Most of us in digital media have weathered all kinds of storms. We’ve witnessed the rise and fall and rebirth of convergence; suffered and survived the dot-com bust; raised capital in good times and bad; and generated revenues when people told us it couldn’t be done -- with everything from microtransactions to mobile messaging. Even with the current economy, we have a wealth of experience to draw from and a lot to be optimistic about. While retail experienced a modest Christmas, Facebook made about $35M from virtual gifts alone in 2008. Business models that are free to customers -- and both traditional and ...

Last week’s Digital Resolutions post set you on the path to outlining your digital goals with motivating examples from Monty Python, Nexon and others. We asked, “What are your motivations for getting into the digital space? What do you hope to achieve?” Welcome to the FanTrust guide to digital success – Setting Your Digital Resolutions for 2009. December is traditionally a time for reflection and goal-setting, both personal and professional. Though you know what it takes to reach your goals for, say, losing weight (less eggnog, more yoga) or having fun (more eggnog, less yoga) –what if ...

Here’s a shout-out to our friends at Capcom, an entertainment company that functions at the cross-roads where “Fans” and “Trust” meet. This weekend, Capcom did a stealth relaunch of Capcom Unity’s community destination. Talking exclusively to FanTrust, Capcom Corporate Officer/ Vice-President - Strategic Planning & Business Development Christian Svensson said, “The feedback is largely positive. No other video game publisher has gone this far synching up fan activity.” Designed to let fans take their Capcom ID on the road, play across multiple devices and communicate across multiple user accounts, the new community hub has been in the ...

Ten years ago it would have been inconceivable to say to entertainment professionals that audiences were turning the entertainment business model on its head. Sure there was a lot of talk about technology, piracy and convergence; but surprisingly little about consumers. Television, film and even games had a tradition of keeping people at a distance– at the far end of a screen. Nielsen ratings, retail units sold and other metrics treated audiences like blobs. Blogs hadn’t been invented. There was no YouTube. And in the entertainment business, there was no grand tradition of “the customer is always right.” Today, the line ...

Mathew Ingram, who writes the Internet media blog Ingram 2.0 for The Globe and Mail, recently posted a great article about the first-ever ROLF-Con (ROLF is the Internet/ mobile chat acronym for "rolling on the floor laughing), an event held on the MIT campus that brought together Internet celebrities and their fans. 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 ...