Digital news and engagement lessons from around the world will be highlighted this weekend at the 15th annual International Symposium on Online Journalism, April 4-5 at the University of Texas-Austin. Participants from over 40 countries will offer a powerful look at today's media zeitgeist. While local media is not the focus of this conference, many ISOJ themes will undoubtedly resonate for local news and engagement projects.

ISOJ 2014 is sold out, but events will be livestreamed beginning 8:30am CT on Friday April 4. See the program. On Twitter, follow #ISOJ.

Friday will feature sessions on new tools (including bots, drones, sensors and wearables), digital journalism in China, and a discussion of what current research shows about how people encounter and engage with digital news.

In his Saturday keynote address (9-9:45 am CT), NYU journalism professor and news media critic will offer reflections on his 25 years of advising journalists and media companies. Rosen also was involved with Block by Block (an online community for hyperlocal news pioneers), and is currently spending a year on the team of a new investigative reporting venture funded by philanthropist Pierre Omidyar.

Immediately after that keynote, Knight Foundation VP for journalism and media innovation Michael Maness will lead a panel on "star" journalism startups. And from 4-6:30 pm CT Saturday, Nieman Journalism Lab director Joshua Benton will lead a session on readership analytics and editorial strategies for online news.