Showcomotion Conference—Part#2

showcomotion

Blogging from the Showcomotion Conference.

(UK/WORLD) The first session of the Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference is entitled ‘The New Gatekeepers’ TAKE OUTLINE FROM SHOWCO

Introduction by Anne Home, Conference Chair, who started by outlining the truly International presence of the conference and thanked the sponsors. She went on to highlight how the conference is going to respect the minute silence for the victims of the July 7th London bombings.

At the heart is a focus on quality. Impact of banning of advertising of high-fat and salt in childrens programming but also the selling off of the childrens programming arm of CITV.

Richard Deverell, Controller of BBC Children is a new boy to the Childrens sector (coming from News) and iterated how hard they have to work in this new industry and keep existing talent. Fully digital world is 5/10 years away but believes children TV will be the first to it. Participatory media is the new dawn to embrace. Habits the adopt will become the new mainstream.

Shift from ‘broadcasting’ to ‘on-demand’. World of infinite choice. Bafflement of current linear packages. Threw out amazing stats on technology onwership like 45% UK kids have access to broadband at home.

When TV died short film. Ending with a ‘digital citizens’ through certificates. ‘Broadband web most distruptive technology childrens media have ever experienced’. Sky looking at investing into broadband.

Chlidren as content creators. 1 in 6 kids have their own website. Showed a short film of how kids still send in their pictures upon a request by a programme. 43,000+ entries for the Doctor Who design a monster competition. 12 kids from ‘Level Up’ who are part of the programme, hooking up online and contributing to the programme through webcams.

Tips for success—relentless pressure on innovation and creators. Bring out the unexpected. Increase the impact of what you do not do more of it. Adopt multi=platform approach and integration. Invest in talent. Invest in it and nurture it. Blur the lines between boundaries. Invest in marketing by understanding your audience. Label content through meta-tagging world.

Tess Alps, CEO Thinkbox. Talking about childrens TV and advertisers. TV is still a joy for children. It’s the ‘software’ they call television although there are still grey areas like cinema and gaming. Showd several slied which basically reiterated how ‘digital’ kids are by access to technology and the hardware (from the living room to the bedroom).

Mobiles are the most popular hardware using it more than just a phone. Even with all the new technologies broadcast TV is still popular—what has changed is how many channeles are now available.

TV still drives use of other media, another words kids go online, IM or text even buy books because they watched something on the television.

The opening session simply echoed the opening lines of MediaSnackers—the world has changed and it’s not turning back. No evidence kids want to watch less television.

Talked about how television programming will be paid for—by the viewers or the advertisers. There is a unwritten understanding that advertisers have paid for some great programming. Advertising to children does have a positive impact in terms of educating them about pro-social activities or products/services.

Food advertising—agrees that certain advertising have had an impact on obesity in children. Commentators are creating moral panics because the effect is very low. Created scapegoats which could be devastating to the childrens TV industry which is highlighted in the recent announcement that CiTV will be closing their childrens programming commitment.

Want to see OFCOM and advertisers working together. Use the media to educate kids and parents about these issues. It’s all about giving a ‘balanced diet’ of television.

Ended with a discussion on stage and also questions from the audience.

I am attending and participating in the Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference, in Sheffield and blogging the event for the next two days.

View all ‘Showcomotion posts’ here.

Showcomotion Conference—Part#1

showcomotion

Blogging from the Showcomotion Conference: First day.

(UK/WORLD) First day at conference is like first day at primary school. You’re all a little nervous, trying to catch a glimpse of each others name badges without being obvious and sheepishly wandering round hoping for a friendly smile to instigate engagement, whilst a few ‘packs’ of individuals cling to those people they know.

At the registration drinks for the Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference things couldn’t be more different.

Maybe it was due to the heat of the venue or maybe because all ‘media types’ love to ‘greet’—whatever it was, I had no problems engaging and talking to many of the people.

I took the opportunity to do mini-interviews/podcasts with many of these people which you can listen to just by clicking the links below, starting with the Conference organiser, Greg Childs:

Greg Childs, Executive Producer for Showcomotion Conference—4mins.41secs

Barbara Slade, Screenwriter—2mins.47secs

Juliet Roberts, Creative Director, Scream Out Loud Ltd.—1mins.42secs

Elaine Sperber, Head of Family & Childrens Drama, RDF Media—1mins.33secs

Carla Dejong, Network 10—1mins.34secs

David Kleeman, President, American Center for Children & Media—2mins.07secs

Oliver Ellis, Director Children’s Programming, Target Entertainment Ltd.—1mins.27secs

Karen Vermeulen, Head of Kids’ Sales, National Geographical—2mins.10secs

Want to suggest someone or put your virtual hand-up to be interviewed? Then get in touch here or send me an audio message by clicking the icon opposite.

itunessubscribeSubscribe directly through iTunes by clicking on this icon (download iTunes for free here).

Not using iTunes? Then just copy / paste this feed and drop it into your aggregating software.

I am attending and participating in the Showcomotion Children’s Media Conference, in Sheffield and blogging the event for the next two days.

View all ‘Showcomotion posts’ here.

Devour our other podcasts.

The World Has Changed…#5

earth

…and it's not turning back.

(WORLD) More evidence that the world is changing from these recent noted articles:

A growing number of “kid-safe” search engines are available.

The city of Taipei is aiming to have 200,000 people making wi-fi phone calls.

A generation which uses technology to facilitate relationships and interactions in a way other generations never have.

If older folks think kids today don’t show enough respect, they may only have themselves to blame.

Microsoft plans to blend phones with computers.

Experientia report on the latest trends in electronic toys and games.

Asian countries lead the world in creating digital homes, with Taiwan and Korea at the forefront.

View all ‘The World Has Changed…’ posts

Image credit

The World Has Changed…#4

earth

…and it's not turning back.

(WORLD) More evidence that the world is changing from these recent noted articles:

Parents of school-age children have been given a dismal C+ grade from Microsoft when it comes to managing their kids’ on-line activities.

Ownership of MP3 players has reached an all time high.

Word of mouth is the No. 1 influence on young viewers in deciding what to watch on TV.

In the UK, person-to-person texts sent across all mobile phone networks averaged 106 million per day last month.

Tweens and teens today know that displaying more logos than a NASCAR driver can help secure a place at the cool table at lunch.

View all ‘The World Has Changed…’ posts

Image credit

MediaSnackers is currently in 'permanent pause' mode—check out justadandak.com where most of the juicy action is at nowadays!