The most anticipated cross-media pitching challenge of the new decade has begun accepting entries for new ideas and techniques to engage audiences across digital platforms.

Finalists including independent producers, interactive agencies and digital designers will be invited to Cannes, France (12-16 April) to pitch ideas LIVE to major international networks, including the BBC, TF1, KCC, NFB, and the European Commission.

This rapid-fire competition sets the creative pulse for the Content 360 Festival, part of MIPTV’s all-new MIPDigital event programme, with FanTrust President Catherine Warren once again serving as a judge for this global media event.

Content360 is also launching a new ‘Next Generation Audience Engagement’ category. Up to 10 new companies or freelance individuals will be chosen to pitch their ideas at MIPTV, based on the originality and potential of their application or content to attract and engage audiences via digital media.

“Since the inception of Content 360 in 2006, the competition has received more than 1,400 ideas from 42 countries and awarded over 400,000€ in development funding,” says Ted Baracos, MIPTV Director of Digital Media. “This unique mix of creativity and new media development opportunity remains a priority of MIPTV.”

Enter now or contact the Content 360 team at content360@reedmidem.com or +33 1 41 90 46 06.

In terms of increasing the understanding and control a user has over the information accessed by third-party applications, Facebook is introducing a new permissions model that will require applications to specify the categories of information they wish to access and obtain express consent from the user – before any data is shared. Users will also have to approve any access to their friends’ info, in turn subject to the friend’s privacy and application settings.

Visit Media in Canada for the full article

Interviewed by FanTrust President Catherine Warren at one of Canada’s premier digital media events – The Interactive Exchange, organized by Interactive Ontario – Obama Girl Amber Lee Ettinger and Ben Relles, creator of the Obama Girl videos and BarelyPolitical.com, discuss how they use social media, online video and communication with their viewers to build audience to become a part of today’s pop culture.  Learn the strategy behind creating content that people will talk about, blog about and share.

On March 18 in Toronto, Relles, Ettinger and Warren will also discuss the recently launched BarelyDigital.com, an online video network satirizing the world of technology. From lampooning overexcited YouTube commenters to staging an intervention for a World of Warcraft addict, Barely Digital covers gadgets, gaming, Obama’s BlackBerry, the elite digerati, Ask Jeeves and Web 4.0 like nobody’s business.

Visit http://www.inexchange09.com/ for more information and a full schedule of events.

Catherine Warren, President of FanTrust Entertainment Strategies, will moderate. Panelists include Nadav Palti (CEO & President, Dori Media Group), Peter Blacker (EVP, Digital Media & Emerging Businesses, Telemundo Network Group), Fernando del Granado (VP, Marketing, HBO Latin America Networks), Janet Balis (President/Founder, Digital Media Strategies, Inc.).

Read the International Academy newsletter, December 2008

Date and time: Sunday, June 8, 2:40-3:40pm

Location: Coleman / Beatty, Fairmont Banff Springs

This session will consider whether widespread broadband penetration will change the way brands need to communicate to large audiences to drive response, the importance of balancing awareness and relationships and the opportunities and potential pitfalls of being a true market leader in the digital realm.

Date and time: Thursday, May 22, 4pm

Location: Granville Island Arts Club Theatre, 1585 Johnston St., Revue Stage

What is the state of the current client base and where is it forecasted to be in the future? This panel will provide current data on what groups have not yet been accessed representing new markets and opportunities for the game designs of tomorrow for both large and small studios.

Date and time: Wednesday, May 21, 10:15-11:45

Location: Hyatt Regency Vancouver, 655 Burrard St., room TBA

I, for one, would have given my right hand to meet Christian Ladner, Toronto-ex pat living in L.A., Internet copywriter, and creator/ blogger for Stuff White People Like (#2 – Religions that their parents don’t belong to, #70 – Difficult Breakups, #96 – New Balance shoes).

Carolyn Y. Johnson of The Boston Globe explains the phenomenon of ROLF-Con and Internet celebrity-dom: “In a way, the Web has given birth to a kind of cottage industry of individuality – people who build a brand around a personality or a passion.”

Check out the ROLF-Con blog, and check back next week – I’ll be posting my favorite ROLF-Con video footage as it becomes available!

Catherine will play double-duty at the conference – as ICE advisory board member and panel moderator.

As always, here are FanTrust’s “Top 3” picks for ICE 2008:

Making It: Building entertainment properties outside the system

Why: This master class session (moderated by Catherine Warren, Fan Trust President) will explore the strategies and tactics taken by the creator of a successful, nontraditional 360-degree multiplatform property.

Brent Friedman’s Afterworld uses Web, gameplay and TV to tell the story of a traveling ad exec trying to get back to his family in Seattle after waking up in NYC to discover that all technology has stopped working, and the city deserted. Just as gripping: the story of how Brent covered his production costs – before selling his content in the US marketplace.

Brent has written and produced TV and film adaptations of comic books and hit video games including Tomb Raider, transferring fans – and dollars – across storytelling platforms.

We’re hoping the panelist will discuss: How a multiplatform property, without an initial TV or distribution deal, can garner commercial success and audience engagement; his approach in digital rights negotiations; and his take on the monetization model of the future.

