On opening night I attended a live RiffTrax featuring Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett of Mystery Science Theatre 3000. They prepared a selection of hilariously awful short films and were joined by David Cross, Bruce McCulloch, Eugene Mirman, and Paul F Tompkins who provided commentary over the films. Everything from the cathedral-like setting of the Castro Theatre to the live pre-show organ instrumentals created the perfect atmosphere for watching top notch comedians make fun of bad educational shorts. It was the ultimate film-nerd/comedy-nerd experience.

Opening night of SF Sketchfest at The Castro Theatre

The only way to top the nerdiness of the RiffTrax screening was seeing John Hodgman perform “An Evening of My Expertise” at Cobbs Comedy Club. Hodgman shared fake knowledge about the end of the world and sports from his latest almanac “That Is All”. The highlight of the show was a preview of a TED Talk Hodgman is preparing that culminated with Simpsons writer, Dana Gould doing an impersonation of Dr Zaius doing an impersonation of Hal Holbrook doing an impersonation of Mark Twain.

Dana Gould as Dr Zaius as Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain. Photo by Jon Hodgman

Later that night I watched the Brooklyn-based comedy showcase, Pretty Good Friends, hosted by Eugene Mirman. Comedians Paul F Tompkins, Bobcat Goldthwait, Michael Showalter and Dana Gould performed a mix of traditional and alt comedy sets. Tompkins’s set was a highlight as he improvised an absurd stream-of-conscious monologue that riffed on the concept of babies literally having babies. Goldthwait distanced himself from his 80’s persona by taking a refreshingly honest, self-deprecating approach to stand-up. And Mirman did a bit where he trolls Facebook advertising to target extremely specific groups of people with hilariously, weird ads.

Besides comedy shows, Sketchfest also gives fans the opportunity to see interviews and panels on the creative process of comedy writers. I caught An Afternoon with Eagleheart, an informative panel on Chris Elliott’s Adult Swim show. Eagleheart’s cast and creative team discussed the making of the Walker Texas Ranger knock-off, showed clips from the new season, and took questions from the audience. Before the panel, we were treated to some anti-humour. Eagleheart writer Andy Blitz came out as a misguided warm-up comedian who makes audiences uncomfortable, and Brett Gelmann got into an argument with a heckler played by Jon Glaser. The bits set a surreal mood for the panel that matched the tone of Eagleheart.

Things got even weirder for the Delocated Witness Protection Program Variety Show hosted by Jon Glaser in character as “Jon”, a TV star who is forced to appear in a black balaclava and speak with a voice modulator because he is in the Witness Protection Program. The voice modulator was the real star of the show. Jon shared his mic with the musical act Sven Bribbard (Ben Gibbard’s Witness Protection Program alias). Sven sang an oddly touching version of “Such Great Heights” an octave lower than his natural voice, and was joined by Jon (doing an interpretive dance with a mannequin) for a cover of Jefferson Starship’s “Nothing’s Going to Stop Us Now” (the theme to the film “Mannequin”). Paul Rudd also performed a sketch incognito as San Francisco Dave, a homophobic stand-up with a beard made of gaffer tape.

One of the most unique experiences of the festival was a staged production of a 1940’s-era radio show The Thrilling Adventure Hour. The show consists of serials and jingles written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker usually staged every month at Largo in Los Angeles, but Sketchfest brought this star-studded show to San Francisco for the first time.  Some of the guest performers included Gillian Jacobs, Busy Phillips, Sam Levine, Colin Hanks, Paul F Tompkins, John Hodgman and a bunch more reading from scripts on stage. The musical accompaniment led by Andy Paley was fantastic, and seeing a choir of TV stars singing jingles and bringing funny old-timey serials to life was incredible.

The final show I caught was Stella’s Classic Nightclub Show. Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain hosted this variety show that featured a mix of stand up, sketch and music. Stella have a loose and silly style that feels a little bit like awkward improv but they pull it off in an endearing way. Paul Rudd made another guest appearance as well as another Wet Hot American Summer star, Marguerite Moreau.

Paul Rudd with Stella. Photo by @JakubMosur

The festival continues until February 4th with a ton of other unique programming that I wish I could see. The organizers do an incredible job curating a mix of shows that experiment with format and showcase some of the wonderful venues San Francisco has to offer. I’ve never seen a festival with so consistent with talent and enough variety to keep things interesting for over three weeks.

On December 6th, The Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour was awarded Best In Digital Advertising from the 2011 Digi Awards. Nominated under the sub-category of “Best Use of Social Media”, Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour beat out an impressive list of 12 nominees, including Telus Critter Vote, Google Streetview, Paint Colours for Men, and BeADonor.ca, to win this prestigious award.

