As part of the Big Dipper Innovation Summit, on Thursday, April 24th from 6–9pm at Common House Richmond, RVA Magazine’s co-publisher and editor-at-large, Landon Shroder, will moderate a featured panel: The Obsolescence of Culture: Can Authenticity Survive the Tech Revolution? The conversation will tackle one of the most pressing questions facing our creative community today—is technology reshaping artistic expression, entrepreneurship, authenticity, and cultural identity—for better or worse?
The event is free. Get your extended play pass here.
Meet the Panel
Our panel features three voices uniquely positioned to unpack this era of creative transformation:
Grammy-nominated rapper, producer, DJ, and former artist-in-residence at the University of Richmond, Mad Skillz brings decades of insight from the city’s music scene, offering a frontline perspective on artistic authenticity in a digital-first world.
Robert Milazzo, founder of The Modern School of Film and the award-winning documentary podcasts ASSEMBLY and MURMUR, brings depth through his work with some of the most iconic filmmakers, actors, and storytellers of our time, exploring how technology is transforming narrative and meaning.
Rounding out the lineup is Jason Vest from VCU’s da Vinci Center, a former educator-turned-innovator whose nationally recognized work reimagines how students engage with AI, storytelling, and identity—blending tech, humanity, and a little rebellion to challenge the algorithmic status quo.
The night will also feature live DJ sets and sample flips from some of Richmond’s finest beat makers: Starting with Ant The Symbol and Fan Ran and ending the night with DJ NOBE and Billy Crystal Fingers.
Why is this Panel important?
Creativity is the lifeblood of any city’s cultural identity—and in Richmond, it’s what keeps us from fading into just another mid-major corporate outpost. Our artists, musicians, writers, and makers continue to give the city its edge. But as technology reshapes how we create and democratize opportunities, we’re forced to confront what’s being lost in the process: the raw, unfiltered authenticity that gives culture its meaning.
And in an age increasingly defined by algorithmic influence and digital sameness, creative success is being shaped by the system, rather than the story. RVA Magazine is diving headfirst into this conversation at the 2025 Big Dipper Innovation Summit—Richmond’s flagship gathering exploring how business, tech, art, and culture are colliding in unpredictable and transformative ways.
What is Big Dipper Innovation Summit?
The Big Dipper Innovation Summit serves as both a compass and a catalyst for the future’s brightest minds. Established in 2023 by JMI —a brand strategy and consulting firm specializing in community engagement— they have been illuminating paths to innovative freedom by bringing together visionaries who are actively shaping tomorrow’s possibilities.
In 2025 the summit theme recognizes that true innovation rarely travels alone. Just as celestial constellations form patterns that have guided explorers for millennia, today’s most transformative forces connect in ways that illuminate new paths forward. Throughout the Summit, they’ll explore these interconnected patterns of change across business, technology, art, and society—mapping not just individual stars of innovation, but the meaningful patterns that light our collective way forward.
The Obsolescence of Culture is a partnership with Hendrick’s Gin & Topo Chico.
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