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Stephan MacLeod,
Stitch Media
In a short amount of time, Chatroulette has exploded in popularity as a simple website that allows s...
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In a short amount of time, Chatroulette has exploded in popularity as a simple website that allows strangers to randomly chat via web cam. In the absence of moderation, anonymous users can abandon social mores like not masturbating in public and get away with almost anything until they get "nexted". But Chatroulette is more than just a gallery of penises. The unpredictable nature of this site has unlocked creative new ways for people to interact with each other online and has turned the site into a game for performance artists. The randomness of interactions on the site have opened it up as a venue for improvisational music, comedy and fun games that range from counting the number of penises in a "thousand wang challenge" to simply making users turn their heads sideways. This panel of Chatroulette performance artists will explain how to harness the crazy power of random video chats to create unique and endearing experiences. It will examine the mechanics behind the site that invites you to "play" its ambiguous game. And the panelists will demonstrate live some of the fun that can be had on Chatroulette. "Next" this panel and you lose.
Video Games chatroulette, Creativity, game
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Colin Busby,
Stitch Media
To be honest, the internet is scary as shit. Well not the internet itself of course, but the people ...
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To be honest, the internet is scary as shit. Well not the internet itself of course, but the people who use it. Trolls. Chances are, you've either been affected by one, know one, or are one. Trolls, bred from the freedom of anonymity, free to reign terror on the world (sorry Scientology, Oprah). If they get you in their sights, duck. Better yet, surround yourself in 3 foot thick concrete, reinforced blast door, enough food and water to last for a year or two and hope they forget about you.
But for all the damage the internet can cause a poor innocent victim, it can come down on you with the wrath of a thousand angry Just Beiber fans if you wrong the world. We've seen the online outcry over the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the campaign of Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, and so on. These people/corporations are bad, and need to be punished.
See the thing is, trolls are generally some of the smartest people on the planet. Some of the most genius, creative minds that go underused or under appreciated end up online, on message boards... anonymous. They are intelligent, well read, well informed, and usually political. They are the modern day version of hippies, fighting for truth, the end of corruption—or sometimes just for the lulz.
This panel will examine the positive side of trolls, and the sometimes amazing things that be be harnessed via the power of crowd sourcing, anonymity, and the right kind of motivation.
Online Relationships Forum, message board, troll
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Michael Schaus,
Stitch Media
In Jane Jacob’s book, The Nature of Economies, Jacobs describes the building blocks of development...
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In Jane Jacob’s book, The Nature of Economies, Jacobs describes the building blocks of development in simple terms: differentiations arising from generalities, and those differentiations becoming new generalities, and so on and so forth, into lines of development. She goes on to explain how those development lines can stop for good, (like the 8-track, the laser disc, and Kris Kross) OR suggests that development lines can pause and then continue their development at a later date, in the same or a completely different context and trajectory. (like William Shatner, Betty White, or the Nintento Power Glove)
In it’s early stages, the social media revolution is long on context and short on content, and we’re seeing more and more people combing the development lines of legacy content and technology and dropping them into the present. Are we recycling the past for a quick campy laugh? Or are we recreating meaning in the present in the pursuit of something new and innovative. Probably both, and what’s the difference between the two?
Content internet celebrity , internet culture , Viral Video
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Victoria Ha,
Stitch Media
Looking at successful digital shops around the globe, this panel will offer insight into building yo...
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Looking at successful digital shops around the globe, this panel will offer insight into building your dream team! With an evolving industry mixed with creative & technical talent, each shop have their own little tips and tricks to recruiting and spotting potential. The digital media world creates diverse and engaging projects which some of these shops have garnered award winning praise. But how do they do it? The success of the work comes from the success of the people behind it. It's a new breed of talent that requires a creative tactic!
Career / Work Concerns hiring, skills, talent
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Evan Jones,
Stitch Media
Once upon a time slow connections begat the Progress Bar - bloated sites would taunt us with '15% lo...
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Once upon a time slow connections begat the Progress Bar - bloated sites would taunt us with '15% loaded' screens. High-speed promised to kill the beast and free us from their tyranny but yet it lives! Progress bars are being used MORE lately to direct user actions. Look to Farmville and LinkedIn which push their users to collect 100% of their personal information. Incomplete progress bars are an itch that needs to be scratched. They carry the implicit language that declares 'You are here' but more importantly 'The end is in sight'. Game design motivates us through incremental, measurable progress towards a tangible goal but is this the way real life works? Is the progress bar's ubiquity in technology starting to affect the way we measure progress in meatspace? This panel will reach far across time and space to look at the story of progress bars, why they hypnotize us and what we need to do - slay the beast once and for all, or throw ourselves into its partially-complete embrace...
History of Technology Game Design, Philosophy, Progress Bar
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Travis Bartel,
Stitch Media
This panel is an honest conversation about the new revenue model philosophy that appears to be perme...
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This panel is an honest conversation about the new revenue model philosophy that appears to be permeating the technology industry. This new philosophy is: come up with a good enough hook and the money will follow. Whereas the traditional revenue model is: make darn sure you know what you're going to sell, how much, and to whom. “Show me the money”: The tech bubble burst because companies were built off the one day, hopefully, maybe making money. We're once again entering the familiar and scary territory with companies and investors not placing enough emphasis upfront on how to monetize the service/product. Case in point: Twitter was launched in July 2006 and has grown to worldwide recognition but only after 4 years of existence has it finally introduced a revenue model. We're not in a tech bubble, but building a company on a promise feels all too familiar to what we experienced in 2000 and our sails are set for those waters. “If you build it, they will come”: The new revenue model is more about creating an enticing hook the draws people in – first create something that people can't live without, get them hooked on it and build the user base. Finding ways to make money will flow naturally from that hook. Companies will pay to advertise on your site (Google), or people will pay to send virtual gifts (Facebook) or to buy virtual items (Club Penguin). Worrying about how to monetize the service only distracts from the creation of the hook and compromises the quality of that hook
Career / Work Concerns
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Dana Herlihey,
Stitch Media
Developing and designing a successful soundscape for interactive productions can often be a usabilit...
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Developing and designing a successful soundscape for interactive productions can often be a usability nightmare. After years of ear-bleeding midi background tracks used on restaurant and night club websites, it seems the average user has been trained to hit the mute button as soon as a site starts to emit any audio. However, the world of film and video games has taught us that sound is an incredibly important part of creating an immersive experience. This places both interactive producers and sound designers in an interesting conundrum - how does one design a dynamic soundscape that won't annoy or offend their users? How do we change user behavior and expectations? And better yet, when should you just turn the sound off all together?
This panel will explore the different ways sound designers, interactive producers, and usability experts have worked together to successfully integrate sound into their projects, what tips they can give you, and what red flags you should avoid!
Interface / Interaction Design sound design, Success, usability
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