From YouTube to Reddit to Twitter to Facebook, Mike Smith, JP Tremblay and Robb Wells utilized social media to personally reach out (and intimately touch) their fans. For over a month the Drunk and on Drugs community manager and moderators spent countless hours on facebook and twitter talking to fans about the show, revealing videos and photos, sharing fart jokes, and soliciting drugs, sex, and alcohol. “Our goal was to talk to the fans in a voice similar to Mike, J.P, and Robb so that the new show felt warm and familiar. This meant we armed ourselves with some of the dirtiest jokes we could find, a couple bottles of jack, and a vocabulary made up of curse words and euphemisms” says Dana Herlihey, the community manager for the campaign.

Throughout the social media campaign, the boys themselves frequently replied to fan requests gathered via facebook and twitter. Fans were asked to share personal drug trip stories, which the boys would read and respond to the next day on YouTube. The boys jumped on Reddit to do an AMA, answering a buttload of fan questions via YouTube; the popularity of the AMA sent over 20,000 visitors to the Drunk and on Drugs homepage in a single day before the show even launched! Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour saw impressive fan interaction and growth before, during, and following the series 3 week run on Action TV.

The social media campaign all culminated into one of the craziest, drunkest, and loudest launch parties Canadian Television has ever seen! The boys loved being able to reach out to their fans online that they just had to get them together, up close and personal. They opened 200 guest list spots for their premiere party and fans won an invite by posting a photo of themselves on Facebook holding a sign that read “This Friday Night I Will Be Drunk and on Drugs”. Competition for guest list spots were fierce as fans went head to head in an all out battle of ‘who can party harder’. At the party over 60 television screens were rigged up around the bar streaming live twitter and facebook feeds, while fans who couldn’t attend kept their eyes glued to UStream and YouTube for live videos.

In addition to a balls-to-the-wall social media campaign, the Drunk and on Drugs Happy Funtime Hour: Interactive Quest also engaged fans in an exciting new way.The Interactive Quest helps fans dive down the rabbithole and become a part of the story. Fans participate in a scavenger hunt to collect hallucinogenic berries for Dr. Funtime’s drug factory.  Players are guided along by character videos to find 80 minutes of exclusive footage hidden across multiple sites and all tied together via Facebook Connect.

The strong community that developed out of the Drunk and on Drugs campaign helped the project win another award: People’s Choice for Best in TV from the Pixel Awards. Fans of the show and the interactive component were quick to spread the word about voting for the project in it’s nominated category, sharing the link all over the internet. Stitch Media and the Drunk and on Drugs team are incredibly proud of this award as it demonstrated the power of the fan base and the true reach the interactive project had.

Of course it’s not just the extreme athleticism and character of the show that hooked us. Cubicle to the Cage also offers a great landscape for interactive storytelling – something that both Stitch Media and Hemming House Pictures are excited about collaborating on.

In the meantime, if the exciting world of mixed martial arts appeals to you…or your cubicle neighbour, then we suggest you check out the public auditions. Auditions for Maritimers are scheduled for November 20, 2011 at TitansMMA + Boxing (3200 Kempt Rd.). More details after the jump.

Mixed martial arts documentary TV series holds public auditions November 20, 2011

(Halifax, NS) – Hemmings House Pictures holds its second round of public auditions Sunday, November 20, 2011 for an up-coming documentary TV series called “Cubicle to the Cage.” The series–to air nationally on HD network radX in 2013–will be shot entirely in the Maritimes. It follows everyday men and women on a life-changing journey to become professional mixed martial artists (MMA).

“It’s bound to be an exciting, sometimes impossible, adventure for these folks. They won’t know what’s hit them when they come up against me,” says Peter Martel, lead trainer for “Cubicle to the Cage” and owner of TitansMMA + Boxing. “When they fall down, I’ll make them get up. Bleeding, bones broken. It doesn’t matter. This will be the hardest, but most rewarding thing they’ve ever done. And when it’s over–when they’re standing in the cage to fight their first professional fight–it’ll be a good day.”

Martel hopes the series will fatten up the talent pool for MMA in the region, while raising the profile for the sport in general. “We’re giving opportunities to Maritimers,” he says of the series, which provides free training and access to equipment for a whole year.

Fit or unfit; stay-at-home parents or regular nine-to-fivers; entrepreneurial-types or red-eyed students. All are welcome to audition, provided they haven’t been in a professional fight to date. Select trainees will be thrust kicking, screaming and bleeding into the grueling and often dangerous world of a professional mixed martial artist.

Camera crews will track the day-to-day of the cast, as they realign their priorities and redefine their relationships in favour of becoming a professional athlete. Long gone are late mornings in bed, lazy coffee breaks and fast food. Focus will shift to an exacting nutrition program and rigorous training in wrestling, boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai.

At the end of the 12-month program, trainees will step into a cage for their first professional fight before a televised audience. This event marks the culmination of a year of physical, emotional and spiritual sacrifice.

Cubicle to the Cage shares up-to-date news on fights and casting calls on Twitter @cubicle2thecage and on Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Cubicle-to-The-Cage/111169535593903 .

