* 0:00 I asked Tony for his take on the Banff session where he had a few “debates” with Michael Hennessy, Senior VP, Regulatory and Government Affairs, TELUS.
* 0:36 I asked Tony about the recent Federal Court of Appeal panel decision in favour of WIND Mobile. (see my tweets here with link to National Post article and here)
* 1:50 Have the other guys started the appeal process and asked the Supreme Court of Canada to review the case?
* 2:35 Did Tony bring up the topic of the court rulings with Chairman of the CRTC?
* 2:46 Is WIND feeling the pressure now that Moblicity is in Calgary?
* 3:18 What about the dead coverage zones in the C-Train tunnels near downtown Calgary? (Tony also talked about the coverage inside Toronto TTC.)
* 4:54 The revamping of the WIND customer service touchpoints.
***
For all other Banff 2011 related interviews, please see here.
To me, successful television actors have their “signature” series, TV series that they are best known for. For the beautiful & lovely Lisa Kudrow and Kristin Kreuk, they are best known for their TV series Friends and Smallville respectively.
It was my pleasure to meet and listen to Lisa in Banff 2011 to receive a digital media award and to attend an “in conversation” session to chat and to talk about her online (and now TV) series Web Therapy (make sure you check out the the Meryl Streep episode). [Kempton's note: I will report more on Lisa's session with video clips later. Stay tune.]
I was also delighted to meet Kristin by chance as I am a big fan of Smallville. I was “brave” enough to ask for a photo. Unfortunately, wearing my “fanboy” hat also meant that I totally forgot to do my job to interview Kristin (even briefly) to ask her to talk about her new projects and whats her experience in attending Banff 2011. I saw Kristin briefly when she attended Lisa‘s “in conversation” session but, I guess to avoid fanboys like me, Kristin came right before the session started and left before Q&As ended. [Kempton Jun 22nd update: I've confirmed and reached out to Kristin's representing agency Pacific Artists and hope to hear from her agent Mr. Russ Mortensen soon. [June 27 Update: Unfortunately, I won't have any new details to report, see comments below for details. Regardless, I want to thank Alison of UBCP for finding me the correct representing agency.]
Concluding Thoughts
It must be wonderful to work in successful TV series like Friends and Smallville, at the same time, I believe it also makes it challenging for the audiences to focus on the actors’ latest creative ventures/achievements. To prepare for my Banff report, I watched a few episodes of Web Therapy and I am loving them and will watch more. So it surprised me a little to see almost all of the Q&As for Lisa after the “In Conversation” session were about Friends and her role as Phoebe Buffay which Lisa was happy and gracious in answering. I just wished that a few more questions about Web Therapy (a wonderful new show).
If I may be bold to say, seeing industry legend Ed Asner still doing wonderful work in his 80s should inspire all creative people (stars, behind the camera creatives, etc) that it is possible to keep doing wonderful & creative work so each new generations of audiences may remember you by something different. For me, I am too young to watch/remember Ed‘s great work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show as Lou Grant but I love Ed in his more recent works like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Up, etc.
I’ve long been a fan of NFB since the late 80s. (note 1) Earlier this week, I had the pleasure to conduct a video interview with Tom Perlmutter – NFB Chairperson & Government Film Commissioner @ Banff World Media Festival 2011.
Here is my video chat with Tom covering a wide range of topics.
In the interview Tom talked about whats new at NFB, for example the cutting-edge new interactive programming coming out from NFB.
* I was amazed by the beautiful and creative “Bla Bla” [Kempton's note: Just give it a try as it is quite fun.]
* 1:05 The world’s first high-definition 3D shot using infrared cameras. [Kempton: I look forward to be transported and to be engaged in new ways.]
* 2:14 Funding situation improved with the current government?
* 3:13 The massive collection of films online and on iPad, etc available for all to watch. Does NFB have enough funds to make new films available? How is NFB trying to make money? NFB has launched apps on iPhone, iPad, and Android. And is partnering with RIM and will be packaged with Playbook. NFB is also looking at connected TV and making sure they can be migrated to that platform.
* 5:29 All that stuff NFB is doing is free by streaming. Tom talks about have a system for people to buy the content they want to own and keep.
