Digital Communities
Thursday 29 June 2006
Chair: Paula Le Dieu, Managing Director of award-winning interactive media company Magic Lantern. Paula was formerly Project Director for the Creative Archive at BBC and Director of Creative Commons International.
Building Digital Communities: John Keeling, Chief Operating Officer, UKTV
10 - 10.50am | View stream | Download Audio Podcast
UKTV CEO John Keeling runs a digital portfolio of ten channels including UKTV Gold, UKTV Style and UKTV History. The Digital Communities key note speech will explore the vital role that building digital communities will play in UKTV's vision of the future. Keeling will explain why media brands must target consumers' passions and provide them with a richer and more engaging experience based around the creation of communities and how it will be viewers, not broadcasters, that will drive the development of television in the 21st Century. Keeling has worked in the TV industry for 18 years, including stints at MTV, Sky and Channel 4
The Future of Local TV
11 - 11.50am | View stream | Download Audio Podcast
Digital broadcasting technology has opened up new possibilities for the development of local television services, but there are many different visions about how the development of local TV can best service local communities. With ITV and BBC both planning to create more local media should we leave the development of local TV to broadcasters, or are they more interested in serving local audiences than developing community media networks? With the Institute of Local TV drafting its own blueprint for a 240-channel local TV network produced from the bottom up we look at the options and ask whose plans will best tap into the talent and knowledge based of the local communities?
Speakers:
Tim Burke, Community Content Editor, BBC Local
Brian Thornton, ITV Local
James Morris, Chief Executive, Digital Bridge
Phil Shepherd, Chair, Council for the Community Media Association and Facilitator, Somerset Film and Video
A New Kind of Mobile
12pm - 12.50pm | Download Audio Podcast
What kind of content are users really looking on mobile? Much of the emphasis this summer will be on the launch of mobile broadcasting and World Cup football clips but user generated mobile content is a fast growing market. Are community-based mobile gaming services where the action really is? Will the future of mobile content be driven by community-based content creation or passive media consumption?
Speakers:
Sean Clarke, Head of Licensing and Merchandising, Aardman
Nick Aldridge, Product Director, Mobile Interactive Group
Gordon Plant, Mobile user experience consultant, User Analytics
The Changing World of Distribution
2 - 2.50pm | View stream | Download Audio Podcast
Media owners are thinking these days less in terms of selling content to audiences or eyeballs to advertisers and more in terms of harnessing the power of community media and user-generated content. With Newscorp buying into file-sharing website MySpace, ITV acquiring networking site Friends Reunited and the emergence of user-generated mobile platforms such as 3’s SeeMeTV, content owners and platform operators are taking the concept of communities more seriously than ever. But do they really understand community-based media and can they ever be really good at it?
Speakers:
Omar Bakhshi, Consultant, IBurbia
Gideon Summerfield, Managing Director, Pioneer Online
Paul Appleby, Senior Producer, BBC Natural History Unit
Viewers Are Doing It For Themselves: The Brave New World of Interactive
3 - 3.50pm
Far from being happy to sit back and let corporate interests dictate the agenda, more and more individuals are taking the initiative and generating their own content. It's a trend underlined by the explosion in blogging and the rapid growth of sites such as YouTube, which offers new interactive experiences where users can post their own video and watch and comment on others. We explore how media owners such as Playboy and some of the world's biggest brands have been quick to take note and are now exploring the interactive potential of user-generated media.
Speakers:
Trish Magee, Editor, Homechoice
Jon Bains, Founder, Lateral Digital Communications Agency (representing brands such as Levis, Stella Artois)
Ana Kronschnabl, Fluffy Logic
All In The Game
4pm - 4.50pm | View stream | Download Audio Podcast
Broadband, mobile devices and wireless connectivity have transformed the world of gaming from a solitary sofa-based pursuit to a multi-player, multi-media community forum. From Google's Da Vinci Code Quest to the labyrinth of forums, fake websites and additional content that exist to solve the mysteries of ABC drama Lost, increasingly sophisticated consumer marketing campaigns are contributing to the blurring of lines between gaming, media and real life. This session explores how the latest incarnation of the gaming phenomena attracts a broader demographic and is creating virtual communities who share knowledge, pool resources and establish new markets.
Speakers:
Maurice Wheeler, Digital Outlook (represents Xbox 360™)
Dan Hon, Chief Operating Officer, Mind Candy
Hugh Hancock, Chief Executive, Strange Company (Machinima Production Company)