AUDITION INFORMATION

Auditions are scheduled for November 20, 2011 at TitansMMA + Boxing (3200 Kempt Rd.). Registration and interviews are from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. . Auditions take place from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Call-backs follow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. . People looking to audition are asked to come dressed for physical activity. For more, check out the Facebook event www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=248615938528722&context=create .

ABOUT CUBICLE TO THE CAGE

Cubicle to the Cage is a 13-episode docu-soap series conceived by Boyd Sharpe and produced by Hemmings House Pictures, with support from Palooka’s Executive Fitness and TitansMMA + Boxing. The series follows TitansMMA, a mixed martial arts camp, as it takes a group of students on a 12-month journey to become professional mixed martial artists. At the end of the program, the strongest students will compete on TV in their first professional fight. The series begins shooting in January 2012 and will air nationally in January 2013 on HD network radX.

FOR INTERVIEWS AND MORE INFORMATION

Anna Duckworth, Cubicle to the Cage Publicist

aeduckworth@gmail.com | (902) 440-8343

FOR MEDIA ACCREDITATION, PRESS PHOTOS AND TRAILERS

www.cubicletothecage.com

Other nominees in the technology category for the 2011 awards include Mark Law, Principal – MSN Social and Search (Microsoft), Greg Tully, VP of Information Technology (Sirius Satellite Radio Canada), and Luis Rodrigues, VP of Energy Solutions (Honeywell). The full list of nominees and previous winners can be found here.

EVAN JONES’ 2012 SXSW PANEL PICKER SELECTIONS

The Wisdom of Thieves: Meaning in P2P Behavior
Speakers: Ben Fields – Semetric
Description: The act of piracy is typically viewed as devaluing content – the track that wasn’t streamed, the video game that wasn’t purchased. However, peer-to-peer networks of piracy are rich descriptions of fans who are interested enough to find content. By observing these descriptions, artists can better understand their fan base; recommendation and discovery can be better tuned. In this talk we’ll explore the similarities between BitTorrent downloads and a number of other means of online interaction, such as likes, mentions, and scrobbles. We’ll show how interactions vary between popular artists and works versus those found in the long tail, whether they’re emerging artists or niche films. Our audience will leave with a utility belt of tools to leverage data about and around peer-to-peer sharing of music and video. This talk will use data available via the Semetric API and open source Python scripts, freely
Evan says: We’ve collaborated with so many television productions and had so many conversations about how to ‘deal’ with Bittorrent on every level.  I’m pleasantly surprised to see a panel that takes media piracy and finds advantages in it, especially in the place it counts the most: metrics.

Why Publishers Banned Together around the Tablet
Speakers: Morgan Guenther – Next Issue Media
Description: CEO of Next Issue Media, Morgan Guenther, presents a case study on the publishing industry’s shift toward digital content. Focusing on the digital evolution and strategies of the five top publishers that started Next Issue Media (Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc. and News Corp.), Morgan offers insight into the tiered rollout of native title apps on all operating systems as well as the market’s need for Next Issue’s unified storefront. In addition to discussing native apps, he voices his opinion on the future of platform agnostic mobile Web apps as a supplement to versus a replacement for native reader apps. He also shares statistics on Next Issue’s customer engagement, readership and revenue models to evaluate how well the publishers’ strategies are paying off. The presentation concludes with speculation on the future of digital content and the publishers’ plan for delivery as the next generation of tablets emerges.
Evan says: The tablet seems like the messiah of the publishing world – an easy-to-comprehend way to take dead trees and make them digital.  As self-publishing rises out of the gutter, I’m fascinated to hear that the major publishers are working together in this new frontier and what that’s going to look like in 2012. (I’m assuming that the title intended ‘banded’ but perhaps it’s creative license (and a hidden twist?))

When Goliath Tries to Steal Your Lunch Money
Speakers: Prasad Thammineni – OfficeDrop
Description: It happens in every industry. A neighborhood produce market gets threatened by the new Whole Foods in town. Apple enters a market that a handful of startups were already disrupting. But, no matter how dire the situation may look, small companies can and should have a very clear edge on their Goliath competitors. Take an example from the automotive industry. Ford was the first-to-market and seized a bulk of the early market share of drivers internationally. But companies like BMW have found an opportunity in luxury markets Ford can’t touch. By seizing car owners who wanted their rides to scream ‘luxury’ a one-time little guy found success. Being a small dog does not translate to weakness. It means you have different assets, like the ability to be fast, nimble and innovative without bureaucracy getting in the way. You have the unique ability to connect with customers and treat them like gods. No matter your industry, if you play your small dog role the right way, when the big dogs come knocking, you’ll be ready to come out winning.
Evan says: Love the title.  Key to SXSW panel – nail the title.  Watching the most valuable tech companies in the world swallow up the hip ideas from last year’s SXSW as ‘new features’ showed me that you’re taking a huge risk building in another company’s sandbox.  As those sandboxes grow to become 90% of all internet traffic, what are entrepreneurs going to do online?

