TORONTO – Women in Film & Television-Toronto, has announced the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Summit & Speaker Series, a two-year initiative designed to promote and celebrate women in the digital media industry.
Divided into three parts, the project consists of an international summit in October 2011, a high-profile speaker series ongoing in 2012, and a web portal designed to foster local and international collaboration, research and mentorship.
“Globally, women produce, share and consume digital and interactive content at a tremendous pace,” says Susan Ross, WIFT-T Chair. “At the same time, women remain underrepresented in the digital economy. Through knowledge transfer, networking and mentorship, this initiative will recognize and encourage the participation of women so they can continue to play a key role in innovation and leadership.”
The WIFT-T International Women in Digital Media Summit will take place October 2011 in Stratford, Ontario. Presented in partnership with the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, this three-day summit will focus on digital media content creation, implications for emerging technologies and business models, and the role of women in digital media globally.
At the Summit, WIFT-T will release a research report to update its 2004 study on employment trends in Canadian screen-based media. The new research will focus on the impact of digital trends and the participation of women and people from diverse backgrounds in all areas of the industry.
Following the Summit, the WIFT-T Women in Digital Media Speaker Series will occur every three months in 2012. Held in downtown Toronto, the luncheons will feature influential women in digital media and provide guests with key networking opportunities.
Speakers will include national and international leaders in research, social media, entrepreneurship, digital content, publishing, aggregators and distribution. Keynote presentations will be streamed online via WIFT-T’s web portal. For more information, please visit www.wift.com.
