nextMEDIA makes move to Banff for 2005

The Canadian new media industry’s marquee trade show appears to finally be on solid footing under new owners Achilles Media. Julia Walden, who has been hired by Achilles to oversee the production of nextMEDIA, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that the show is set to proceed June 11 and 12 in Banff, just before the Banff Television Festival. Achilles has been consulting widely since it acquired nextMEDIA as part of its fire-sale purchase of the television festival in April 2004. The event has not been held since the fall of 2003. Walden tells CNM that she has been engaged in conversations with Canadian Heritage and others, and that the time is now right to announce that nextMEDIA is proceeding. This year’s edition will take a tri-partate stream approach, covering business models, research, and content and production. It’s Walden’s hope that the show will appeal not just to a core group of new media producers who have faithfully attended the event since its early days in Baddeck NS, but will be a broader draw to the research and business communities interested in new media globally. Building that bigger audience will likely be the benchmark by which its success is measured. Previous events have been criticized as too focused on a handful of new media producers, mainly Toronto-based, creating material for use by broadcasters. The key to breaking out of that mold, says Walden, will be to internationalize the festival. "The core of that criticism is: why would I travel to talk to someone who’s on Liberty Street two doors down from me? And, we really do have to address that and we’re aware that we do. So, we’re working with the advisory board and we’re consulting. I’m going to be consulting with (Canadian) Heritage... We’re consulting with the international advisory board. We’re consulting with organizations like ACTRA, which has been tracking the gaming industry, in particular. They’re in a unique position to be able to offer intelligence because of that. We’re consulting with various stakeholders and trying to get feedback about what they want to see in the program. But, we’re thinking big. We’re thinking broad and global." The move to Banff will be one of the biggest changes. The event has its roots as the Atlantic Digital Media Festival, which became the International New Media Festival when it was lured to Prince Edward Island in 2002 by the promise of significant financial support from TechPEI. The Banff Television Foundation bought the festival in 2003, keeping it in PEI where the provincial government has the right to be title sponsor to the festival for $500,000 per year. It’s uncertain whether that support will be ongoing in light of the venue shift. Walden says the move to Banff was taken after careful consideration. "We’re too small a country to have multiple locations for international events. Banff is a known destination for people internationally who are working in entertainment, and entertainment is now crossing over into more than TV and film. It’s crossing into mobile phones. It’s crossing into all those things on the margins of entertainment and as per the MIPP/MILIA models are interactive. So, if you have to pick a place, you might as well pick a place where people are already on their way and coming to put the momentum forward." Walden predicts success for this year’s effort to broaden the appeal of nextMEDIA, saying the industry recovery noted by many bodes well. "I think the industry is maturing, and I think it’s ready for a world-class – If you’ll excuse the expression – event. I think that core content development group (is)…ready to pass on the baton to young people. The industry that once was marginalized, and tied to the apron strings of the television industry, is now really coming into its own. It has viable business models and I think it’s a shift. I feel really enthusiastic about that and I hope that we can satisfy their needs."

nextMEDIA makes move to Banff for 2005

News | 02/04/2005 5:00 am EST

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