ICE08: Day One

I’m at a conference about interactive content, and I spent a good chunk of yesterday’s post talking about chocolate and gushing about UK Trade & Investment Canada. Guess what? I’m going to do it again.

Yesterday afternoon, the organization sponsored a quick “Beer with the Brits” that featured free British beer, fish & chips, and bangers & mash. Stereotypical, yes. You can’t argue, however, that UK Trade & Investment Canada did a fantastic job in playing up those stereotypes in order to increase the ‘British’ consciousness at the conference.

Free food aside, my ICE08 experience has been fantastic. My gripes with the lack of power outlets at the Carlu has been completely overshadowed by the excellent hospitality, amazing speakers, and the phenomenal networking opportunties I have been offered.

And of course, I’ve been blogging about it all day. From my post about Lizbeth Goodman’s keynote:

While we are currently living in “a time of inconvenience” — after all, who has the time to check Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the other sites every day? — Goodman emphasized that the old model where people engage with networks based on trust is still a good model for content creation. However, we need to choose appropriate communication methods for our messages and objectives: “there’s no use shouting at the back of a deaf child’s head.”

From my post about international co-productions in the digital sphere:

While informal agreements may be easier to create and manage — particularly in the digital space — there is, however, still a need for formal agreements. These kinds of treaties allow for easy access to public funding and tax credits, and also lend recognition to digital content creation as a cultural industry that needs to be fostered and supported.

And from my post on interactive marketing, a subject that’s particularly dear to my heart:

It’s clear that old models (traditionally push models) of marketing don’t translate well onto the web. As Brian Cusack explained, the internet is not only a place for entertainment and education , it is also a place for community. Marketers need to enter the conversations that are currently happening between consumers — and not as marketers, but as active members of the community.

Just about to launch into a fresh new day of sessions at ICE08, so expect even more updates on the ICE08 blog as the day goes on. Of course, you can always stay on top of live Twitter, Flickr, and del.icio.us updates over on Twemes.