Jun
09
2011
Global Media Ideas
Stacey Edmonds, JUN 9, 2011
A couple of Fridays ago I attended the X Media Lab Global Media Ideas conference held at the Sydney Opera House. I thought it would be good to leave it that magic couple of weeks and then sit down and see what stuck – what obviously rocked my boat.
The day began with the charming and excitable Ralph Simon, known for being the founder of the modern mobile industry. I loved his appreciation of things Australian including Animal Logic ,Atlassian and 99 Designs. He gave us a the list of top mobile apps including spotify and FourSquare. Then a quick rundown on the areas to watch; Mobile Health (mHealth) and Mobile Money for the Unbanked (MMU).
Dana Al Salam, Founder, Fanshake, gave a nice overview of her strategy and approaches. What was most interesting to me was her version of the Rage Against the Machine story … a little different to my understanding, but there you go.
Gotham Chopra was a bit of a hit. I wasn’t sure what to do; listen to his amazing stories of going into war torn areas or admire the most beautiful and randomly disturbing images he was projecting behind him.
Parmesh Shanhani… not sure why but all I remember was him saying we needed to watch LSD… a Bollywood film like no other!
Joy Mountford was an absolute joy with a very dry sense of humour. She is an interface designer who is very excited to now be in a world where not only does she actually design the ‘look’ but also the ‘feel’ of an interface. The project she mentioned that most stood out for me was the Johnny Cash Project. Genius. “A unique communal work. A living portrait of the Man in Black”
…and then to Wayne Borg. In short, if you fancy a job in Abu Dhabi check out twofour54.
LUNCH
I think I may have struggled a bit after the bread and sugar consumed at lunchtime.
Nick Yang – look him up – he’s designing a predictive search engine. Which I assume government will be after – ‘I wonder what people are searching for today’…
Scott Halcomb and Rob Manson gave a nice overview on Augmented Reality.
Anand Giridharadas oooo, I liked him, see here for my post ‘Forced to live a digital life before we know how’.
Then on to the great John Penny – I may be slightly biased as John’s company Starz Entertainment bought my film “I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer” We talked, I thought I’d have ‘my people’ call ‘his people’. I just need to find those ‘my people’ now and all should be fine!
Amin Zoufonoun from Google presented what I thought was a ‘here’s what someone prepared earlier’ talk. Fair enough though, they must farm out people to conferences constantly.
…and last but by no means least Robert Tercek“one of the world’s most prolific creator of interactive content”. In 2008 he was named a fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in recognition of his achievements in social media for the benefit of society. What he gave was a lively inspirational presentation on innovation and ideas. What a great way to end.
DRINKS – some may say an even better way to end…
