Starting with Ori Brafman’s low-key keynote, we were treated to some gently offered and sometimes quite humorous wisdom about the nature of organizations. Ori outlined the starfish and the spider models of organizing groups. Decentralized groups that shared a core set of values and leveraged pre-existing networks were all shown to have power and influence despite not having the resources often associated with, well, power and influence. Groups as diverse as AA, Al Qaeda, Quakers, and Craigslist all shared the starfish model. Centralized organizations that depended heavily upon one leader were spiders. Big corporations and states at various times in their life cycle were compared to spiders, which however complex and skillful they may be, chop off their head and they’re toast.

Then came the panel many of us were waiting for: Web 2.0 Democracy or Mob Mentality? Andrew Keen, well-known polemicist in the digital media scene, was up against four other bright young guys all heavily invested in the online space. Keen, sometimes called the “AntiChrist of Silicon Valley” was a bit more like the “Simon Cowell of Silicon Valley” but definitely held his own and challenged the assumptions of some of the other speakers. It was great to watch them all try to define the social contract needed in the digital age, and to do it respectfully and thoughtfully. Mike Sikorsky from Cambrian House made great points about the “implicit” and “explicit” wisdom of the Internet as well as pointing out that if Web 2.0 and user generated content is to fulfill its promise, “the crowd needs compensation.”

After a great lunch, I came back to hear about the latest activity in Second Life. The bright lights from the brand spanking new Master’s of Digital Media Program over at the Great Northern Way Campus, and Chuck Hamilton, whose new job is to teach IBM how to play (how cool is that!) sat in and shared their experiences of modding, experimenting, and collaborating in metaverses. Apparently, spaces like Second Life are working so well for work collaboration that one of Chuck’s colleagues working for IBM in India enthusiastically announced “Geography is History.” Yes, ponder that one. It was a fascinating glimpse into the potential for these virtual communities to be thinktanks for how we “do” community. How we work, live, and play in it.

My conference ended with Anastasia Goodstein’s presentation about youth culture online. Funny, smart, informative, Anastasia brought a lot of us back in touch with our teenage selves. She shared the highs and lows and gave some great tips about connecting with this group. Hint: they may have a bazillion new gadgets to use to do bad things and good things with, but all in all teenagers have not changed much. Phew! Or should I say, Darn!?

Then, armed with all this great info, and busily making connections between the provocative ideas I’d heard throughout the day, I blissfully went off to talk it all out and share at the VIDFEST Happy Hour in the swank Opus Hotel Lounge. Great food. Great people. Great conversation. It was a happy hour to end a happy day.

We started off with a rocking recruiting fair. People lined-up out the door to meet some really great companies. The lobby of the Vancouver International Film Centre had a great buzz as people were interviewed and enjoyed meeting one another. At the same time, we had a stellar line-up of pitchers inside the theatre: MindHabits, Big Blue Bubble, Cerebral Vortex, Cambrian House, PowerUp Studios and Hotrocket. They all gave inspiring accounts of indie digital entertainment development. The business models were solid, the partnerships creative, the games fun and with incredible potential, it was a great event. A special nod goes to Matthew Mather and his crew at Mindhabits too. They were the big winners of Telefilm’s Great Canadian Game Competition. Their deceptively simple and appealing games can train your brain to experience less stress, increase confidence and raise self-esteem. Wow! I think your local bookstore’s self-help section might soon be undergoing a games revolution.

In between pitches, audience members had a blast playing Wii tennis and Guitar Here on the big screen. I think pitch ‘n’ play is well on its way to becoming a new favourite event at VIDFEST.

Then we had the PopVox awards ceremony. The people’s choice awards saw some unsung talent really shine. Two-time winner Sherwood Dungeon MMOPRG @ MaidMarian.com was an inspiring and surprising win. Up against some of the biggest game companies in the world such as EA, this two-person company has such a devoted fan community, they put them in first spot. Congratulations to all the winners! And the winners are:

Best Web 2.0: Sxipper
Best Mobile Game: Elven Chronicles
Best Digital Animation Short: Duelity
Best Digital VFX: Sanctuary
Best Game: Sherwood Dungeon MMOPRG @ MaidMarian.com
Best Score: Mario Strikers Charged
BC Homegrown: Sherwood Dungeon MMORPG @ MaidMarian.com

After the glow of the awards we started to party! This Gala was our best yet IMHO. The food was amazing - the little chinese take-out boxes were perfect for networking and having a little nosh. The DJs threw down a wicked set of thumping techno and house, while the NewForms guys synchronized and created cool visuals out of sci-fi film footage. Everyone looked beautiful.

Today is screening day. Sure to be a sell-out with Infest Wisely and Sanctuary. Creators from both will be on hand to introduce and talk about their works. See you there!

We’re really looking forward to seeing you too. The digital media community here is our support and inspiration for VIDFEST. It’s time to celebrate.

Web 2.0
Mobile Game
Digital Animation Short
Digital VFX
Game
Music Score
BC Homegrown

This is your last chance! Vote now at www.popvoxawards.com.

A gala ceremony kicking off VIDFEST 07 and announcing the PopVox winners and the winner of the Great Canadian Game Competition will be this Saturday, Sept.22nd. I think there might be a few tickets available. Get them here, but hurry, this is always a sell-out event.

HBO will be entering the film into the festival circuit and hoping to get it into the Oscars race for best animated short. Variety published an article about the purchase.