* 7:40 No geographic restrictions of content. As per legislated mandate of NFB, “To reflect Canada to Canadians and the world.“
* 8:18 Over 22 millions viewing of NFB films in the last two years! And the viewership is still growing. Read the rest of this entry »
To me, Alex and Scott are so level-headed that their actions are worth thinking about and possibly learning from. Would you or should you let “money” (even if it is millions) change your life out of the blue? Or will you strive to live the best life you can after working hard and applying the skills/talent/knowledge you have?
June 20th update: Oh well, it was nice to think Scott and Alex won’t try to cash in for a day. “Vancouver riot couple hire PR agency Markson Sparks in Australia“. I remember watching Ricky Gervais at Banff reminding us/warning us, the danger of making money off just ”being famous” (having talent or skills are different, I am talking about simply “being famous” or “being a celebrity”).
What a wonderful job Rich Lam has done in giving us all a tiny bit of hope out of this totally disgraceful mess. To me, Rich has definitely captured a perfect example of Henri Cartier-Bresson‘s “decisive moment“, good job Rich!
““How’s that for making love, not war,” astonished dad Brett Jones declared on his Facebook page, telling the world that the famous Romeo in a Vancouver riot picture is his son.
If you haven’t seen it, Scott Jones, 29, is lying on a street locked in an embrace with girlfriend Alexandra Thomas as they’re flanked by riot police Wednesday night.
“She had actually been injured,” Brett Jones told the Star Friday morning from his home in Perth, Australia. “She had been knocked down by a shield” from the riot police.
“He lay down next to her to comfort her. She was crying and he just kissed her to calm her down.” [Kempton's note: What a lovely moment.]
Even as a young boy, said Brett Jones, Scott demonstrated his “gentle side for other people. I’m not surprised he would comfort Alex.”“
“At first Alexandra Thomas couldn’t believe that was she and her boyfriend on the ground sandwiched in between riot police on a calamitous Vancouver street.
“When I first saw it, I thought, ‘No way, that’s not … I can’t believe that’s us,’ ” said Thomas in an interview with the Toronto Star this morning. “Then I looked some more and realized, that is us. That’s a very revealing picture of us.”
[...] Thomas said this morning that everything happened so fast that there was just massive confusion all around.
“I was trying to understand what was going on. The photo was definitely not something we expected to happen,” said Thomas.
The couple is leaving in three days on a trip to California, before Scott heads back to Australia. Thomas said the response from her friends and family has been overwhelming.
“When I saw that picture I couldn’t believe it and then I looked at it more and realize it’s quite artistic and really something beautiful.”
[...] Jones senior can see that the couple’s now-iconic photograph may follow them for the rest of their lives, for good or ill.
“Relationships do buckle under that pressure unless you have the ability to be very centred. Even if it wasn’t Scott, the guy who took the picture captured a moment in time that is iconic.”
Brett Jones has also counselled Scott not to buckle to the doubters, rampant on the skeptical, know-it-all Internet, who say the photograph was staged.
“Tell your story as it happened and there’s nothing you can do about them,” he told his son. “I think it’s amazing.” [Kempton: Wise counsel from a great dad!]“
Finally, I think we humans are an optimistic species. We gravitates towards hope and love even when (may be especially) the world around us seems to be falling apart and failing us. The photo reminds me of the dialogues and images in the opening of the movie “Love Actually”.
“Those clod poles, ne’er-do-wells, vandals, punks, thugs and assorted clueless dolts who smacked people around, piled on others, fought with and sought to injure police, set fire to cars, broke into stores, trashed and looted at will in Vancouver Wednesday night — all are a pathetic pack of cowardly destructive losers. An older generation, not bent by the winds of political correctness would rightly have called them the scum of the earth.
There aren’t any excuses for what they did. None. None. At. All. If these whiny, pampered, useless sacks of skin even try to claim it was because their team lost, then they haven’t got the intelligence of a ball of mud. Fools don’t need a motive to be fools, and destructive and threatening fools, such as those who rioted Wednesday night in Vancouver are no exception to this rule. This kind of fool will riot when “his” team wins as easily as when it loses, the game was just a convenient trigger.
