And with that belabored allusion to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I give you the story of the conference that begat the Future of Music Coalition. The conference, hosted by the Berkman Center and featuring Kembrew McLeod and Wendy Seltzer among others, will have its second incarnation this Friday (hyperlinks, mine):

It was back in February 2000 when Jenny and Kristin took the overnight train to Boston to attend the first Signal or Noise conference. When they arrived they wrote "I know Ben Morgan" on their nametags, which they hoped would assist them in meeting two people they only knew from their postings on Ben's Musictech email list: Brian Zisk and Walter McDonough.

Brian was easy to find. In attendance with his father, he cheerfully introduced himself and we had a lively discussion about his webcasting company Green Witch. But it wasn't until the end of the first round of panelist presentations that we figured out who Walter was. After what sounded like informed statements from various record industry folks, moderator Charles Nesson looked around the room for questions from the audience. A tall redhead asked for the microphone, who then delivered a blistering critique. Then, instead of dismissing his argument, Professor Nesson invited this provocateur to JOIN the panel, where he then proceeded to shred the other panelists to pieces with his legal knowledge. It was none other than Walter McDonough.

Registration is still open; if you're in the Boston area, check it out. Who knows what will come of it?

Update: More about the conference -- and Glenn -- from Derek Slater.