Growing up in Australia the BBC is revered. And when one's introduction to new media and online is Teletext captioning and Prestel standard Videotex at the Australian Caption Center, visiting the BBC offices was making a pilgrimage. Thanks to Lizzie Jackson for providing that opportunity with an eMint gathering at the BBC offices in London March 24.
While I thought there were interesting initiatives in the U.S., (especially in the evolving practice of social networking), this is nothing compared to the energy around innovative uses of new media technologies for customer engagement and citizen journalism visible in the U.K. The following may not be new to you but were to me.
Text to Screen- Burgeoning use in live events. Tamara Littleton, eMint Chair and expert at moderating text messages to allow audience participation while protecting the brands of event organizers, provided a demonstration. Digging into text-to-screen uses on my return I found the Live 8 Ticket lottery, (the fee charged to text and participate was a donation), broke all text messaging records even before the concert. Texting and display on screens during the event was also big. The BBC published samples of messages sent to its Meryick Park Big Screen during the Live 8 conference.
JigSaw UK- An initiative of FutureScape, a new media research consultancy, to provide a central resource for emerging digital media in the U.K. Co-founder Colin Donald provided a briefing.
New Media Knowledge- Knowledge sharing group supported by the University of Westminster including the opportunity to discuss "innovation" over beer. Offers a rich events schedule including an online community building workshop with Lizzie Jackson.
The BBC- Never to be underestimated BBC R & D continues to find interesting means to involve audiences. Keep watch for their developments in applying image analysis, computer vision and tracking technologies to broadcasting.
Home Office Interactive Services Moderation Guidelines- A cross industry project team toiled to publish, December 2005, official moderation guidelines to protect children online.
A Financial Times March 27 story describes "London is thriving as it takes on the global competition". Meeting with eMint members at the BBC confirmed the "explosion of talent, expertise and energy" the FT story describes. If you have any interest in managing online services and trends, eMint membership is highly recommended.
~ Jenny Ambrozek
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