The Paley Center for Media has announced the launch of The Next Big Thing, a quarterly event where tech-savvy entrepreneurs can pitch their business plans to investors and help shape the future of news. A new spin on the organization’s mission to celebrate media industry movers and shakers, the inaugural event will take place at the Paley Center in New York City in January 2011 with sponsorship from Velociter, the strategic investment arm of Mediabrands.  Get your pitches together, because the Paley Center is bringing the media, entertainment, and technology communities in one space to talk about the next big thing.  From the press release:

In consultation with About.com founder and Paley Center trustee Scott Kurnit, the Paley Center has convened a Next Big Thing advisory board to help identify startups and curate the sessions. The advisory board will be chaired by Kurnit and include Tim Hanlon, CEO and managing director, Velociter; Wendy Clark, SVP, Integrated Marketing and Communications Capabilities, Coca-Cola; Kay Koplovitz, Paley Center board member and founder and CEO, Koplovitz & Co.; Alan Patricof, founder and managing director, Greycroft LLC; Clay Shirky, author and associate professor, NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program; angel investor Yossi Vardi; and Fred Wilson, managing partner, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures.

“By enabling this kind of exchange of ideas and experience between the new and the established, the Next Big Thing series could have a direct impact on innovation and growth across the media industry,” said Mr. Kurnit, CEO of AdKeeper, Inc. in a statement.  ”Startups get access to high-level executives and the wisdom of their collective experience while media executives and investors get a closed-door look at new ideas and new talent from the digital world.”

The gatherings are invitation-only, so interested parties should consider joining the Paley Center’s Media Council.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In a year that seemed to reward Steve Jobs, the Tea Party, and bond fund managers, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking there aren’t too many other growth stories out there. But you’d be wrong. For our annual list of the most influential young people in business, we found 40  of them (48, actually; there were so many, we allowed some ties). They come from all corners of the economy:  from technology, yes, but also from retail, health care, academia, and finance. There are the names you know,  but with 27 newcomers, many you don’t. What they have in common: They’re innovating, they’re expanding, and they’re not really thinking about the recession (in fact, one of them works with the committee that decided it’s over).

Some names you might expect made this year’s list — like 26-year-old Facebook founder and, now, pop culture icon Mark Zuckerberg, who comes in at number 2, as well as Twitter’s Evan Williams, age 38, and Biz Stone, age 36, who tied for the number 3 spot. Rupert Murdoch’s 37-year-old son, James Murdoch, made the list at number 8.

And it’s not all suits (or, as the case may be for Zuckerberg, hoodies and Converse): 24-year-old Miami Heat player LeBron James, as much a brand as he is an athlete, made the number 20 spot. Some rising names among Latinos made the list as well, with Wal-Mart’s Raul Vazquez, age 39, coming in at number 4 and Cesar Conde, age 36, of Univision Networks taking the 12th spot. Wendy Clark, age 39, of Coca-Cola  is the highest-ranking woman to make the list, coming in at number 15.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.