One conference for women in business, another that bridged all realms of traditional and digital media, and a concert at the Commodore. You could say it’s been a pretty full weekend so far over here but it didn’t end with that.
I headed up Mount Seymour this afternoon and despite forgetting to wear my goggles and getting whipped in the face with all their fresh powder, it was an really great time. Lines were short, the snow was crisp, and I was pretty much given the rockstar treatment – I even ended up getting a great tshirt all because of this here blog.
Three hours in I was also treated to a snowmobile ride up to Mystery Peak and I gotta say, it was fast, bumpy, slightly scary, and amazingly fun. I’ve been going to Seymour for over 10 years because it’s inexpensive, not too overcrowded, and the views are breathtaking. Not only can you see downtown and over to Vancouver Island, but you also get an eastward view clear across the Fraser Valley.
Mount Seymour fast facts:
Mount Seymour was virtually unknown to most of the residents of Vancouver and vicinity until the late 1920s [BCParks]
In January of 1936 Mount Seymour Provincial Park was opened
In 1954 business was booming on the ski hill with 150 cabins for visitors [VancouverHistory]
The government retained overall ownership until 1984, when it privatized its operation as part of a cost cutting measure. [wiki]
There are some fun articles from the 1930’s up on the Hollyburn Heritage Society’s website
Today Mount Seymour offers skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, tobogganing, dog sledding, two terrain parks, over 600 acres
Having this scenery close off my weekend is something I could really get used to (along with the Canucks beating Calgary 6-2). The snowboarding season in Metro Vancouver is far from over so check out Seymour’s spring skiing schedule.
Meet Your Monsters: Solving Traditional Broadcast Webmares
“The digital world is not all that scary – despite the monsters under your mainframe! This panel will focus on successful case studies in how the medium is being used effectively. The players will present new models for the future.” [Bridging Media – Session]
Panelists:
Boris Mann: Raincity Studios and Bootup Labs
Robert Ouimet: At Large Media
Mark Rocchio: StudioB Productions
Chris Mizzoni: StudioB Productions
Boris starts off with Giant Ant Media as an example – they have an audience of 800,000 on some of their videos, “how many of you would like an audience of 800,000?” …”and did they wait for funding? No.”
Another example is CommonCraft – their business is explaining technologies in plain English and they started doing their videos for free. They were such a success online that big companies came up to them to ask if they can create these types of videos for them, and that’s how they started to make money.
Why do you have to sit and wait for someone to give you hundreds of thousands of dollars? Why can’t you start off small?
Mark from StudioB speaks about broadcasters and how they’re moving toward including digital shorts within the licensing deals for shows or films. They’re moving in the right direction but aren’t getting much traction with tons of funding and a fancy web department, so his point is you simply need to get content out there ie. those digital shorts, which serve as a jump start.
Chris is the traditional print guy on the panel who talks about all the other things that come with book publication these days such as including a multimedia CD, making a website or even producing a podcast about a book that is to be released.
Robert is a CBC veteran touching on how broadcasting is a single outlet. He started out getting a $3 million budget for a project, which he follows up by saying “woo!” Boris pipes up to ask him if the “woo” was facetious like, “oh that’s not much” or “oh wow that’s a lot” because I think most of us here would get pretty darn excited about getting $3 million for a project, I know I would at least. Trying to tap into getting a major broadcaster to fund a project is simply one outlet you can deal with. “Get help, talk to people who have business, that may not be web businesses but are good business people.” … “Take ideas, forge business deals (that may not even be sexy) but get it done.”
Mark addresses this issue from a digital animation studio perspective, “we brought animation production back to Canada that hadn’t been here since He-Man.” He mentions that it’s actually cheaper to animate here than in the Philippines, however in the early stages of their studio they were extremely dependent on funding. “We’re still in that traditional world,” but they needed to take control of their own destiny and lead the company where it needed to go. Mark also praises Vancouver as a true hub and leader in digital media and animation.
Chris confirms as a writer/author that he writes when he can, he doesn’t even have a publisher anymore, but he still does it. Boris to Chris, “how can yo afford to just sit there and create content?” he’s being a little silly of course as Boris’ point is to produce, make content, and the rest follows.
A commenter in the audience says he’s seeing two approaches here: “Sell your soul to the devil,” and the “Colonel Sanders model where you live out of your car until you sell your recipe.” Although, the conversation is moving over to the Radiohead model, “pay what you can” to get something you want to get.
Give you users more experience, the whole “bonus features” and added value concept. Why do people pay for wifi at some locations? Convenience factor. Have an entrepreneurial mind set, don’t think about how you’re a starving Canadian artist waiting to be funded – asserts Boris, “make the content, make it excellent, that’s what will get you the eyeballs.” Think about alternative distribution channels as well.
Mark brings up convergence – being able to watch whatever you want to watch on any given monitor. Movies on XBox or the computer? Sure.
Monique, who used to work at Raincoast books, says they used to think about the book as just the beginning of the story, there was so much more to create and generate to connect people with the ideas surrounding it.
A final comment from the audience thanks Megan and Erica for all their hard work with today’s conference. On to the thank yous, a big one to Vera’s for lunch, and everyone else listed on the sponsor page. Miss604.com was also the official media sponsor, with these here live blogs.
Monetize, Monetize, Monetize!
