I am going to out on a limb here and say it outright, I am a day late on my post, but I am going to throw it out there anyway because I know I would be an awesome choice to Blog for the Banff World Media Festival.
For those of you who have never heard of the Banff World Media Festival, I am only going to excuse you because you knew it as two separate festivals for many years. It is formerly known as the Banff World Televsion Festival and the Banff Medial Festival, however, with the way that Television is moving into the digital age it made more sense to combine the two festivals together for one amazing Festival that showcases it all.
When doing research for a post, I like to go to all my sources. Knowing my own Sister attended the Banff World Television Festival for many years with her job at Heritage Canada, I decided I needed to interview her and get her thoughts on #Banff2012. The main question I wanted her to answer for me from an industry standpoint was, what makes this Festival so amazing compared to other festivals, what is it that brings people to Banff? Looking through the schedule, you see many spots where there are Face to Face sessions, these sessions are there for you to bring your ideas and screen plays in front of the decision makers, producers are there to hear all about the next generation of television. These pitch sessions happen, you get to meet the people who can do it for you and will tell you yes or no, right there on the spot. Bringing the decision makers to the Banff World Media Festival is what sets it apart from the others.
I am a little nervous to admit that I remember when television was a Saturday and Sunday affair, when you looked ahead to the TV guide to see what was on and you planned around it. You gathered around the one television (and quite possibly a Black and White one like we had) and watched the Saturday morning cartoons or Sunday Movie special. There was no going to another room to watch a different show, if the Hockey game was on you watched it because that was what Dad was watching. I have seen television grow and change, where households moved from one black and white to multiple colour televisions, from Beta and VHS to DVD and BluRay. We are now in an on demand world where we want our television when we want it and not when the schedule says. The world of television programming is changing rapidly and I would love nothing more than to attend Banff 2012 to see what is coming up next for us.
In addition to the amazing Keynote Speakers, Paul Chard of Mediacom and Paul Lee, President of ABC Television and the In Conversation sessions with Lifetime Achievement Winner Larry King and Nikesh Arora of Google who won the Award for Innovation there are so many more amazing sessions to attend. The biggest problem will be trying to decide which ones to go to with four days packed full of information, it will be hard to decide for sure.
It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t talk a little bit about how nextMedia . nextMedia is offering a whole program within the Festival, bringing many leading digital executives to Banff. Discussing branded content, media buying and new technology, organizing Face to Face sessions and showcasing new online media. nextMedia is bringing you together with the brands allowing you to network with the key players in media and branding. Having attended many blogging and social media conferences in the last few years (BlogHer’10 & ’11, Blissdom Canada’10 & ’11, Blissdom ’12, She’s Connected ’10 & ’11), following the nextMedia track alone would fill my cup to overflowing with amazing information and content.
Add to all of the amazing information that will be there, the Rockies Awards that will be handed out, parties that will be attended is also the fact that it will be held in Banff, Alberta and as a photographer you couldn’t ask for a more amazing place to photograph. I would love the opportunity to blog for #Banff2012, experience the thrill of being a part of television and media for future generations
