(Elaica Zayas) Today was the second day of the Children’s Media Conference. There was much less interaction with today’s sessions as opposed to yesterday’s workshop. Although I liked that the sessions were shorter, the workshops allowed for us to meet more people because we had to talk to others. However, I do think the two sessions I chose to attend today were very informative.
First, the initial session in cinema 4 was interesting. The panelists, from Nick UK & Ireland, MTM London, and more, helped us understand the future of children’s media and content industries. With the data given to us, we were able to create sort of an image of what the children’s industry would look like in 2020.
The first session I decided to attend was called “Research 1, 2, 3.” There were 3 thirty minute presentations. The first was about early adopters and how they find and share new entertainment. The second was about whether live television was coming to an end for children. The third was about in-app purchasing after the OFT guidelines. The first of the three resonated with me the most. It resonated with me because it reminded me of myself. It explained how children find entertainment and how to capture and maintain the attention of early adopters. Exclusivity, popularity, and fragmentation were the main points in the presentation. They were absolutely accurate. I consider myself an early adopter and I agreed with every part of the presentation.
As early adopters, we expect and demand constant change, want something new, get and maintain popularity, and use different media and platforms for different reasons. A few apps were mentioned, of the 7 apps mentioned (FB, Twitter, YouTube, Vine, Instagram, Snapchat, Whats App) I am an avid user of 5.
However, I felt very different from the attendees. The attendees were much older so they only understood from outside looking in. I am still young so I understand being an early adopter. I know what it’s like trying to stay popular and exclusive all while using the entertainment world created for people my age and younger.
I thought this session was very informative. Although there was no interaction I learned a great deal. The presenters were Nicki Karet and Peter Robinson of Sherbert Research and Dubit, respectively. Their energy helped me stay attentive and grabbed my attention to the information being presented to me.