PRSA Media Predicts: The Aftermath

Who gives us predictions for a new year? Doctors, psychics, psychos, our parents and a whole slue of other folks. However, the Silicon Valley chapter of the Public Relations Society of America  and the Computer History Museum brought together the folks that do it best. For years, they have managed to pull together a diverse and highly sought-after group of top business and technology journalists and bloggers to discuss hot topics of the current year and predictions for the following year.

2011 was no exception. On December 2, 2010, PRSA-Silicon Valley held its annual "Media Predicts" event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. Media Predicts has a tradition of inviting journalists and bloggers who have made significant contributions to journalism over the past year. This year, the lot was especially remarkable. The speakers consisted of the following media personnel:

The journalists shared their thoughts and predictions about social IPOs, the iPad, Twitter, facebook, Apple, the San Francisco Giants, China and many more. I've taken the liberty to jot down some of their predictions for quick consumption. If you would like more details, check out the video coverage and photos of the event at http://www.prsasiliconvalley.com/Media-Predicts.

The panelists must have consulted their crystal balls for these predictions:

• Eric Savitz: There will be... "A reduction in the number of mobile phone platforms (1-2 of the big ones will collapse and go away – don’t know if RIM, Symbian, but there are 6-8 major ones and by end of the year, we’ll be down to 3-4 at most as the ones that matter)."
• Rachael King: There will be...."Increased interest in mapping the human brain – IBM’s BlueBrain. Mobile apps."
• Quentin Hardy: In my crystal ball I see...."Chinese companies buying US companies is going to be hot. Will the government let them? Oracle will acquire Dell, Teradata and face IBM and HP in ways no one expected."
• Bianca Bosker: I just bet my bottom dollar that..." AC/DC will be on iTunes. Also, no two people will have the same experience on the web...ads, news, everything will be customized to preferences, habits and friends."
• Ben Parr: Let the battle for earth begin..."In the war between Facebook and Google, Facebook will win. Minority report where Tom Cruise uses his hand to control computers and machines that will be a reality in 2010 and beyond."
• Chris O'Brien: My third eye tells me..."There will be no big tech IPOs in 2011 – Facebook, Zynga, LinkedIn. Tesla will be the big story in 2011."
• Daniel Lyons: Are my predictions too real?..." This is the year when people will start to realize how scary Facebook really is. Death of blogs and the rise of twitter and tumblr."

Those were just some of the predictions that I thought were the most shocking and/or thought-provoking. I'm curious to see how they pan out out in the next few months. I will be keeping close tabs on the panel's predictions and what actually happens in 2011. Check back for updates and to find out who had the most accurate predictions.

If you have any predictions of your own that you would like to share, please add a comment below.

Regine J. Nelson is the founder and principal of Allure Marketing + Communications. Allure specializes in consumer product, small business, nonprofit and startup PR. She is a proud member of the Silicon Valley chapter of PRSA. Email regine@allure-pr.com for a free consultation. Follow her on Twitter, @RegineNelson.