Brand Journalism: Dangers and Rewards
Speakers: Kyle Monson – JWT
Brian Clark – GMD Studios
Bob Garfield – Ad Age
Bob Evans – SAP
Alexandra Samuel – Emily Carr University
Description: As “Brand Journalism” approaches buzzword status, it’s worth poking through the hype and looking at the realities. Specifically, what are the possible upsides when brand journalism is done well? What are the (very real) risks in botching a brand journalism campaign? Are there situations in which the risks just aren’t worth the rewards? And why do journalists get so pissed off when marketers use the word “journalism”? This panel is the sequel to the polarizing brand journalism panel from SXSW 2011, in which all participants and audience members were offended and delighted at least once.
Evan says: Honestly, I’m not even sure what ‘Brand Journalism’ is.  I’ve seen things like this internally at large companies where they circulate success stories to the rest of the corporation to improve morale.  Here’s one thing I know for sure: if you’re at SXSW 2012, you want to be standing next to Kyle Monson and Brian Clark.  Their names on the panel mean that I am VERY interested in Brand Journalism.

Aspiring to Acquire: Online is TV’s viewer gateway
Speakers: Claire Tavernier – FremantleMedia
Description: The key to building a successful on-line following is said to lie in progressing through three well known steps: 1) Acquisition 2) Retention 3) Monetization. TV show extensions in the digital landscape have turned this on-line model on its head. Working backwards through the traditional digital business journey, they have successfully monetized their platforms, retained valuable followers and now face the challenge of acquiring new TV audiences through on-line activities. In this session, FremantleMedia’s Claire Tavernier will reveal the success strategies discovered by the American Idol and X Factor producer for reaching acquisition and how TV can tap wholly new audiences by realising its online potential.
Evan says: If Claire Tavernier can reveal even 1% of Fremantle’s secret sauce for acquiring the audiences they do through online means, I will have paid for a dozen trips to Austin.  I have to admit, I’m nervous though that it could be case studies.  If there’s real meat on the bones of this presentation it’ll be a ‘must attend’.

Your Story Sucks! Saving Story In The Digital Age
Speakers: James Mitchell – BBH Labs
Matthew Tassell – BBH
David Varela – Writing Studio
Description: Stories are held up as the saviour of the world by authors, filmmakers, marketers, public policy makers, game designers, musicians, artists, product designers and just about every person connected with a creative industry today. The problem is, they don’t really work. Do they? For every Harry Potter, or Twilight, or American Idol that captures an imagination, there are thousands of ARGs, trash fiction, and ‘integrated marketing campaigns’ that are ignored and unloved. Yes, good story could help you. But only if it’s crafted to fit with a different world. Only if it’s written to fit the user’s life, move at the user’s pace, respond to the user’s whims – and a whole lot of other stuff we’ll save for the session. In this session, three storytellers from different backgrounds share the results of in-field storywriting experiments from standup to novel-writing to radio plays. They’ve tried it all, and are going to try and explain what works. This is not a panel – think of it as a three-man show. A theoretical session, with practical homework – straight out of BBH Labs.
Evan says: First of all, I perked up immediately when I saw BBH Labs was hosting this.  Then with David Varela it’s basically two good panels happening in the same room.  THANK YOU for daring to say that ‘Story’ may not be the only valuable piece to your project! Also doesn’t this excerpt sound intriguing: “This is not a panel – think of it as a three-man show. A theoretical session, with practical homework”?

P.S Evan has submitted his own solo presentation “One-Two-Many: Why numbers affect how we play  games” a sequel to “How Progress Bars Change The Way We Live”. The presentation aims to take a high-concept look into the relationship between game design and numeracy. It will span childhood games, sports, tabletop games and videogames.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
Securing Your Information in a Target-Rich Environment
How Testing & Tracking Evolves PBS KIDS Designs
Traversing the space-time continuum
TRANSMEDIA & BRANDS: TM Principles for Madison Ave
Self-hacking: self-knowledge & data literacy
Curmudgeon 2.0: GenX State of the Internet
Want to win at Agile? Pivot your culture first
A Deep Dive into the Private Company Stock Market
No Accounting for Taste: Why Recommendations Fail
Designing Awe: The Science of Surprise and DelightThe Value of a SuperfanKids and Games Developmental Psychology 101
Social Storytelling: Real-World ExperienceThe Web’s Race for the I Love Lucy Moment

DANA HERLIHEY’S 2012 SXSW PANEL PICKER SELECTIONS

Robot Panelists, AI, and the Future of Identity
Speakers: John Romano – The Digital Beyond
Walter M Remus III – Intellitar
Bruce Duncan, M.Ed. – Terasem Movement Foundation, LifeNaut Project
Ben Goertzel – Novamente, Biomind
Description:  In the future, we aren’t going to fight the robots, we’re going to become the robots. In fact, it may be even sooner — like, now. We’ll have two AI-powered panelists taking questions from the audience. Oh, we’ll have some great biological panelists, too. They’ll discuss artificial intelligence, digital avatars, and the future of identity. Along the way we’ll learn: * Just how close we are to seeing self-aware, digital life forms * How new AI technology might enhance our biological lives * How digital avatars might keep living for you after you die The singularity won’t be televised, folks. We’ll make sure you don’t miss it.
Dana Says: Want to see a cylon do a panel at SXSW? Yeah you do.

