Streaming Media West 2009 saw record numbers with 2,768 attendees converging on the San Jose Convention Center to hear from some of the brightest minds and see the latest innovations in the online video industry. One of the highlights of the conference for me was to program this panel session, "Web Television Comes of Age", that assembled an all-star cast of web television pioneers who discussed what's working, what's not and what's coming next in this "coming of age" medium of online entertainment.
With the growth of online video producer community and channels of distribution in the last year, and the success of
Streamy Awards now in its second year, web television is finally recognized as a legitimate entertainment platform. But in our current economy it's still difficult to gain sponsorship and maintain a sustainable business model. Advertisers haven't fully endorsed online video and studios are just dipping their feet in the water. Storytelling is also changing, according to several panelists, who are innovators in
transmedia storytelling and social entertainment. And at the end of the day, it really comes down to telling a good story with compelling content that attracts an audience and creates a dialogue and conversation.
So without further
ado, I present the video from the session, and I'm especially pleased to do so on the eve
of the triumphant return of the pioneering web show
EPIC FU. Again, my thanks to Dan Rayburn, Streaming Media West Conference Chair, for finding a place on the schedule for this session and also to Marc
Hustvedt, for moderating the session and to our great panel of speakers,
Zadi Diaz, Brent Friedman, Thom
Woodley and Jenni Powell. See my
previous post for speaker bios and also Red Carpet interviews with
Zadi and
Brent.
