are cranking out this type of application. . .soon it will be part of the OS."

The conference was worthwhile. It did a good job of living up to its billing—bringing together those who are exploring the frontiers of digital content to give a sense of what the future holds. Convergence is not at hand tomorrow. But the roadblocks to making it real have pretty much been identified and it's only a matter of time.

Some of these problems are technological. A lot more have to do with restructuring business models and the law. Folks are fighting for turf. Radin, the legal scholar, pointed out that "People try to vary the rules via contracts." Where property theorists once reigned, the contract theorist is now king. Ann E. Greenberg, a vice president of Gracenote, added, "Business opportunities are often where the law is gray."

So be careful out there.