We will be participating at NextMEDIA conference over the next couple of days. The event is being held at the Carlu in downtown Toronto. The NextMEDIA conference is a platform for insiders of the advertising, broadcasting, publishing and tech fields to gage and gather information about what the current future directions in the new media world.
The conference is of particular interest for us because of a “lunch and learn” session dubbed “Access to Brazil,” that sheds light on the Brazilian Media Market, its key players, the support offered by the Canadian government to access the market and best practices that have led to the success of Canadian companies in Brazil. This of course is very interesting to Uma Nota Culture because of the wealth of talent in both Canada and Brazil and the cultural exchange we hope to foster. The session includes the Director of New Media at TV Globo/Sports, Emanuel Castro, the programming manager at Terra TV Carolina Vianna, and Marco Migliavacca from Grupo RBS. The panel also includes the CEO of Canadian Company Polar Mobile, Kunal Gupta.
Margaret Atwood, cheeky speaker and enlightened speaker
Also on offer is a lecture by Margaret Atwood: From Author to Digital Evangelist. This is good as Ms. Atwood is a living legend in literature and a social agitator as well. She has unique insight into how the world of authorship has been influenced by technologies. She says that reading and writing have increased with the advent of new technologies, like the internet and mobile apps like twitter. “One has to be very succinct when writing with only 140 words.” Fielding a question from the audience about whether the quality of content has diminished, she pointed us to curatorial websites that exist out there. These are interesting because they monetize the author’s work. She also came with a great idea as a response to angry birds mobile app. She says someone should design one called “Angry Porn Stars” where porn stars fling their high heeled shoes at their pimp or camera man (probably the same guy, she mused).
Atwood on digital world
About the future of print with relation to digital: “Print will live in conjunction with e-readers.” The demise of bookstores is a sad phenomenon. ”[Bookstores] enable serendipity.” Her dry humour is great. She spoke about how Christian fanatics burned the library at Alexandria. “Your library too could be burned by Christian fanatics.” A very loosely veiled reference to Rob Ford’s Toronto.
Atwood's drawings for her presentation
Check our twitter for more information about the NextMEDIA conference.
Closing off the conference on Tuesday night will be the Digital Awards Gala. The event brings together the best and brightest in Canadian Media, celebrating the hottest projects and companies of the year in New Media. There are some funny stories in here somewhere. Funny man Jeremy Hotz hosts the awards and yours truly is providing the talent. Doing a funky digitally urban dance will be the Moon Runners, and providing the tunes for the ceremonies and the after party (ah yeah) will be Jerus NaZdaQ.
