Content & Communications World Expo

I happen to be lucky enough to be invited to the Content & communications World Expo here in NYC, and take in a few presentations about digital media. First off it was very interesting to meet and see the men & women who work in the digital realm. Coming from an educational background I don't get to see, or play with the newest pieces of technology due to budgetary constraints. Where I work we do keep up with technology, but technology is a strange mistress. As soon as you get to know her she changes, and what you've learned about her becomes obsolete fast. I was hoping to see more technology for the class room, but here at the CCW expo it was more and more about monetizing the digital arena.

Since the technology is so quick to change there are companies trying to figure out how one can use digital technology and turn a profit doing it. I have no problem with this idea. Like all new techno logic breakthroughs there has always been people who want to profit from it, and make it more accessible to the consumer. Since the expo is called content & communications I met the people who provide the content to many different companies. From Television, to cable and even the Internet there are many people who contribute to this content. Yest as a society we seem to consume more content then we can produce. Also our content has become more and more specialized, or should I say more and more segmented.

In today's world its all about the here and now. I want what I want now, and if I can't have it instantly I go somewhere else. That's why there is a shift happening in media. Where Television, newspapers and magazines dominated in the past it is now all about on-demand satisfaction. This is in part because digital media is breaking out of it's box. No longer is digital media relegated to the computer, but it is now in our hands via cell phones and blackberry's. It is what we even watch. Eighty-five percent of us get our news via cable. The days of rabbit ears on the television are gone. Yet terrestrial TV is not dead. It has only changed, and is working hand in hand with digital networks. Through meta-data, SMS, and RSS we are connecting more and more with what we want to see. If your interest is in cooking you can find things about cooking a lot easier now, and so can marketers & advertisers. That's what I mean about segmented. These content providers need to get their content seen and they need to find an audience. Through digital technology this is happening more and more.

I can go on, and on about this and perhaps will since there is so much to digest, but what does this mean for me you are saying? Simple. To get or attract an audience you need to get it in front of eyes that want to see it. There is a number of various ways to do this, but I think you'll agree that the movies or serials you produce need to find their audience. Cutting through the clutter is a subject I've touched on previously here in this blog.

You can look at it in two ways. One, there is so much clutter that it's hard to stand out from the rest, or two you can do your own marketing and target the exact people who would be interested in your content.

I said it before and I'll say it again. There is a lot to say about all this, and a lot more to write about. I'll try and go through my notes and dissect them, and try to filter the most useful information out of them. I was very surprised that I came away from the expo a lot more optimistic, and hopeful then I thought I might. Maybe I can explain why here.