Web Project Management Lessons from Darth Vader
Speakers: Sam Barnes – Global Personals
Brett Harned – Happy Cog
Ani Moller – Shift
Cola Richmond – View Strategic PLC
Description: Many web designers and developers do the unthinkable and join the dark side, they become Web Project Managers! However most underestimate its powers… Web project management is dark art and there’s no better master to teach us than Lord Vader himself. In this discussion a council of battle-hardened Web Project Managers will look at what tips we can take from Darth with regards to the processes and challenges we face every day when planning, designing and delivering both small and large websites and web applications. Working with internal senior management and Emperor-esque clients, managing Stormtrooper productions armies like a boss, dealing with Bounty Hunter contractors and making brave decisions based on mystic instinct – this guy has all the skills. Not to mention the job that must have been the sitemap, wireframe and functional specification that resulted in the launch of the Death Star v1. Join us in the digital Jedi temple to find how web projects can be delivered smoothly.
Dana Says: I’m always interested in finding ‘work-related-practical-use’ panels while at SXSW as a way to ensure my trip isn’t completely wasted on entertaining panels such as “Battledecks” or keynotes by Felicia Day or discussions about becoming a cyborg. Of course, it’s hard to separate ‘work’ from ‘fun’ when you’re gathering tips on being a more efficient project manager from Darth Vader.

Multiple Personalities–Not a Disorder But the Norm
Speakers: Elizabeth Sartin – Match.com
Amy Parnell – LinkedIn
Thomas Marks – TripIt by Concur
Benjamin Smithee – Spych Market Analytics
Description: In today’s online social world, most people maintain several different social profiles that span across friends, business networking, online dating and entertainment/lifestyle. One person’s public persona on each of these different types of social sites could be vastly different than the information they will share on the others. What are the psychologies and mental models at play that provide a preconceived notion of what personal information should be shared in different contexts? What challenges does each profile team face in overcoming such pre-existing beliefs? Discuss why online social users create unique personas between these different sites, why the content that is shared across these different communities can be so dramatically different and what challenges the social media industry faces in regards to contending with fundamental human psychology. Partipants on this panel include leads from Match.com, LinkedIn and TripIt.
Dana Says: It’s no secret that I have an interest in the exploration of the Digital Self. I like this panel as it extends a topic I would have liked to explored when submitting my own panel: the online multiple personality syndrome. All of our various digital identities contribute to our digital self. What parts of yourself do you leave where? And Why? How has the changing social media landscape affected the way we present ourselves online? All important questions contributing to what will surely be an interesting discussion. Combine this discussion with the AI panel and we’ll be doing some heavy thinking about our digital lives.

The Internet as Television
Speakers: Guy Gal – BIZMEDIA
Description: If the internet was created today it would look a lot more like television. In fact, most of the data consumed on the internet today is video. By 2013, Cisco projects that 90% of all internet consumption will be too. That’s because video is the preferred method for consuming information across all platforms. It’s the next best thing to an in person interaction, and the only medium that can scale the full range of human emotion. No matter the age, we still spend more time watching television than we do anything else, we’re just watching more of it on the internet. When was the last time you read a book on a television screen? Or an article? We would rather watch, but what we watch has to be worthwhile. Video is a medium, no two are created equal. As a company, you need to understand how to create content that’s worth watching, what an effective video content strategy looks like, and how you can use video to develop a presence on the internet that can maintain and grow your market share. This presentation will show you how to win your category using digital video.
Dana Says: I got to see Guy Gal give an excellent 15 minute presentation on the future of premium video last year at SXSW. This presentation seems to be an excellent sequel and I’m looking forward to hearing more of what he has to say. Also, Guy is one of my favourite Toronto tweeters and professionals in the Toronto media industry as he’s both knowledgeable, fun, and approachable – a great formula for an entertaining panel. And yes, Guy Gal is his real name.

The Google+ Design Team Tells All
Speakers: Brett Lider – Google
Irene Chung – Google
Andy Hertzfield – Google
Jonathan Terleski – Google
Description: Get the back story behind the research and design work that’s gone into building (and improving) Google+. Learn about how the team thought up and tested new ideas, polished the user experience, and adjusted rapidly based on real usage. We’ll be answering audience questions during the session.
Dana Says: Perhaps it’s the cynic in me, but I can’t help but wonder if Google + will even be relevant by the time March 2012 comes around.In which case, I feel this panel will take on a very different tone…who doesn’t want to see a real live Google team perform their own post mortem?

P.S Dana has submitted her own panel “Saying Goodbye To Your Digital Self” which will explore the personal and cultural ramifications of documenting our social lives online, with special attention paid to the demise of Friendster and Geocities.