“Where’s the money? How do we get it? Changing the mentality of the traditional business model is the name of the game. Case study examples and conversation around how building an online presence and community strengthens producers’ abilities to monetize multi-media platforms and projects.” [Bridging Media – Session]
Panelists:
Jordan Behan: Tell Ten Friends and Strutta
James Sherrett: Work Industries
Jennifer Ouano: Elastic Entertainment
Monica Moore: Telefilm Canada
Kicking off the monetization talk, there’s an introduction about the history of websites and the idea of doing business online for an audience. The example given is the Seattle Mariners website, that was the first MLB team to have a website that featured ticket purchases and schedules. Early hurdles were as simple as getting a domain name that applied as their team name was already taken so it had to be bought out.
James is the first speaker who asserts making money is not a goal – having a valuable service, making money will follow – but it is an outcome. He also bring up an essay by Kevin Kelly about what you need to understand about the web that is different – essentially that the web is a copy machine. Jennifer follows up by stating she truly dislikes the term “monetization”. The focus should be how to get money to produce the content, followed by making money from that content. Just try concepts and “see what sticks.”
Jordan speaks to his experience selling print advertising – “local advertising works because it’s relevant to you.” He uses Google Ads as an example since they are relevant to what you have done when they are presented. Also, investors want a return on said investment therefor ads are an integral part of making that happen (as Jordan passes the mic to Monica from Telefilm). “How can we create a channel that allows the advertiser to find the audience it wants.” Which segues right into James talking about AdHack, which is basically user-generated advertising, using a sort of digital word of mouth. “Mass media and mass marketing to micro media and micro marketing.”
Comment from the audience, why is advertising the model that is being focused on when it comes to monetizing? He uses an example of how some people pay to not be bothered by something or to not see ads in the first place. Jennifer brings up the other option, which is funding, and passes the mic to Monica. “We want to see that the products that we finance get the eyeballs.” Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Buzz Builders: Using Multi-platforms To Build A Buzz and An Audience Around Your Project
“From film to television to the internet, defining your audience is an integral portion in the conceptualizing stage of a project. Are you using the accessible channels of communication to speak to your audience, draw a crowd and create buzz around your work? This panel will focus on, and show examples of, the use of various mediums and technologies to build a community and get your project to your audience.” [Bridging Media – Session]
Panelists:
Colleen Nystedt : Movieset.com
Darren Barefoot: Capulet Communications
Mark Leiren-Young: TheTyee and the film The Green Chain
Nilesh Patel: Roaming Pictures
Colleen gives an introduction about people are spellbound by the process of movie making, “people will pull over and watch us park the trucks.” Her goal was to put these insights into the film production world, online – so the filmmaker can draw in fan experience and it won’t have to interfere with the actual production of the movie. “You can build community around your film,” saying how exposing films to an audience in their infant stages you can get a feel for the audience, get stats, data metrics etc. you can take that information to the distributors.
Mark’s introduction gives his background in theatre and as a writer for local newspapers. He’s making a movie, writing on blogs, and even created a podcast series on The Tyee, which has ended up being longer than the movie and has been picked up on the National Film Board site. He’s got some insights about selling his columns online, and if he were to give the rights to one news organization he wouldn’t be able to sell it to another since it would then be syndicated online.
Darren’s talk was brief until Carol prompted him to speak about his eBook, the Social Media Marketing Playbook. He delves into social media, its powers, its downfalls, and brings up the “Scoble Starfish”.
Nilesh Patel is a filmmaker who directed a picture that is surrounded by much controversy but has thrived online, Brocket99.
Darren quickly mentions Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans, an essay about how to be an innovator and have a true grasp on an audience, you need 1,000 true fans. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
John and I were whisked off to the Bridging Media conference this morning thanks to PR queen (and fellow West End resident) Colleen Coplick. Upon our arrival at the Hanger (which really is a hanger… big huge loading doors, lack of sufficient power sources and heat) I ran into Kris, Darren, and of course organizer Megan Cole. It’s great to see these important players at these events, and it’s always nice to hear them speak on topics in which they are all well-versed.
We’ve just been informed that in order to power the screen behind the presenters the coffee maker will need to be turned off. I’m currently running on 47% battery life so hopefully I can boost that during a break sometime soon.
The speakers/panelists are sat in the middle of the room, in a casual semi-circle, with a comfy looking leather ottoman between them. We’re just waiting for a) some power and b) some wifi so that I can post this, then we’ll get underway.
First panel is Broadcast and Social Media 101: A Snapshot of Both Worlds
“This session is intended to act as an overview of both communities to help create an understanding of each industries’ process. This panel will consist of Broadcasters, Producers and Digital Media Leaders”.
Kate Trgovac – President, Lint Bucket Media (social media and co-creation) – OneDegree.ca
Kris – President, Raincity Studios – Drupal community development, working with big name media companies.
Leah Mallen – Producer, Twofold Films Inc.
Gary Marcuse- Programming Executive for the CBC in BC
Leah is up first speaking to how the government of Canada is supportive to media and film with many programs and grants, but how do you actually build a business around your productions and content? Going viral to getting licenses, subsidization, tax credits etc.
Television is driven by its audience and reality TV is taking over, but there are now initiatives to find more content online or it’s even driving people back into movie theatres to watch things like documentaries. Leah discusses the challenges, hurdles, rights management etc. when you are a producer of branding entertainment. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
