Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Picnic Seriously Over Sell-By Date

Media
The changing role of traditional media continues to be the subject of intense debate. This sector and its professionals are still struggling to find the right answers. Can professional journalists and amateur reporters continue to coexist? If so, what is the role of each? How can established media organizations continue to provide quality content to readers to expect to get it for free? Which business models can help the media industry continue to thrive



Oh Dear,

It looks like Amsterdam's New Media festival Picnic has finally run out of steam. Sorry, but these are NOT the issues that people "in the media" are still intensely debating about. If this is what their advisers are telling them, then it looks to me that Picnic is following the path of the Internet Professionals Association Netherlands IPAN. It started with a great mix of creatives, marketeers and technicians. Because they didn't expand the scope of the programme, the creatives left, followed by the technicians.

Picnic is now just a performance about life, the universe and everything at the former gas works in Amsterdam. No focus, No discussion, No point. Speakers are herded off into VIP tents so they can mix with the sponsors, in short the whole thing is now an embarrassing shambles. Picnic has been replaced by The Next Web, NPOX and Mobile Monday Amsterdam - focused, fast and friendly. The ambition to be like a European SxSW never came off.

No comments:

ShareThis