STEPHAN MACLEOD’S 2012 SXSW PANEL PICKER SELECTIONS

Podcasting Grows Up: Challenging Radio’s Monopoly
Speakers: Andy Bowers – Slate.com
Mignon Fogarty – Quick and Dirty Tips
Jesse Thorn – Maximum Fun Inc.
Jeff Ullrich – Earwolf
Description: Audio podcasting has won over millions of dedicated listeners in the last seven years using the same enticements as the DVR: easy time-shifting, never missing a show you love, and the ability to pause, rewind, and replay. Podcasting has also become a huge source of creative experimentation, since its barriers to entry are so much lower than broadcast radio. A growing number of podcasters can now make a living in the medium, and some have been able to sell their content to more traditional media. But there are still many millions of listeners who haven’t embraced podcasting. This panel of professional podcasters with differing approaches to the medium discusses how to break through to new listeners and new platforms. They’ll also debate how to better compete with radio, which while it’s old school is still much easier to operate. And they’ll discuss what we can do about the awful name “podcasting.”
Stephan says: A great panel of experienced podcasters provide perspective on the medium’s rivalry with radio and share tips on how to reach an audience.

Everything is a Remix, So Steal Like An Artist
Speakers: Austin Kleon – austinkleon.com
Kirby Ferguson – Everything is a Remix
Description: While many have described the new world of remix culture where “nothing is original,” few have provided practical advice for those of us who find ourselves living and making things in it. Join filmmaker Kirby Ferguson (creator of the video series EVERYTHING IS A REMIX) and artist Austin Kleon (author of NEWSPAPER BLACKOUT and STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST) as they show clips from Kirby’s work and discuss how one best goes about being a creator in the digital age.
Stephan Says: Kirby’s Everything is a Remix series is an inspiring essay on pop culture and copyright vs inspiration. It’ll be a great place to discuss where the line gets drawn between creativity and theft.

Interactive Music Videos Killed The MTV Star
Speakers: Michelle Forelle – New York University
Jeff Greco – Greco Productions
Description: Ten years ago, MTV shifted from music programming to reality television, and music videos were declared as good as dead. Today, the Internet has become a crucial tool in rejuvenating the medium, to varying degrees of success. However, modern music videos are new kind of new creature. Enterprising artists and directors are finding ways to interact with fans using the Internet, with some really fun results. Some bands are going the route of crowd-sourcing material, an approach that has proven somewhat controversial. Others are finding ways to make music videos that you can play with online. Still other artists are interacting directly with fans in their videos (during shoots and after the fact) using third party sites like Twitter. This panel will discuss different approaches to theinteractive video from across the musical spectrum, and the successes and failures they’ve encountered. Attendees with an interest in music videos will leave with a great  introduction to the kinds of music video techniques that are redefining the medium, the  industry, and the relationships between artists and their fans.
Stephan Says: It’s an exciting time to see how traditional media has betrayed the music video and artform while the Internet thrives on new content from musicians. I love it when music and innovative interactive platforms work together to create something new.

You Suck at Distributed Storytelling
Speakers: Troy Hitch – Proximity/BBDO
Description: eBay auctions, Skype conversations, Photoshop tutorials: new media has created new and unexpected ways for characters to be created, stories to be told and for audiences to interact. As more and more viewers migrate to the web seeking entertaining content, their demands of the experience have changed. They want to be entertained on their terms – where, when and how it suits them best. They want to engage in something that they can talk about. They want to share something that, in the very act of sharing, defines who they are. They want to discuss it, change it, mark it, make it their own. They are no longer viewers; they are participants. Entertainment is no longer a broadcast; it’s an experience. Using his own techniques in a highly entertaining multimedia presentation,Troy Hitch, creator, writer and producer of “You Suck At Photoshop”, one of the most successful distributed storytelling properties of all time, will guide writers, directors, and producers toward understanding best practices when creating original content for the transmedia age.
Stephan Says: Troy Hitch’s “You Suck at Photoshop” was a fantastic and hilarious achievement in distributed storytelling. Looking forward to hearing what he’s up to now.

How to Break Into Transmedia
Speakers: Andrea Phillips – Deus Ex Machinatio
Description: Transmedia is definitely a buzzword these days, and forward-thinkers from Madison Avenue to Hollywood are trying to get up to speed about what it is and how to get in on the action. This session will show you how to move into transmedia, whether you’re a student just thinking about what you want to do with your life, or a well-established professional in another medium.
Stephan Says: Andrea is one of the best storytellers I’ve been lucky enough to work with and I’ve always enjoyed her talks at SXSW. There’s probably no better speaker for a topic like this since she is literally writing the book on transmedia.

P.S. Stephan’s proposed panel for SXSW 2012 is The Rise of The Comedy Nerd which will  explore the world of comedy nerds, how comedians no longer need traditional media to be build an audience, and how a growing culture of fans who obsess and over-analyze everything that is funny are shaping the future of comedy.

