Meg, Kris, Kevin & Erica introduce “nextMEDIA Exposed“. Be a part of the coverage by tagging your photos and video with nm08.

1. The obvious: a pen, notepad and business cards, complete with work and cell numbers as well as the name and number of your hotel in Banff. (You never know when you may need this on hand when things get a tad foggy late-night…)
2. A mobile device, a BACKUP mobile device and a laptop computer. This is not the techy in me speaking – we all need to be connected most of the time and Banff is a place that you definitely do not want to be without these simple communication avenues!
3. A GPS for the first-timers: navigating the Banff Springs Hotel is no walk in the park!
4. Good walking shoes and good party shoes. Typically good party shoes wouldn’t be necessary in Banff, but Sex and the City’s Kim Catrall is picking up an award this year, so in her honour we will bring sassy footwear.
5. Your best game face. Just because the festival is jammed packed with riveting seminars, minor celebrities and killer parties doesn’t mean you’re on holiday. Pack breath mints, sunglasses and vitamins for those mornings when you’re faced with the harsh reality that you really do only get one chance to make a first impression.

Be sure to take part in the festival that’s happening online too – all of your content can be easily aggregated onto the front pages of both festival sites, using the tags “nm08″ and “bwtf08″, and you can even text in messages from your mobile. Read more about contributing to the Banff online channel here.

See you all in Banff!

The team is headed up under the creative direction and forward thinking of Mark Greenspan of Achilles Media and McLean Mashingaidze-Greaves of Nimble TV.

Boris Mann, our technological genius, has built an aggregator of photos, video, blog posts, and twitter feeds that will deliver posts tagged with nm08 and bwtf08 (#nm08 and #bwtf08 on Twitter) to the nextMEDIA site and the Banff Daily Online.

Raincity’s Kris Krug will be using his talent with the camera to snap some great shots of the festivities at the festivals and capture his own style of video; whilst Bridging Media’s Megan Cole and myself will be the festivals roving reporters equipped with laptops and flip cameras, joined by Toronto-based writer, Kevin Fraser. For the more formal session coverage, we are joined by Status Firm. Find us at the festival to share your news and festival stories, and get in some snap shots or video clips. Then check yourselves out in full colour on the festival sites!

We would love to see, read and hear your stories too! Here is how to contribute:

Photos
If you are at the festivals and snapping photos:

• open up a flickr account
• upload your photos tagged with “nm08″ “nextmedia” or “bwtf08″ “banfftvfest”
• join the nextMEDIA and Banff World Television Festival Groups
• add your festival photos to the groups

Video
Tag any video you shoot at the festival with:

• nm08
• nextmedia
• bwtf08
• banfftvfest

Blog Posts
On your blog set-up the categories “nextMEDIA” and “Banff World Television Festival” and send us the URL to your nextMEDIA or Banff World Television Festival Feed. For example, if you are using WordPress, you would do this as folllows:

• Login on your blog
• Click on “Manage” on the 2nd bar at the top of the page
• Click on “Categories” in the bar under “Manage”
• Click on “Add New” at the top of the page or scroll down and fill out the “Add Category” Form at the bottom of the page
• To add the categories “nextMEDIA” and “Banff World Television Festival” all you really need to do is type in the category name and click “Add Category”
• Once that is done, go back to the 2nd to the top bar and click on “Write”
• Write a quick post, something as simple as “See you in Banff”
• Before you post, check mark the Category “nextMEDIA” or “Banff World Television Festival” on your side bar
• Click on “post”
• Click on “view site” on the top bar
• Click on the nextMEDIA or Banff World Television Festival Category on your blog’s home page
• Copy the URL that comes up in the address bar
• Email us with the URL at nm08@raincitystudios.com for nextMEDIA categories or bwtf08@raincitystudios.com for Banff World Television Festival categories

Congratulations! Now any blogs you post in your nextMEDIA or Banff World Television Category will be aggregated on the nextMEDIA site and Banff Daily Online.

In case, you are wondering why bother to contribute – exposure!!!!! The festivals are all about meeting with the people that make the decisions in the Broadcast World, building the relationships with them and making sure that they remember your name when you bring them a project. This is just another way to maximize your experience, exposure and credibility at the festivals.

We look forward to contributing to the voice of the festivals along with you! Any problems getting set-up and processing your contributions, find us on the festival floor or email us at:

• nm08@raincitystudios.com
• bwtf08@raincitystudios.com
• erica@ahimsamedia.com
• megan@megancole.org

See you soon!

Erica