OTTAWA – Organizers of the upcoming Community Media Convergence have announced the launch of Canada's first community multimedia festival, celebrating community media in the digital environment.
The festival will recognize community radio, TV, online media and gaming that has high community impact and innovative use of interactivity and multimedia. In an effort to reflect the goals of community media in the digital age, prize categories include:
– Most innovative use of multiple media to galvanize community action;
– Most innovative use of interactivity to stimulate audience involvement;
– Best program strategy to reach underserved groups;
– Most significant community impact as a result of a program or program strategy;
– Best collaboration with local business to promote development;
– 'Outside-the-box' award for experimentation in narrative approach;
– Best storytelling in any medium; and
– An audience choice award will also be determined the night of the festival.
“Community media is often viewed as amateur or as a training ground for the commercial sector. In fact, it's a field that requires specialized training in community facilitation and is demanding to do well”, said Community Media Convergence co-ordinator Catherine Edwards, in the news release. “It's community media practitioners that make real the promise of freedom of speech in our technologically complex media environment. We want to celebrate that, and showcase how community media leverage technologies creatively to engage the whole community.”
Scheduled for November 22 – 24, 2015 at Carleton University in Ottawa, the event invites practitioners from community television, radio, online and gaming platforms to join with academics and policy makers to discuss and develop new strategies for community media in the digital environment.
For those unable to travel, all sessions will be simultaneously translated, streamed and broadcast via members of the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) on Bell ExpressVu and in Quebec on channels belonging to the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec. Live links will be established with Simon Fraser University and the Université de Laval.
Early bird registration pricing is in effect through October 15th.