Anxious to see if I could add Google Reader to my Stitch Media account, I accessed a list of all available (and free) Google products. As I perused this list, I realized that I only used a handful of these apps, and that there were even some I had never heard of. I felt a bit like Andy Rooney – a self proclaimed completely average person, who was amazingly out of touch with the mainstream. Of course, the more that I explored these apps, I realized that I probably wasn’t the only one completely oblivious to them (*cough* I hope).

1. Google Latitude

Google Latitude is Google’s less-than-impressive take on Foursquare. Perhaps the only advantage to using Google Latitude is the ability to access all your Google contacts and G-Chat with them through the application. Otherwise, nothing about the app is all that exciting or even remotely threatening to the feature rich Foursquare. In fact, Google Latitude’s late release and hackneyed approach to location based social networking is unfortunately typical of many of the market driven applications to come out of Google labs recently. Take for example Google Offers (currently only available in the US) which mimics the deal-of-the-day offers by GroupOn, Fab Find, Living Social, Kijiji Daily Deals, Dealicious, WagJag…you get the picture. While the video claims they’ve come up with a great new way to find deals, Google Offers doesn’t actually offer anything different from any of the other companies in the preceding list. I suppose Google is trying to get by on brand recognition and their built in user base; however, much of that brand recognition is centred around the ideology that Google is a place for innovators and latching onto a growing trend is far from innovative.

You aren’t using Google Latitude because Foursquare is better.

2. SketchUp

I first heard about SketchUp while attending a conference on Pre Visualization (I was late to the party, I know). I knew as soon as I heard of it, I would never ever use it: 3D modeling is far too advanced for someone who can barely draw a stick figure. That said, SketchUp does have an impressive 11 year history, integrates with Google Maps, and Google holds a patent on it’s Push/Pull technology.

You aren’t using SketchUp because the last 3D model you made came with it’s own paints, and you’d like to keep it that way.

3. Orkut (Beta)

Before MySpace was the place to be, and after Google had failed to acquire Friendster, Google launched Orkut, an invitation-only social network. At first, Orkut was quite popular with a large user base which grew primarily from word of mouth. Nearly 10 years later and Orkut holds the distinction of a) being less popular than MySpace and b) still being in Beta.

Apparently Orkut’s failure in North America has been blamed on it’s slowness. Google was so startled by its initial popularity that they were totally unprepared to scale up to meet user demands. American users thus left the service as MySpace and Facebook entered the social network scene. Users in India and Brazil, however, have remained quite loyal to Orkut.

You aren’t using Orkut because 500 million of your closest friends are on Facebook.

4. Google Docs

Google Docs just happens to be one of Stitch Media’s favourite Google applications. The ability to write and edit documents together has been extremely beneficial to our staff, and has offered us a very efficient means to create documents, budgets, and flowcharts.

While I’m sure lots of others use Google Docs on a regular basis, I’m often surprised that there aren’t more people in my social circle familiar with the application. Personally, I see a great value to Google Docs for a number of people – not just for those collaborating on a document with co-workers. Students, for example, would benefit greatly from Google Docs. I remember as a University student I would often email myself half written essays or bits of ActionScript as my G-Mail account seemed like a safe place to store work in progress – especially since I was working on such a cheap and unreliable system. In addition being a safe haven for working documents, Google Docs collaborative features make multi-user editing incredibly easy (and you can watch the edits in real time). My roommates and I probably would have had a much more difficult time in University if we didn’t have each other to edit essays and share study notes and I can only imagine how much more efficient we would have been had we had Google Docs.

You aren’t using Google Docs because you like Microsoft Word and hate other people’s opinions.

5. Google Wave

I’ll be honest, when I first heard about Google Wave I was pumped – Google was going to do what Google does best: revolutionize the way we used the internet. The hype surrounding Wave was immense – it was invite only, and it seemed like every cool person you knew was getting an invite before you.

And then you got one.
And then you sighed the sigh of epic disappointment.

It thus came as no surprise when Google Wave announced last year that although wave.google.com was still going to be active, they were ceasing all development on the program. Rather than launch into a tireless rant about Google Wave, I believe Benjamin Nortier did an excellent job summarizing why Google Wave “failed”:

• Product Schizophrenia – lack of a coherent product definition
• UI Complexity – uhm… did you consider asking non-geeks for feedback?
• Platform Complexity – way too many aspects for a small team to support
• Community – the open sourcing process has been slow and painful
• Federation – or lack thereof

You aren’t using Google Wave because it was overwhelmingly bad

We are proud to announce that Redress Remix has been awarded a World Summit Award in the category of e-Culture and Heritage.

The World Summit Awards were launched as part of the United Nations Summit on the Information Society in 2003, and is an unique, biennial,  global competition for recognition as the best in e-Content and Creativity. It offers a worldwide platform for all who value the creative use of ICTs and who are committed to making today’s information society more inclusive.

