Welcome back

By Kees Winkel on 5 September 2011

As the academic year has kicked off in all its traditions a particular good custom, that is to write and post blogs, now commences for our readership Crossmedia Business. Of course, writing activity has not been down to a total zero during summer. For instance Dennis Ringersma  took up the role of ‘our man in Africa’ with a number of posts on exotic places like Malawi, South Africa and what have we down there in the south of that hugh continent. And Rogier Brussee and Harry van Vliet also contributed once or twice. But now the members of the readership have committed themselves to a tight publication schedule. And as it happens to be, I am numero uno to respect that schedule.

tagged with: futurecase, thueringen, social object, engstrom, ahtisaari, email, malawi, crossmedialab

Terrorism is crossmedia

By Rogier Brussee on 18 August 2011

The shocking killing spree in Oslo is a stark reminder of the fact that violence is an extremely effective way to draw attention.  Some of the media attention is due to the sheer number of casualties (77). However, Breivik is not, or not only, a psychopath going on a killing spree to satisfy a deeply felt need for revenge. While he probably used a ``rationalization’’ of the killing, his main intention seems to have been promoting his political ideas on multiculturalism. A killing spree by someone who looked reasonably normal beforehand is already very unsettling. Finding that it was meant to further stir up an emotional issue like immigration, and the treatment of the (perceived) cultural and political elite of society, makes it even more unsettling. I think Breivik was fully aware of this and made it central to his planning, because I believe what he did was planning a cross medial marketing campaign using an event as a medium to attract attention. In a perverse sort of way, he did this very well as he is so far out of the ordinary that he will not be forgotten in years to come. Needless to say, that should not be taken as a recommendation of his methods. Instead I want to begin analyzing what makes us so vulnerable.

tagged with: terrorism, breivik, crossmedia, politics, politicians, wilders

Self-Help Africa

By Dennis Ringersma on 13 August 2011

Teaching Africans in rural communities with little experience in video how to work with this equipment in four days seems impossible: yet the organisation Self Help Africa is doing exactly that and in a promising way. We met Keelin and Tara, two Irish undergraduates working for Self Help Africa (SHA) in a concrete, congested and polluted city called Lusaka. In the rural communities surrounding this Zambian capital they are training locals how to work with a small digital video camera. But they are not just explaining what one can also find in a technical manual. Lighting, sound, framework, interview techniques,  storyboards, editing and other techniques related to making short films are also important topics. The results are short films and interviews by the local community itself that can be used to report to funders. In four days.

tagged with: africa

Longue Duree

By Harry van Vliet on 22 July 2011

There is a dominant tendency in historical, literary and theatre research to focus on ‘highlights’, be it ‘important’ events, writers, actors, plays or theatre patrons. History in ten chapters (or 10 ½ as Julian Barnes did), the fifty most important plays, or the traditionally selective literary canon of a few hundred texts, are just a few examples. The current trend of making a canon on every possible topic is just one expression of this more general infectious. After the beta and gamma canon, the canon of journalism has already seen the daylight, and we must seriously consider the possibility of someone pencilling down a canon of crossmedia, oh horror….

tagged with: braudel, patterns, theatre

Obamania

By Dennis Ringersma on 18 July 2011

As a special bread roll, as a dish, as chewing gum, on backpacks, flags and t-shirts: U.S. president Obama is well represented and endorsed in Malawi. But why is America’s foremost citizen so popular in a country that -apart from aid- has so little to do with the States?

tagged with: africa

The anticipation is killing me

By Tom van Steensel on 11 July 2011

Every time I walk out of a movie theatre I find myself asking the same questions. Are big Hollywood movies getting worse and worse in quality? Or do their crossmedial marketing campaigns just build up so much surrounding hype that it gets impossible for them not to disappoint?

tagged with: 3d, movies

This funeral is sponsored by...

By Dennis Ringersma on 5 July 2011

Can you imagine having to bury your loved one, creating a program in which his or her life is remembered in a respectful manner and having an entrepreneur talk about life insurance to the gathered grievers? This would be unheard of in the Netherlands. Yet, in Malawi it is common practise. In Malawi commercial messages and eulogies are a match.‬

tagged with: africa, advertising

Learning to direct your life

By Harry Smals on 1 July 2011

First of all I want to thank my readers for their feedback - via several (social) media - on my previous blog. This blog was inspired on Chris Crawford’s idea of a god who determines every detail versus a god who deals in rules and principles. Both gods of course are personifications of visions on reality and on virtual realities - personifications and story-telling can be used in communication in order to make it easier to comprehend complicated situations.

tagged with: directing life, skills, attitude, knowledge, learning

54 different words for snow

By Claudia Meijer on 27 June 2011

“So you are researching what* exactly?”
That is the question most asked me about my research subject for my final thesis. “I research active participation of communities to be formed around a digital cultural heritage platform,” I usually answer. This is then met by a level stare and a non-comprehending nod.

tagged with: roots2share, greenland, cultureal heritage

The lost art of painting advertisements

By Dennis Ringersma on 24 June 2011

In the Netherlands television commercials change every month or so, posters on bus stops are changed on a weekly basis and social media campaigns adapt their messages in real time to current headlines. Lifespan of commercials is short and, if anything, abundant. Not so in Malawi. One of the most striking forms of Malawian marketing is through stone and masonry billboards that have their messages painted on. Their lifespan is somewhat longer than most Dutch advertising forms: it will last until the paint fades. 

tagged with: africa, advertising