Integrated Media Association

iMA 2013 is once again partnering with the leading conference on Emerging Technologies, SXSW Interactive, as an opportunity for those in public media to expand their thinking and perspective. Discounted coupons are available through iMA registration.

Click here for an up to date list of SXSW Interactive Programming

SXSW Interactive 2013 Sessions Submitted by Public Media

Public Media has submitted some great sessions to SXSW, and some are on the agenda through the iMA partnership. Those include:

Training the Next 7 Generations of Storytellers

Description: The storytelling tradition is strong within Native cultures, however, traditions and languages are still being lost with every generation. Over half of the Native American population is under the age of 25 and almost 80% live in urban areas away from Reservations. One of the ways to make sure these cultures continue is to empower the next generation of Native storytellers to tell their stories in ways that engage their peers as well as mainstream society. This panel of accomplished Native American media makers and educators will share their experience with training Native youth in digital storytelling. Learn lessons for engaging and teaching youth in your communities. Learn what it takes to be a good storyteller in the 21st century.

Speakers

• Eric Martin NAPT

• Tracy Rector Longhouse Media

• Missy Whiteman Independent Indigenous Film & Video

• Tom Fields Native Fields Arts Co.

PBS' Digital Evolution

Description: Throughout its 40-year history, PBS has been a pioneer- taking television content to new heights, bringing audiences to the edge of the universe and back, and encouraging generations of children to imagine the vast vistas of the world around them. The media landscape has changed dramatically since PBS was founded, and PBS has evolved to meet the needs of today's digitally savvy consumers. PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger will share how PBS is finding even greater resonance and impact--both nationally and in the communities it serves-- by embracing new methods of reaching audiences through multi-platform digital video distribution, learning tools for digital natives in the classroom, and educational media resources that are on the cutting-edge of innovation.

Speakers

• Paula Kerger PBS

Other Public Media Sessions Submitted to SXSW Interactive:

Making Public Media Multicultural

Description: An in-depth look at how Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) – a member-supported public media network and operator of the most listened-to public radio news service in Southern California –is better serving the multi-ethnic communities of Los Angeles.

Working with a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, SCPR undertook an ambitious initiative to expand its programming, rebrand itself, and launch innovative digital media & grassroots initiatives to better engage the large population of Hispanic, African American, Asian and other ethnic audiences. Edgar Aguirre, Director of Community Outreach @ SCPR, will discuss his efforts to make public media more relevant to audiences that have larger been ignored by public media around the country. Edgar & Jose Villa - President of the ad agency SCPR hired to support this multicultural program – will present in-depth research into this challenge & how they successfully took public media to a new multicultural audience.

Speakers

• Edgar Aguirre Southern California Public Radio

• Jose Villa Sensis

Bringing a Punk Rock Perspective to PBS

Description: YouTube is where all the cool kids are. (Well, some might argue the coolest kids are on Vimeo, but they are all certainly online.) The creator class of the online video world is this generation’s punk rock stars – stripped down, authentic, sometimes in your face, and in some ways a closed community to outsiders. And perfect for public media. Find out how PBS is tapping into that talent pool to attract the next generation of public media supporters, and why a PBS sensibility is such a good fit for online video.

Speakers

• Matt Graham PBS

• Eric Brown Kornhaber Brown

• Mike Rugnetta MemeFactor

• Kevin Dando PBS

Something, Something ... Social Local Mobile

Description: Social local mobile ... you may be able to say it five times real fast, but can you make it happen? Join in an engaging conversation with product, technology and promotion leads from PBS Interactive and local stations to discuss what it really means to be local in a mobile world. Hear about SoLoMo adventures with household content names like Downton Abbey, as well as unsung stories from around PBS' nationwide network of community-engaging stations. Share your thoughts for how it should be done, and hear new ideas about how to get it done.

Speakers

• Maximilian Duke PBS

• Teresa Peltier WSKG

• Eric Freeland PBS

Building Audience through Transmedia Documentaries

Description: More and more documentary filmmakers have been using transmedia storytelling to reach new audiences and communicate in a more engaging way. Consequently documentary filmmakers rarely function ‘just’ as filmmakers. But often act as creator and multi-format producer, moving between platforms and rushing to build apps, interactive websites, games, and social media. Likewise, audiences expect to access content on a variety of platforms and make use of rich interaction (many of which involve them as active participants). But technological innovation is not simply a more-is-better proposition. Making choices of what to develop, how to develop it, and how to attract new audiences are all key questions. This panel brings together filmmakers and funders to explore both the practical and ideal applications of transmedia--its potential and pitfalls. Including Jim Dunford, Series Manager, WGBH's American Experience, a TBD independent producer of a PBS documentary, and Jeff Hardwick from the NEH.

Speakers

• Jeff Hardwick National Endowment for the Humanities

• Jim Dunford WGBH

Democracy Games: Civics for the Digital Age?

