Inside a former warehouse on a desolate industrial block of Brooklyn, women wearing little more than corsets, tattoos and fake eyelashes are lounging on '70s-era furniture sipping cans of PBR, while in the main room, a cavernous space with a 450-square-foot stage, the MC, a six-foot-tall man in a metallic blue bunny costume, is offering-slash-threatening to pour Jägermeister on the front row. To the unsuspecting, even the very prominent sponsorships seem like part of the subculture.

To capitalize on fan excitement about the yet-to-be-revealed Volvo S60, the company gave them a unique way to preview the vehicle. It invited blind artist Esref Armagan to its design center in Sweden to paint what chief designer Peter Horbury calls "the next of the new Volvo." The painting would be all enthusiasts would see of the car until its official release. For the so-called "Blind Preview" campaign, the company created a mini-documentary, featured on their Facebook page and also posted on YouTube, that follows the artist through the fascinating process of his painting.

Long Island's newsday set its pay wall firmly in place in November, becoming one of the few local newspapers to charge for all online access to its content. MediaNews also joined the club, charging for its content in Chico, Calif. and York, Penn. The theoretical gymnastics of figuring out the right trade off between eyeballs and fees has been one hurdle. Newsday began charging $5 a week, arrived at, easily enough, to achieve exact parity with home delivery. Of course, Newsday is in a unique situation.

This column is labeled "Fast Forward," but all too frequently, I feel like I'm stuck on pause. That's the way I felt recently when I paid a visit to Muncie, Indiana. What's that you say, "Muncie?"

Grace Slick recently collaborated with indie artist Michelle Mangione on the latter's latest album. Mangione has used social media and even learned about SEO to promote herself as an artist. Slick, the iconic songwriter and lead singer for Jefferson Airplane (later Starship), has remained stubbornly low-tech. Her preferred medium these days is a scratchboard

How will get your news in a few years? Broumand: I think it's one page that looks a lot like what the Drudge Report looks like right now.

How will we consume media in five and 10 years' time? Ferguson: When everything is digitized and libraries offer materials, we will have access to anything and everything whenever we choose, at a trivial long-tail price.

What changes are coming? Roehm: With the further development of video on demand, iptv, mobile, and many other emerging media opportunities, we have seen several "bad" user experiences. All too often, the focus is on "if we build it they will come" or "technology for the sake of technology." Finally, we are seeing more and more content distribution companies match the channel and devices to the message or content; thus, creating a positive user experience. However, we need to keep in mind that sometimes everyone just wants to sloth on the sofa and not have to "work" to consume media …

Who controls the media, and how (if it changes at all) does this control change? Braun: The consumer controls media. The consumer determines what works and doesn't work. The challenge, of course, is to come up with the next great hit. The most successful media companies are the ones that can best predict what the consumer will want tomorrow, as opposed to what they are already consuming today.

Adam L. Penenberg is a journalism professor and assistant director of the Business and Economics program at New York University. His latest book, Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Companies Grow Themselves (Hyperion), will be on shelves in October. In the book, he explores trends in media consumption and usage, and extrapolates some for us here.