Date: Friday, March 28^th, 10:30-11:30am

FOR THE KIDS: It’s About Connecting

Why: The kids’ interactive market is going strong – in terms of properties, audience and revenues – serving as a great case study in digital excellence. Whether your company is in the kids’ space or not, the all-star panel of award-winning, multiplatform pioneers (Sinking Ship, Tribal Nova, Xenophile and BBC Children’s) promise insightful gems on engaging audiences with nary a TV in sight.

We’re hoping the panelists will discuss: Xenophile is well known for its award-winning ARGs (alternative reality games) in the thriller genre. Certainly, the majority of ARGs have revolved around dark themes that lend themselves to conspiracy theorising. Xenophile’s case study for a lighter, kid-friendly ARG will surely spark creative new ways of approaching interactive gameplay in 360-degree entertainment properties.

We’re also hoping Tribal Nova will speak about its strategic investment by DHX Media, its newly-launched educational portal PBS Kids Play!, and the business visioning that lead to Tribal Nova’s breakout year.

Date: Friday, March 28^th, 1:15-2:15pm

SPELLING SUCCESS? A case study in social media games

Why: Who hasn’t whittled away minutes (ok, hours) playing panel guest Jayant Agarwalla’s Scrabulous on Facebook? This panel sets out to prove that that social networks can be harnessed to generate revenue. For the audience, this talk will shine light on CRM (customer relationship management) ecommerce solutions and apps (both web and mobile) – on as well as off social networks.

We’re hoping they’ll discuss: Let’s be honest, we all want to hear salacious tidbits (and debate) Hasbro’s demand that Facebook pull Scrabulous from its social network.

Date: Friday, March 28^th, Friday, 9-10am

FanTrust’s “Top 3” GDC picks:

Early Stage Funding for Gaming Start Ups

Why: Entertainment media companies are witnessing a boom in VC funding opportunities– for both content and technology. Media and entertainment firms have experienced strong financing gains across the spectrum – seed, early-stage and expansion stage. The sector saw one-year VC dollar gains of 60% from 2005 to 2006, and new funds are cropping up regularly.

Angel investors, individuals who tend to take smaller stakes in early-stage companies, are also growing more organized. Since 2002, the amount that angels have invested has grown by three times that of VC firms’ growth.

Despite an influx of available financing, competition is fierce and the bar is set high. In his GDC session, Matthew Le Merle, CEO of VC firm Gameplay Holdings and co-president the world’s largest angel investor network will address the strategies and collaterals that independent developers and gaming start-ups need to include in their investment pitches in order to capture the attention, imagination and dollars of early stage funders.

We’re hoping he’ll discuss: TheFunded.com and its until-recently anonymous founder raised a rallying-cry amongst startups frustrated by their dealings with funders – simultaneously raising the ire of many VC firms who felt they were misrepresented.

We’d love to hear Le Merle’s take on TheFunded.com; and to get his thoughts on the proper understanding, expectations and attitude both sides must hold in order to keep the honeymoon alive in the funder/start-up relationship.

Date/ Location: Wednesday (February 20, 2008) 9:00am-10:00am, Room 2018, West Hall

Self-Censoring Potential Content Risks for Global Audiences: Why, How and When

Why: In a recent FanTrust blog, I discussed the differences between teenaged digital media audiences in China and North America, and how a digital entertainment strategy for China must go beyond simple translation and subtitling. The blog focused on participatory culture – the differences in how North American and Chinese audiences engaged with entertainment properties, and one another, online. But companies looking to export their entertainment properties to China must also consider the political landscape and broader cultural contexts.

Tom Edwards, Principal Consultant of Washington-based Englobe Inc. and former Senior Geopolitical Strategist at Microsoft, will educate attendees on how to avoid a revenue and image backlash by localizing games for global markets, using real-world case studies.

We’re hoping he’ll discuss: How to successfully develop and execute a content risk assessment for multiplatform properties.

Date/Location: Thursday (February 21, 2008), 12:00-1:00pm, Room 2002, West Hall

How Wikipedia is Like a Multiplayer Game

Why: The most exciting – and successful – multiplatform properties that FanTrust clients finance and build all share one common trait – multiplayer gameplay (think “The Lost Experience” or “Regenesis”).

“There’s no such thing as a puzzle that’s too hard” when audiences work together, explains Thomas Wallner, Xenophile President and Regenesis creator. The more difficult the puzzle, the greater the sense of audience satisfaction and fan loyalty when the clues are finally solved.

GDC session presenter Elonka Dunin exemplifies this phenomenon. By day, she is General Manager of Online Community with MMOG developer Simutronics Corp. By night, she’s a CIA code-breaker, coordinating tens of thousands of visitors to her personal website, elonka.com, to research and solve the CIA’s mysterious Kryptos sculpture and other “famous unsolved codes.”

We’re hoping she’ll discuss: What makes Wikipedia so addictive to its core community, whether hackers and code breakers view their activities as gameplay – and what lessons and strategies game development companies can apply to ensure fanatic participation and audience co-participation.

Date/Location: Friday (February 22, 2008), 2:50-3:10pm; Room 2004, West Hall