Welcome to the Revolution : Newbies meet techies this week at the Governor’s Conference on the Arts. But this gathering of the digerati is most notably a chance for industry reps to find out what artists have to offer.

Before we launch into all the fun stuff you’ll be able to do at “The Arts, Entertainment and Technology: The Role of the Artist in the Digital Age”--the Governor’s Conference on the Arts VII, scheduled for Thursday through Sunday at the Hotel Inter-Continental in downtown Los Angeles--let’s get one thing straight. Are you a “newbie” or a “techie”? A museum person trying to figure out what technology means to your future? Or--come clean now--do you just hang around the margins of arts/tech to hear the digital buzz?

Whatever your interest or level of expertise, there’s a cybertalk session, keynote speech, workshop, laboratory or interactive-technology opportunity for you. If, on the other hand, you want to cruise the whole range of programs, that’s cool. The newbie/technie/museum/digital buzz labels that appear after names of program sessions are only meant to provide “a comfort level” for participants, says Barbara Pieper, director of the California Arts Council, which is presenting the event with the California Assembly of Local Arts Agencies.

Just a detail--those labels--but one of many distinctive features that give the upcoming conference an unusually lively, user-friendly look. Another is the names of creative forces in the field.

“We have an A-list of participants, not just a bunch of CEOs droning on and on,” says John Sanborn, a Bay Area video artist who directs Colossal Pictures in San Francisco and serves on the conference planning committee.

There’s actually no shortage of electronic-media chiefs--including William Birrell of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Pictures Imageworks, Bob Stein of Voyager Co., Sky Dayton of EarthLink Network Inc., John Warnock of Adobe Systems Inc. and Joshua Greer of Digital Planet. But the administrative types represent companies known for creative work, and they share billing with artists such as Sanborn, Bill Viola and Coco Conn, as well as designers, artistic directors, visual-effects supervisors and Silicon Graphics’ Linda Jacobson, who calls herself a virtual-reality evangelist.

In a lineup of interactive technology events running throughout the conference, Sanborn will exhibit “39 Steps,” his new interactive video on the nature of memory, created in collaboration with artists Ellen Sebastian and Leda Maliga, in conjunction with San Francisco’s Exploratorium. The video is based on 76 people’s experiences with romance, death, danger and other universal themes. Participants can cross-reference the stories and alter their paths, creating a sort of “collective consciousness,” Sanborn says.

Among other artist-involved sessions, Viola--who is creating his first virtual-reality artwork for an upcoming exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art--will be a panelist in a cybertalk session on the art form. Conn, an artist who specializes in educational technology, will demonstrate tools for creative expression and artists’ works in progress at her Hollywood-based company, Digital Circus Production Lab.

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Although technology seems to be the current subject of choice for conferences presented by arts organizations--from the Assn. of Art Museum Directors and the College Art Assn. to the previous Governor’s Conference, held last February in Santa Clara--the artist’s role is rarely discussed. Not this time.

“Sometimes we forget about the very person who is at the crux of creativity’s cutting edge,” Pieper says. “The synergy between arts and technology boils down to the person who has the skills. Engineers and technologists make [computer products] function. The artist makes them look right. Artists are also the people who know when something is done and when to turn it over to the rest of the world.”

Scott Ross, president and chief executive officer of Digital Domain, a Santa Monica-based digital imaging company that has produced special effects for “Apollo 13” and many other films, also has a message about artists and technology, which he will deliver in a keynote address on Friday.

“The technological revolution is the big play of the next 100 years,” he says. California needs to take advantage of the revolution by putting adequate resources into education, training and planning for the future, but artists should also grab a rare opportunity, he contends. “For a change, I think our economic future is in the hands of artists, who should take heed and realize that they can play a major role without selling out. They should embrace technology instead of being techno-adverse.”

The program is attuned to artists who want to know where they fit into the revolution as well as those who have already found a niche. But that is only part of the picture, Pieper says. While artists learn what technology can do for them--in terms of expressive possibilities, skills, products and jobs--representatives of the computer industry can find out what artists have to offer. “We always want to educate both sides in these conferences,” she says.

“The arts are affected by technology, but they also act on technology,” Pieper says. Another conference message is that “the arts are a creative resource and an economic force.” As the job market changes and such fields as multimedia, biotechnology and entertainment replace industry giants of the past, “the arts can be part of the answer” to questions posed by a new economic order, she contends.

The Governor’s Conferences, launched in 1991 and held once or twice each year, were conceived as “opportunities for us to get people not in the arts hooked up and integrated with this sector,” says Gloria Woodlock, the California Arts Council’s officer for special initiatives, research and planning. “It’s not about what we want to hear but what we need to hear.” Past meetings have addressed the arts’ relationship to economic issues, cultural tourism and education and promoted partnerships between organizations.

Despite its emphasis on artists and their potential clout in the marketplace, this week’s conference is “a real overview” intended to provide useful information for a varied audience, Pieper says.

Participants who consider themselves newbies--novices who still think a mouse is a furry rodent--are targeted at “An Explanation of the Cyberworld in Plain English” and “The World Wide Web: What Is It and Why Should We Care?” two cybertalk sessions led by panels of experts. Newbies also are invited to get the skinny on networks and online services or to inform themselves about using new technologies for building audiences for the arts.

Techies--those who are already traveling down the information highway, not necessarily without trepidation--can learn about making music in cyberspace, publishing CD-ROMs or how to get involved in designing computer games.

The museum crowd can hear their colleagues discuss “Virtual Museums--Companions or Competitors?” and “Museums, Multimedia and Websites--The Convergence of Old and New Technologies.” In addition, a pre-conference workshop on “Planning for Museum Automation”--sponsored by the California Assn. of Museums, the Museum Computer Network and Compelling Media--is scheduled for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, “digital buzz” sessions--geared for everyone who is interested in current issues, applications and trends--will feature experts pondering such big questions as “Where Are We Now on the Information Superhighway?” and “The Artist as Content Provider--Is It Art or Commodity?”

Along with a full slate of events at the hotel, bus trips are planned on Thursday night to the American Film Institute in Hollywood and the Electronic Cafe International in Santa Monica. In addition, the conference will be sent into cyberspace from a World Wide Web site. Artists, journalists and other participants are expected to assemble a collaborative report on the conference, which will be documented on a CD-ROM. You can check out the conference site at https://thecity.sfsu.edu/CALAA/.

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“The Arts, Entertainment and Technology: The Role of the Artist in the Digital Age,” Hotel Inter-Continental, 251 S. Olive St. Thursday, 8 a.m., to Saturday, 8 p.m. Registration: $375, includes continental breakfasts, lunches, Friday dinner and transportation to Thursday night events. Nonregistered guests may attend the Friday night dinner for $75. Pre-conference workshop Wednesday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; registration, $150. (310) 433-5009.