Description: Peter Sagal of NPR’s "Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!" and host of a new PBS series, Constitution USA, moderates a panel on reinvigorating the dreaded civics lesson through gaming. More Americans can name the Three Stooges than the three branches of government. Fewer than half can name a single Supreme Court justice. Clearly, there’s a gap in civics education. But how to breathe life into a subject that most members of the digital generation find dry and abstract? Sagal will talk to panelists Gene Koo of iCivics, and to game developer Dan Norton of Filament about how games can be used to convey civics in action, requiring players to engage in complex decisions around government and showing the effects of different choices. How does a game developer turn the three branches of government or the Bill of Rights into a game that kids will actually want to play and learn from? Can values and ethics be part of game design? And does any of this lead to more participation in democracy?

Speakers

• Peter Sagal NPR

• Gene Koo iCivics

• Dan Norton Filament

NPR: Building for an Expanding Platform Universe 

Description: Audiences are going everywhere. How do you go there with them and not break the bank or your sanity? From connected cars and TVs to smartphones and tablets, NPR shares technical, product, and business insights on repeatable successes, unforeseen failures and the resulting lessons.

Despite being an old traditional media company, NPR has quickly built compelling digital experience across multiple platforms. In this panel NPR provides technical and product details and business insights that are applicable for any content producer large or small, old or as-of-yet-unfunded on what has -- and hasn't -- worked to meet the demands of the growing digital audience in the rapidly expanding universe of platforms.

Speakers

• Zach Brand NPR

• Sarah Lumbard NPR

Breaking Bands: NPR's role in new music discovery

Description:With the consolidation of commercial radio, the loss of independently-owned stations and shrinking print media, traditional outlets for music discovery no longer exist. Through their music programming including Tiny Desk Concerts and All Songs Considered, affiliate programs such as Mountain Stage and World Cafe, and their ever-increasing presence at SXSW, NPR has become instrumental in breaking new acts. Including music interviews and reviews as a part of their daily news programming has also contributed to exposing artists to a growing audience of loyal music fans. This panel will discuss how NPR has developed programming that has become an important part of an artist's overall promotional plan and how this once unhip news outlet has remade itself as a leading source for music discovery.

Speakers

• Bob Boilen NPR

Make Me Care—Digital Storytelling to Affect Change

Description: When your goal is to move hearts and minds, and change attitudes and behaviors, (often on a limited budget) you’re going to need more than SEO and a social media strategy. This session explores how to evolve the art of storytelling in the digital age, and how digital content is being used today to affect change in the world. 

NPR’s Michele Norris asked people to share their views on race in America with her “Race Card Project.” Distributed through digital channels, it has sparked a national conversation that continues to touch lives. 

When traditional commercials weren’t in the budget for major causes like "Ford’s Warriors in Pink,” a breast cancer research charity, they turned to Flow Nonfiction to tell the stories of real people. The branded documentary broke the mold for commercial advertising and filmmaking.

The digital age has changed how we tell them, but story remains the most effective and compelling way to make a point. Nothing is more powerful than a great story.

Speakers

• Michele Norris NPR

• Matt Naylor Flow Nonfiction

• Susan Feeney GMMB

• Joel Johnson GMMB

Cats vs. Causes: How to Make a Digital Difference

Description: It’s both an exciting and daunting time for filmmakers creating short documentaries that incite social change. There are more platforms for distribution but the challenge is getting noticed in a world where animals, cute kids and internet memes get all the views. As a filmmaker, how can you better leverage digital platforms to deliver impactful stories to the widest audience?

Speakers

• Matthew Meschery ITVS

• Angela Tucker Promised Land Films

• Adam Chapnick Indiegogo

• Sam Morrill Vimeo

SXSW Interactive Sessions Submitted Related to Public Media

Horizontal Loyalty

Description: It has became our mantra, our religion... it's what keeps us sane. The moment I read the line I knew I had found the words that captured my career and it’s challenges… in fact, my colleagues’, generation’s, students’ careers and their challenges.

“Horizontal Loyalty” has because the gospel I preach to colleagues to keep them and myself going as we try to change (and, yes, save) journalism.

That term, which came from the 2011 UC Berkeley commencement speech given by RadioLab's Robert Krulwich, is about believing and investing in your friends. Not only be loyal to them in your career rather than a company, but in fact do something about it... build something.

Speakers

• Robert Hernandez USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism

• Jeanne Brooks Online News Association

• Ann Friedman Tomorrow Magazine

Nonprofit Journalism: Survival of the Scrappiest

Description: As for-profit news organizations struggle to maintain previous levels of reporting, nonprofit news organizations are proliferating to fill the gap in coverage. These new nonprofit media outlets are experiencing the same problems that longtime nonprofit publications such as The Texas Observer have been tackling for years. (The Observer, a scrappy, watchdog magazine, was founded in 1954.)

Learn how longtime and new nonprofit journalism organizations have managed to win grants for longform, investigative journalism while developing a community of engaged supporters. The panel, including representatives from the Observer and other nonprofit journalism outlets, will explore how to produce high-quality, high-impact work on the cheap and get noticed.

Speakers

• Jonathan McNamara Texas Observer

• Tanya Erlach The Texas Tribune

• Meghann Farnsworth Center for Investigative Reporting

• Charilyn Parsons Center for Investigative Reporting