The Digital Discussion Series was a new segment to this year’s AICP Next Awards. MC Kevin Roddy, Chief Creative Officer at BBH, sat down with three influential advertising people to discuss the changing brand marketing landscape. Roddy was first joined by infamous Aussie transplant David Droga whose Droga5 marks the culmination of his stints at renowned agencies all over the world.
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Tech in Society
Wiredrive and Zoic Studios co-hosted a discussion on Thursday, May 13 hoping to parse out some insights about the future as technology continues to shape the world around us. Zoic Studios Creative Director Leslie Ekker moderated a panel of experts from the fields of design, technology and sustainability. After a brief introduction from Wiredrive President Bill Sewell, the following speakers talked about what our future would look like as they touched on politics, consumerism and social responsibility:
- David Bloom, Social Futurist
- John Picard, Global Sustainability Consultant
- Scott Robertson, Concept Artist and Visual Futurist
I was really pleased with last week’s Blog Out Loud event and wanted to thank fellow panelists Simon, Jerry, Clint, Rebecca, Damon and our moderator Erika. At over 100 people, our turnout was fantastic. We covered a wide range of essential points: time commitments, the value of authenticity, the role of SEO and the need to just start trying.
Prior to the event, I assumed that the majority of ad companies simply do not take the time to learn social networking. A brief look at the 2009 top 10 global production companies and their use of online toolsets seems to confirm my assumptions:
| Blog | News | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phenomena, Thailand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Smuggler, USA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hungry Man, USA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Academy, UK | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| O Positive, USA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MJZ, USA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Partizan, UK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rattling Stick, UK | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Wanda Productions, France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Landia, Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
by Bill Sewell 10/01/09
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At a recent Digital L.A. event, Ramy and I recently spoke to Jeff Sutherland, the father of scrum, and Myspace scrum master Scott Downey about using the scrum methodology for entertainment companies. No, we are not talking about Kiwis versus All Blacks here, although both Jeff and Scott were dressed in the appropriate Hollywood black outfits. We have had the pleasure of working with both Jeff and Scott at different times, so it was fun to see them on a panel together. |
by Erika Levy 09/02/09
The SheSays LA meeting hosted by Wiredrive on August 20, 2009, really dialed me into the mainline that feeds social media channels. Listed below are some of the websites, applications and other new media tools mentioned in the meeting.
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by Bill Sewell 06/01/09
Gogoinflight connection, Batman!
This is my first time using an internet connection at 35,000 feet. It’s a little steep at $12.95 for 3 hours (I watched Grand Torino before logging on), but it’s way cooler than placing $4 phone calls from the plane. Of course, I’m doing this for the novelty, not because I need to, ahem, check Facebook, Twitter, email or IM 
What’s a geek to do with this newfangled technology? First (of course) is the silly “I can’t believe I’m twittering / Facebook-ing at 35,000 feet” messages. Next is firing up the Wiredrive speed test to see what kind of performance we are getting.
Wiredrive LA Server
ping 174mm
download – 1024 Mbps
upload – 231 kpbs
Wiredrive CDN
ping 86ms
download – 1874 kbps
upload – 241 kpbs
Honestly, those are pretty amazing speeds for the first time out. I now need to revise part of my sales pitch, i.e. sending a video presentation to an agency exec before she gets onto the flight. Hmmmm…..
Regards,
Bill
by Bill Sewell 05/09/09
I just came back from watching Star Trek at the IMAX with the Wiredrive team after spending four days attending the Digital Hollywood conference, which really put the week into perspective. Here goes.
by Bill Sewell 11/14/08
Yesterday I went to the first showing of RED Camera press conference. Ted from RED showed a series of new cameras that will change the way people think of motion and still photography in the digital age. For example, the standard HD resolutions we are used to (1080p, 2K and 4K) are being joined by three, four, five, six, nine and 28 K Resolution. These cameras are amazingly small and have configuration options that fit a wide variety of needs. The 28K ultra-ultra wide format camera captures a bigger than IMAX image, but is 1/100 of the weight. RED Camera’s main message is that they are really just getting started.
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We are all back and mostly recovered from Cannes and of course I just have to cover the technological side of the trip (you’ll read more about the people there this week 
. This was my second trip ever traveling with an international cell phone and the first time expecting to have a working Internet connection. The first part worked out well; the second part, not so much.
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by Bill Sewell 05/15/08
Wow . . . I just got back from the the Hollywood Post Alliance’s first meeting for sales folk in the creative media space called Selling Into the Workflow: Red Camera. The stated purpose is to have panels of experts take the time to explain new technologies to the sales people who then get to explain the value to studios, networks and advertising production. I had no idea what to expect, but I left feeling like the HPA really nailed it.
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