Now in its seventh year, the Children's Media Conference has just taken place in Sheffield, city of steel. I attended for the first time this year, with the expectation of meeting industry players, attending some engaging talks and get more of an overview of the state of the industry as it stands now.
The Children's Media Conference is aimed at everyone involved in media for children, but whereas the spotlight used to be broadcast focused, digital has become central to the majority of debate and discussion being heard, to various degrees of understanding and engagement.
The first day brought with it a number of workshops designed to encourage discussion and stimulate creative solutions. Monetising digital platforms was one area discussed as well as the almost ubiquitous conference inclusion, the crossover lab, facilitating creative ideas and culminating with pitches being made to commissioners on the last day. I went along to the 'Beyond the Pitch' workshop, hosted by the wonderful Melissa Norman from Media Sauce which focused on how to create opportunities, make connections and close deals. A lot of it was common sense but great to hear it from someone else's mouth. By the way, Media Sauce are well worth talking to if you're interested in business training, seminars and learning programs
The highlight of the day, the conference and arguably the year however was the keynote speech by the one, the only Henry Winkler aka the Fonz from Happy Days. As a child, growing up in Sheffield, I never thought I'd see the day when the Fonz would be in town. But that day came last week and I'm so glad it did.
He gave an inspiring and engaging keynote talking about his difficult childhood, his struggle with dyslexia and his positivity and single mindedness which took him to hollywood and made him the star he became. Now an author and advocate of children's rights, he is an evangelist for children, and talked about how we in the media industry can help them grow and develop in today's society. Needless to say he was promoting a book, a signed copy of which is now proudly sitting on my bookcase at home, but he was clearly passionate about the subject. If you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak, I recommend it - he definitely commands an audience and tells a great story with personal experience at it's core.
The next two days were made up of a variety of sessions, the backbone of which were 'Meet the Commissioners' sessions with representatives from all the major broadcasters explaining their plans, what they are looking for and the kind of budgets they have to work with. This was the most disappointing part of the conference and put the state of the industry into stark relief. Most commissioners were quick to say that there is very little money available and of that, much of it was earmarked for video content, whether that be for TV broadcast or online delivery. The notable exception to this was Channel 4 Education who restated their remit to engage with their audiences online using gameplay and interactivity.
It felt in some cases as though there was a bunker mentality emerging, with heads being kept well below the parapet and playing it safe in terms of commissioning. This is a sign of the troubled financial times we're living in, but it is a shame to see how prevalent it is amongst people who have the most influence in bringing truly engaging, entertaining, original and genuinely useful content to children.
Apart from Fonzie, other highlights included an interesting debate around transmedia with a panel that included Matt Costello and Alice Taylor from Channel 4 Education as well as Adrian Hon from Six To Start. A concept that has been around for many years, transmedia has been used to describe ARGs, multiplatform marketing and cross media storytelling, all of which appear to be variations on a theme. Phil Davies from Astley Baker Davies gave an illuminating vision of transmedia from his laconic perspective as one of the creators of the hugely successful Peppa Pig, looking at merchandising and online involvement in leveraging a brand. The general consensus was that in its purest form, transmedia is expensive and niche, so maybe not the best place to be trying to attract wide audiences.
Another really interesting panel, entitled Making Education Playful featured Jane Burton from the Tate, Derek Robertson, advisor for Learning & Teaching in Scotland, Amy Sanders from Wellcome Trust and Alice Taylor from Channel 4 Education. After a few technical hitches (which included the word 'vagina' shouted loudly over the pa mid presentation - you had to be there), each showed work they had commissioned or been involved with which has engaged children and made for playful learning experiences. Derek Robertson brought a real gusto to the panel with his raw passion and videos of kids engaging with DS & Playstation games in the classroom, actively learning and sharing, showing that fun learning is an incredibly powerful tool. Jane showed a wealth of initiatives the Tate are involved with, including the Hide&Seek iPod Touch game created for in gallery use at Tate Modern. Alice showed some of the varied and exciting things that Channel 4 Education have commissioned, including two of our projects, 1066 and Trafalgar Origins which was great to see.
Other highlights included a panel moderated by Matt Locke looking at development processes in Children's media, from TV through to online with a really nice pre-pitch checklist idea from David Hodgson from Pesky - spectacles, testicles, wallet & watch, a mantra I plan to adopt from now on.
The festival closed with a somewhat upbeat vision of the future from Tim Wright and Marc Goodchild, both of whom transported themselves ten years in the future and looked back over progress and innovation during that time with hilarious results whilst also including up to the minute football and tennis results.
Overall it was a conference of possibility. There were clear messages that money was in short supply, but the ideas and the will to continue to create and innovate was there in spades.
In conclusion, the big overriding question which every delegate should be asking themselves on every decision the need to make from now on after attending the Children's Media Conference is, 'What would the Fonz do?'