Thinking Digital Day 3 and Round-up

Well I was hoping to get this up on the website on Friday, but after a full 3 days of astounding talks and fantastic networking, I was exhausted!  Our thanks again go to Herb Kim and the rest of the Codeworks team for a great Thinking Digital Conference 2009.

So.. Day 3 was again varied, including everything from northern talent to piracy, live music to video link-ups, and from the availability of public data to the availability of a free breakfast thanks to G-ti!  There was also a big focus on making your business customer-centric, from demand-driven content to the ‘Whuffie factor’ in social networking.

My highlights from the day include:

Tom Scott, currently from the University of York, but as he pointed out in his presentation - unemployed in 34 days (and counting) provided some fantastic light humour at the end of the first session. I first saw Tom at Ignite North in January, where I fell in love with his hysterical graphs depicting his life and relationship with technology.  Some of the graphs re-appeared at Thinking Digital, but I have to say his video, demonstrating that two drums and a cymbal thrown of a cliff really do go ‘ba-dum tsch’ has to the masterpiece of his set at Thinking Digital.

Session two started some controversial discussions for the day, with Kerstin Mogull (standing in for Erik Huggers) of the BBC coming under fire from the audience when outlining plans for the BBC’s move north to Salford in 2011.  Delegates questioned why, when ITV and Channel 4 were doing less and less in the regions, BBC should choose to do something so risky, particularly in advance of the 2012 Olympics taking place in London. Kerstin kept her cool when she replied that the BBC covered the Beijing Olympics from much further away, but was left with little response when Andy Allen from Codeworks comfortably informed her that Salford is just as far away from Newcastle upon Tyne as London, so the concept of ‘BBC North’ was already a flawed vision.

Matt Mason also offered up a number of challenges in session two about how we value and publicise our digital content.  Following on from his book ‘The Pirate’s Dilemma‘, Matt got me thinking about the potential for commercialisation of content in a whole new way. His statement that bands and artists have lost over a decade of revenue beacause things like Napster weren’t legalised quick enough is probably very true, and definitely food for thought.

In the last session, Ben Hammersley from Wired UK magazine gave some good insights with his talkabout demand-driven content and the desire to win over the small audience, rather than the masses. He argued that it’s a myth that people don’t pay for content - it’s just that people only pay for the content they want, so quality and audience targeting are the most important factors in generating both profit and interest.  However, Ben also provided one of the most controversial statements of the day that ‘everyone is online now. Apart from the old or the stupid’. Whilst probably meant as a joke, there was a definite reaction to his comment on Twitter and in later discussions, when there is still much of the north without broadband access, and a variety of excluded groups such as those in poverty and those with learning difficulties still struggling to find a way to engage with the online masses.

Darius Pocha also got me thinking when he tackled the subject of ‘post-digital’ explaining that digital is a great describing tool, but has difficulty recreating real-life experiences. It was a good reminder of why it’s important for us to keep up events and networking opportunities such as Thinking Digital and our own nti events, as we can’t detract from the value of these ‘real world’ experiences.

Finally we must pay tribute to the queen of social networking, Miss Rogue herself, Tara Hunt. The nti is already a great lover of Tara for her support of coworking, such as our own Innovation Showcase. However, on this occasion Tara explained the concept of Whuffie - the store of social capital that is the the currency of the digital world, as per he latest book ‘The Whuffie Factor’.  Tara’s idea is that our business and personal reputation in the digital world is dependent on the experience of our customers, and how easy and pleasant we can make their journey through the world of digital content. No longer should we just be concerned with profits, but with Whuffie, as this will influence how likely a client is to repeat business, refer friends and colleagues, and shout good things about us into the social networking aether.

Again I cannot say enough good things about Herb and the rest of the Thinking Digital team, or indeed any of the speakers who contributed to this amazing conference. Our thanks to go to one and all, and I’m already looking forward to Thinking Digital next year, and the chance of other joint events with Codeworks.

For now, it’s a good time to reflect and there’s likely to be some changes on our website coming soon and a whole host of new events and activities for the nti on the basis of our Thinking Digital experiences. We hope you can come along for the ride!

by Leia Bassett

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