COLLABORATIVE CREATIVITY

In my previous post, I shared the first half of the transcript for my opening keynote speech about the future of television at the PrimeTime conference in Ottawa in March. Below you will find the text for the second half of the complete transcript for my speech. This section focuses on Facebook’s impact on social media, Google’s impressive collection of video properties, and it concludes with speculation about how the future media landscape will be controlled. The final section includes a quick survey of the amazing diversity of original video content on digital platforms. Enjoy.

THE FOLLOWING IS THE SECOND HALF OF THE TRANSCRIPT.
To read the first half, click here.
[Read more →]

On Thursday, March 1, 2012, I gave the opening keynote speech at the CMPA’s PrimeTime conference in Ottawa. My topic was the future of the television.  This talk examines the disruption of the old television industry and the rapid emergence of an entirely new ecosystem for digital video.

This clip includes the full video of the speech.  I’ve included the text transcript below.

Topics: second-screen apps, social discovery, over-the-top video OTT, cord-cutting, disruption in cable TV and pay TV, the rise of the new ecosystem, the changes wrought by Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon and other technology giants, and the Motorola acquisition by Google. Also includes discussion about Aereo, Boxee, and other new players.

The following text is the edited transcript of my speech. [Read more →]

MIPTV is the biggest international TV market in the world. Twice each year, the buyers and sellers of TV shows converge in Cannes for a frenzied week of dealmaking.

The folks at Reed-Midem who run MIPTV invited me to help produce and present a new mini-conference called MIP Cube. This two-day event offered an immersion into the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving online video industry.

I invited the co-founders of Maker Studios to join me for a lively conversation at MIP Cube. Danny Zappin and Lisa Donovan are the original YouTube stars. They both began [Read more →]

On Sunday afternoon, I recorded a “virtual” seminar for Michael Margolis‘s REINVENTION SUMMIT which starts tomorrow. This is the premier online conference for people who are redefining themselves and their careers by using storytelling techniques to reframe their own circumstances and the meaning of their lives.

My seminar is called “THE CHOICE”. It will be the closing session for the online conference, posted this coming Friday. In my usual style, I’ve crafted a [Read more →]

At the recent MIPTV market in Cannes, I interviewed Philip DeBevoise, the co-founder of the super-hot online video startup Machinima. This Los Angeles-based company has experienced some incredible results in the past year. They reach a global audience of 166 million viewers and they serve more than 1.4 billion video views each month. That’s way bigger than any traditional TV channel.

I’ve known Phillip’s brother (and co-founder) Allen for more than a decade. We worked together in the mid-1990s on pioneering online narratives and some early interactive TV concepts. I’ve watched his progress at Machinima with great interest because it offers some useful insight into the dynamics of the new video business that will eventually encompass today’s television industry.

Here’s what I learned: [Read more →]

Here’s the video of my recent speech at TEDxMarin.  The theme of the event was “Communication Revolution”.  The organizers invited me to speak about the future of television, social media and personal storytelling.

Robert Tercek at TEDxMarin May 2011: “Reclaiming The Power of Personal Narrative” from Robert Tercek on Vimeo.

TED talks are all about passion and ideas.   The ideas that get me most excited these days don’t come from big corporations or even startup ventures.  They tend to come from individuals who are working outside of the context of business entirely.   I decided to focus my comments on four activists who are using media to tell stories that literally change the world.  I find these people very inspiring.   They are some of the 85 Creative Activists sponsored by the Creative Visions Foundation, where I have been involved on a volunteer basis.

Yesterday, Jason McCabe Calacanis invited me to respond to his post “Has Google Been Naughty?  Yes.  Should the Government Get Involved?  No”.   You can read responses from Vivek Wadhwa and  Robert Scoble along with mine in a handy digest on the Launch blog.   The following post is the full text of my response to Calacanis view of Google’s future path.

There’s a predictable cycle in business, at least in the sectors of technology, media and telecommunications.

In the first part of the cycle, companies achieve success by introducing a new service that delights customers:    call it the “Value Creation” phase.   This is the phase when lots of customers sign up.   Remember when you bought your first Windows computer, your first iPod, or your first smartphone?   Chances are good that you made the switch at the exact same moment when millions of other people were migrating to these new gizmos, too.  Everyone was attracted by a novel combination of utility, cool factor and the right price.

But over time, as the new product/service evolves into our daily habit, some companies are tempted to [Read more →]