Not to long ago there was a little chatter about what Atlanta needs to do to become a world-class technology city. My $.02 on the subject was that we needed to see corporate leadership from the tech titans. And I am seeing a little leadership, in to many, an unlikely area.

Tomorrow and Thursday Turner, in partnership with Microsoft and The American Israel Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a New Media Business Exchange. The purpose of this is to bring together emerging technology companies with large companies in Atlanta involved with new media to provide:

* Exposure to a wide range of cutting-edge media technologies from Israel and Southeast US in a concise and productive setting.

* Pre-arranged one-on-one meetings in order to foster joint venture R&D, investment, marketing alliances, and other forms of cooperation.

* A forum for leading media technology, operational and investment executives to network.

But most important is that it is also attempting to establish Atlanta as a center for “new media”. And do not confuse new media as merely an electronic extension of previous media. Media is literally a method to communicate and the new media is the Internet.

And while I am very tired of having people stare at me in blank disbelief when I state this I gotta just say it. Atlanta is a center for consumer oriented Internet companies.

The proof points I provide when making this statement include Apartment Guide, AutoTrader, CNN, Cartoon Network, NASCAR, PGA, and Weather. All major web properties built and based in Atlanta. On top of that Cox and EarthLink are two of the largest ISPs in the country. I won’t even go into the Internet infrastructure and security plays that deliver new media. Some of the folks that I say this to change their minds and say “well ok, Atlanta is not a consumer Internet startup city”.

Well bull hockey! Remember WebMD, and the basis for EarthLink being in Atlanta? How about HowStuffWorks? There is a whole slew of consumer related Internet startup out there right now. Kaneva, Neurotic Media, ThePort and ViTrue immediately come to mind. And there are 24, yes 24 Internet startups alone at the Turner event.

The Internet is happening in Atlanta. I applaud Turner and Laurie Baird for showing some corporate leadership and taking a step to make Atlanta a world-class tech city.