See them all here:
http://microsoft.blognewschannel.com/index.php/archives/2006/11/06/gears-of-war-ad-spoofs/

Of course, like any good strategist, you need to apply the right approach to suit your particular skill set and goals. So who are you? What do you expect? Well, I’m here to give you an insider’s edge to the grand event. Below are a few combat styles I’ve found that might suit your unique qualities. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, so feel free to email me with your own profile if you want some specially-tailored advice.

Find yourself below, check the Program, and get the most out of VIDFEST!

Painting Tiger Style
You love to make stuff. Your family says you’re artsy. You hate the term “artsy”. Your casual-but-funky shoes, ironic T-shirt, jewelled jeans and tousled hair are meticulously-crafted for maximum conversation-starting and top-of-mind-ness. Your workday consists of espressos and MacBooks and your idea of fun is going out to see a movie about a font.

I recommend: a) get maximum exposure at the Opening Gala (the place to be seen by all the cool kids), b) maintaining your culture cred by being seen at the film screenings on Sunday, using terms like “pull-back-retraction” and “long shot”, c) getting inspired at the Creative Exchange Conference, and d) bringing your laptop to the workshop on Tuesday so you can tell your friends that your latest project was “a collaboration with artist/designer Joshua Davis“.
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Way of the Early Tech Adopter Style
You breath gadgets. Even if you’d live on a small island in the Pacific, you’d still manage to somehow score an Apple iPhone before anyone else (thanks to that aunt living in Baltimore) and even get it unlocked. And even though you couldn’t use it as a phone, you’d still have earned some major street cred as the uber-hip early adopter in your village. Add that to your Blu-ray and HD DVD players, Slingbox, and Wii, and it’s clear you’ve got the inside track on the hottest, latest stuff.

I recommend: a) bring your iPhone, but please show restraint (flick, tap and pinch is sooooo July 2007) just occasionally answer it, b) definitely take some photos of the event (in a nonchalant way that’s sort of, “Oh? This? It’s just my iPhone. Yeah, it takes photos. Oh, you want to see…?”), c) get to the Pitch ‘n Play on Saturday and don’t miss the Creative Exchange Conference on Monday.
–

Way of the Creation Matrix
If you get the above reference, then you need not be described any further here. We know that you’re a proud, card-carrying geek who know which Star Wars film is the best and loves Voltron, who sweats the small stuff-like whether the MVC design pattern is better than Symmetric Proxy (seriously, though: who cares? You do!)–and who hates crowds of people that aren’t just like you.

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. Good news: at VIDFEST, there are people that are just like you (like me), the bad news: there are also other people that are way cooler than you (like Andrew Keen, recently guest on the Stephen Colbert Show). Fortunately, the cool kids are friendly, and it’s pretty neat to rub elbows with some of the most interesting people in culture, Interactive Design, Gaming, and Digital Film. Reach out. Geek out. It’s ok.

I recommend: a) ease off on the sauce (since we all know what happens when geeks go wild), b) not getting temporary tats in an effort to look “all hardcore and shit” as they may rub off on Josh Davis’ clean, white T-shirt, c) check out Ori Brafman’s keynote and the Pitch ‘n Play on Saturday, and d) just be yourself.
–

Swaying Monkey Style
You are in your nth year of design school. You like to indulge in the flowing libations and love to shout the occasional whoop-whoop while the jams spin. You heard there’s beer at this VF thing. And grooves. I’ve got great news for you: there IS beer and wine at this VF thing. And food, too. Remember food? Take a break from the usual student fare. It doesn’t get any sweeter than that.

You can easily get your par-tay on three days out of the four VIDFEST days (of course, no one’s stopping you from BYOB-ing at the premieres and special screenings on Sunday… well, no one except the Vancouver Police Department, so I don’t recommend disorderly conduct and public drunkenness).

I do recommend: a) keeping in mind that you may one day be working with, or for, some of the folks at these events so don’t get too zonked, b) becoming good friends with some of the New Media BC staff (they may start giving away drink tickets as they get tipsier), c) going to the Opening Gala, and the final Happy Hour on Tuesday, and d) before you hit the bar, take advantage of your sobriety and go to the Recruiting Fair. Who knows? You might line up a sweet J-O-B and be able to pay for your own food someday.
–

Way of the CrackBerry
You’re into networking and deal-making. And checking your email. A lot. You love meeting people and finding out what they do and how you can work together. You can move mountains to make cool digital enterprises take off and, more importantly, make them profitable.

OMG, VIDFEST is going to blow you away. Have you checked out the confirmed speakers this year? Those, coupled with the explicitly synergy-powered-handshaking that is the IPF, the crowds of movers and shakers that will be at the Opening Gala and the Happy Hours, and the rare opportunity that is the Pitch n’ Play, all this combines to create a networking ecstasy that will leave your throat dry and your wallet business-card-less.

I recommend: a) not saying “synergy“… like, ever, b) don’t give out your business cards to people that ask for it so it looks like that you’re so popular that you’re clean out (instead, give out your fake business-only Facebook email on a napkin), c) stop looking at your Blackberry long enough to make eye contact with the people you’re talking to.
–

Which of these styles is for me, you may ask? Probably a bit of each, to a degree.

And my own personal style? Well, I’d like to think that my style is so technically precise, so rich and nuanced, and so socio-acrobatically agile, that I can’t even begin to divulge it’s secrets. I’d like to think that I draw from all styles and effortlessly moment-to-moment shift to right posture for the right occasion. The reality is probably much more mundane. Next time, I’ll describe the Way of the I Forgot to Shave and Dress Nice Because I Was Up Too Late Playing My 360 Style. Eh, maybe not.