The World Summit Award Grand Jury met in Hong Kong, SAR China, from April 8-14 bringing together eminent multimedia and e-Content experts from 32 countries. The jury evaluated over 460 entries, which were nominated from 105 UN member states to the global WSA 11. The jury selected the five most outstanding products in each of the eight WSA 11 categories as winners.

Following the project’s CNMA award, Redress Remix was selected as the Canadian submission to the WSA 11 Culture and Heritage category. As a WSA 11 award winner, Redress Remix has earned UN wide recognition for it’s contribution to the global interactive landscape.

Congratulations to all involved in this project – we couldn’t have done it without your hard work and dedication!

I lost my phone while biking to work this morning. I’m not sure when or how I lost it – I’ve been cycling around this city for years with my phone always secure in my pocket – but I did. It fell out, onto the concrete road, destined to meet it’s fate beneath the wheels of a Honda Civic. Fortunately though, after a morning spent biking back and forth from work to home desperately searching for my phone (or at the very least, it’s remains), I finally reached the man who had found it laying on St. Clair. We arranged to meet, and not more than 2 hours after it fell from my pocket it was back in my hands.

Those 2 hours, however, proved to be an exercise in sheer panic. When I first realized I may be iPhone-less I was immediately worried over how I would afford a new phone. My contract with Roger’s is far from complete, and purchasing a brand new iPhone is currently outside my budget. But what really got me in a fluster was the realization that if my phone had died on the streets of Toronto, all my photos, text messages, notes, and music would be forever lost. Suddenly, my phone wasn’t just a phone, it was treasure trove of memories. Of course, once I discovered that a random man had my (unprotected) phone in his possession, I was less concerned with preserving these electronic pieces of nostalgia, and hoping – dear god – that he wouldn’t take it upon himself to go through my history. My fingers were crossed that I had deleted anything embarrassing, that my bank account information was secure, and that my google searches had been cleared. Upon receiving my phone back from Jim – a very nice guy, by the way – I decided to go through it all. I wanted to know what this man may have discovered about me in his short period of having complete access to my life.

As it turns out, I’m not all that exciting.

1. I have a cat. And not only do I have a cat, but I am completely obsessed with my cat. Of my most recent 100 pictures on my iPhone, approximately 75% of those are of Boomer. They aren’t even interesting photos of him: 20 pictures of Boomer laying by a window, 5 pictures of Boomer with his head in a cup, 3 videos of Boomer wandering around the apartment – etc, etc. The owner of this here iPhone is well on her way to being a ‘crazy cat lady’.

2. My Google searches are entirely trivial, strange, and embarrassing. Recent inquiries include: ttc day ass (yes, day ass), cat panting, and the nutritional value of a German sausage (I’m mildly obsessed with knowing the nutritional information of *everything*). These, by the way, are the Google searches I’m comfortable sharing with you, dear readers. Let’s just say, everything is a curiosity to me and if I don’t know what/who/how it is – I assume Google does.

Other things in my web history: my blog, Canadian Tire bike locks, weight watchers recipe cards from the 70′s (these are gold – anyone would be happy to stumble on them and I certainly hope Jim did), and the take out menu for Ho Lee Chow.

3. Despite having hundreds of contacts on my cell phone, I really only call / message about five people on a regular basis, and those text messages are usually about the same thing: the weather, work, relationships, and the occasional picture of me in spandex.

4. Laser Tits. This is my most recent note. There’s nothing else written in this note, just “Laser Tits”.

5. I have a terrible, outdated taste in music. I haven’t updated my iPhone’s ipod in forever – simply because I’m too lazy to download music to my MacBook. I’m stuck in 2009 and listen to Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi album far too much. I also have cringe worthy playlist titles like “smooth” because I don’t know how else to categorize my selection of Mayer Hawthorne songs.

6. I obsessively use my calendar. With a quick look at this month Jim knows I have the Ride to Conquer Cancer coming up, a hair appointment, a speaking engagement, and book club. He also knows that I live the exciting life of a 65 year old lady.

7. I love word games. In fact, I have an entire folder dedicated to them.

8. I seem to be in love with Batman and his relationship with Superman. My lock screen features a picture of the two, mid flight, giving each other a high-five. The home screen is a picture of them (and Robin) surfing.

9. Coolio’s Sumpin New is my ringtone. I don’t know what this would mean a stranger, but I can only imagine the laugh they would have when the phone started blasting bad 90′s hip hop. I suppose it could be worse, I could have made my ringtone my favourite song ever: Chris Isaak, Wicked Games - or the official song of Chatham, Ontario: The Backstreet Boys, I Want It That Way. I suppose Sumpin New is at least a little bad ass.

10. Oddly enough, the one thing Jim didn’t learn through my phone: my name.

I suppose there is something quite special in a stranger having unfiltered access to your life. Looking through your phone through their eyes really makes you question your life choices and your inevitable path towards cat lady-dom…I challenge you, friends, go through your phones – or, be shameless, pass them to your right and see what others discover about you.