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Archive for August, 2009

Publishing event update

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Data Publishers Association Conference 2009

This year’s DPA conference, aimed at publishers delivering web content and digital services, will take place on 22 October at Brighton’s Grand Hotel.

The Conference will open with a View from the Top debate set against the Digital Britain report and Government’s ambitions to create a world-class web publishing sector in the UK. Chaired by Outsell’s David Worlock, senior figures from Whitehall and publishing will discuss how to incentivise progress and speed innovation, creativity and growth.

The ‘Best in Class’ section will allow delegates to learn all about data service providers who will include; Janes.com, Planet Retail, and Thomson Reuters.

The Conference will also feature sessions on security and adding value and there will be practical, informative working seminars on:

Building successful online sales skills
How to save costs by using open-source software
Catching up on latest SEO techniques to lift your ranking
100 great ideas from Madgex, Sift Groups and Site Visibility to improve the efficiency of back-office platforms

For more information and details of how to secure the early booking discount please visit www.dpa-conference.org.uk or download a Registration Form.

If you have any queries please contact Sarah Gooch on 0207 405 0836 / sarah.gooch@dpa.org.uk

Posted in Publishing | 1 Comment »

DOES THE MILK ROUND STILL DELIVER? The demise of the degree show and why we should do something about it

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Hundreds of shows. Who can visit them all?

Producing relevant talent is just one aspect of the work of Skillset academies and accredited courses. Another is to interface and stay in dialogue with industry, and to feed back knowledge collected this way into the teaching system. In order to make this happen and lure industry into these relationships, the university needs to promote the work of its students, who are after all the output of this endeavour.

In the past it was enough to set up a shop-window and invite people to look in. On creative media courses this traditionally takes the form of the degree show, an annual rite of passage for the student, and an opportunity for industry to recruit or at least to get a drink of wine and informally network with the host institution.

But maybe now is the time to examine the degree show from industry’s perspective. A degree show is an excellent vehicle for students to test out their presentation skills, and an opportunity to take stock of their personal development, and even to learn from peers.

But as an opportunity for industry, it is increasingly anachronistic (more…)

Posted in Media Academies, Skillset, creative media, higher education | No Comments »

The Olympic Broadcasting Services “Broadcast Training Programme” for 2012

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

olympic_broadcasting_services_vancouver Last week saw me at Canary Wharf getting an overview with a group of invited guests regarding the plans for the London iteration of an Olympic TV tradition – a broadcast training programmebased on the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The television side of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is really the crucial part – the massive amount of revunue generated from rights, advertising and related media are what keeps the whole circus going. In the past the IOC have set up a joint venture with the host city to form the “host broadcast company”. This company is responsible for all of the images, sound, graphics, on-screen info, etc, from all of the sport. The then sell this feed to all of the rights holding broadcasters. Today, this is a stand-alone company – the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS).

As you can imagine, the scale is vast. 6500 “games-time” staff. 1000 cameras. 62 OB trucks. 5000 hours of content. 200 broadcast countries. And amidst the “largest production company in the world” is a training programme for broadcast students. (more…)

Posted in 2012, Facilities, Skillset, creative media | 1 Comment »