Our alumni and staff will be talking at NXNEi and here’s a snapshot of what they’ll be talking about!  

Mobile Stuff We’d Like To Build and Use More of – No Excuses!

A discussion on technology, design and content and how that applies to mobile going forward.

The Future of Mobile, this panel will identify mobile trends as they relate to publishing, advertising and content distribution. Focusing on technology forward-looking but not far-removed from today’s state, such as casual local social networks, cross-screen environments, less disruptive monetization (if we can make more money, we can do more stuff!). Also discussing notable apps: Highlight (local social network), MLB At Bat (in-app purchase), Draw Something (social mobile gaming) and Instagram. Does building awesome product suffice in gaining user adoption?

Moderator: Jacqueline Nuwame
Panelists: Kerry Morrison, Marlon Rodrigues, Phil Giroux

A Postmodern Vision of Media

Are we beyond media? Have we achieved a “new” era in storytelling where the storyteller must adapt to the audience, a reversal of the audience complying to the technological limitations to engage with the story? At the fireside, the storyteller had to create for the participating audience. With the advent of the printing press, the story became shaped by a more powerful storyteller in one-way direction of communication. Now, the limitations defining traditional media have been overcome by digital pervasiveness and an audience that is empowered to co-create the narrative.

Postmodern media responds or shapes a new social construction: user experience with communication. Acknowledging that to post, to friend, to like, to share and to comment are participatory actions, postmodern media moves past grand narrative into a collaboration between digital and analogue content. With the liquid ability of digital and ubiquity of tools and devices world wide, have we achieved an era where truth emerges from the voice of many storytellers reaching their audience most directly and uninhibited?

Our future media is defined by infinite possibilities of digital and what new limitations societies construct to address issues of ownership, distribution, regulation, curation and value. We invite you to envision the future with a cross disciplinary panel in interactive discussion.

Panelists: Maggie Greyson, Johnny Kalangis, Vong Sundara, Alison Bowsher

Let’s Get PhysiDigital: How to Convert Online Memories into Offline Artifacts

Now that social media has become a black box recorder for countless emotionally significant moments, artists and brands are searching for ways to turn our digital milestones into physical keepsakes. The results include a .poster of your Tumblr followers, a book filled with your favorite Tweets and a unique origami shape built around the content of your favourite text message. But what is driving this newfound interest in physicality? Is it a reaction against the ephemeral nature of digital communication or simply the result of the online world bleeding into the offline? Drawing on my experience as co-creator of txt2hold and tweet2hold, I will explore how fleeting digital communications like texts and tweets can be converted into permanent memory objects. While locating the sometimes fragile intersection between the online and offline world requires careful research, the creative opportunities are numerous for those willing to get PhysiDigital.

Presenter: Ryan Bigge

The Conversation: Pioneering Transmedia Marketing & Audience Building

Anthea Foyer, Creative Director for The Conversation, an interactive companion project for Sarah Polley’s film Take This Waltz, will present a case study of this experimental marketing campaign. Designed to build a community and audience for the film several months prior to its release, this user generated art gallery is a transmedia project that spans several platforms including web, mobile and live events.

After presenting the case study, she will be interviewed by Shelley Simmons, an Interactive Producer, who will dissect the process, business models and impetus behind creating innovative marketing campaigns for film properties.

Presenters: Anthea Foyer, Shelley Simmons

We also have a booth and are showing Heart of Stars, so be sure to pass by and say hi!