[...] Vancouver deserved better Wednesday night. Canada deserved better. Even the Canucks, who had a long worthy go of it up to the final games, deserved better.
The rioters are a third-rate band of losers who still managed to cast a shadow on what should have been — win or lose — a wonderful night for all the country. Everyone in Canada who loves hockey and Canada despises these people.“
9. Think for a moment: People who took photos & videos of the rioters’ crazy acts were indirectly “giving” the rioters an interested audiences and cameras to perform to! Yes, this is paradoxical and contrary to #10.
8. Take public transportation. Do not park your vehicles near the general area where you expect a ton of people to gather in a public event (in this case, well over 100,000+ people). Plus public transportation is better for the environment anyway! :)
7. It only takes a few short hours to undo a positive international image that takes _years_ to build!
6. The “Kissing photo” at the Vancouver riot had generated lots of web interest. Is this our collective minds hoping/wishing to see something positive out of this mess?
Jun 17, 11:30am MST update: Scott’s mom said, “I knew it was him because he doesn’t have a lot of clothes with him and he always puts on the same thing. I’d have to have my house flooded to get on the news, but he just has to kiss a beautiful girl.” [HT Atlantic Wire & Kevin]
5. People who took photos of themselves with burning cars or rioting acts as the backdropwere actually “fuelling” the symbolical flames of the riots.
4. Rioters/looters’ self incriminating photos will _forever_ be archived on the internet. “Youthful” indiscretions now leave a _permanent_ and non-erasable trail.
3. Riots can happen in any major Canadian cities (Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, etc). We just can’t defend against organized criminal minds/mobs who are ready to take advantage of special events or occasions to loot/rob/steal. Essential items in a rioters/looters tool kit are simple things like newspaper boxes, portable chairs/tables, bandanas, hammers, gasoline in bottles to start fires or use as Molotov cocktails. How can you defend against a few committed criminals in a sea of thousands without harming the innocent people by accident?
2. Social media/online initiatives like @VancouverClean on Twitter and “Canucks fans against the 2011 Vancouver Riots” on Facebook can have meaningful & positive impact in our real world. Show the rioters/looters and the world that committed citizens _can_ and _do_ make a positive difference.
In particular, I started crying when I looked at this picture because thoughtful and committed people are thoughtful and committed _individuals_ coming together to achieve a common goal!
It pains my soul to see my fellow Canadians rioting in Vancouver after the Canucks losing Stanley Cup Game 7. To my friends, it may be easy to condemn all Canucks fans or Vancouver as a city for the riot. To me, I believe there will always bad citizens amongst us and there are nothing stopping drunken and angry citizens in our own cities in rioting.
I feel sad and ashamed of what my fellow Canadians have done and are doing in Vancouver. I am shocked and disappointed, Canadians are much better than this. I feel ill in encouraging a visiting friend to take in the game and join in the party in Vancouver. I hope she gets home safely.
A very sad day.
****
Update: What we say or do in a crisis reflect a lot of our characters. My friends living outside of Vancouver, try not to feel too superior or smug to our fellow Canadians. A day of potential national pride turned into a night of destructions. This is a sad day for Vancouver, a sad day for Canadians across the country. A sad day.
****
Looting update: The Bay and some brandname stores are being looted. Even London Drugs are being looted! What a sad day in seeing Canadians in Vancouver engaging in all these illegal acts. Vancouver St. Paul’s hospital is currently in “code orange”, so no medical staff are leaving, in case of “mass casualty incident”.
If you live in Vancouver and are disgusted with the riots last night, please spare a few minutes in helping. It only takes a few to break windows, destroy properties and steal, but it takes a city to rebuild and cleanup. Go @VancouverClean Go !!!
* In Conversation with: Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, EDWARD ASNER 09:00-09:45 Van Horne C [Kempton's Note: Last night, I got the great pleasure to meet Ed and listened to Ed's achievements over the years. Wow, what a great and accomplished man. I told Ed after the award ceremony that I would be a happy man even if I could achieve only 1/100th of what Ed has achieved in his long and ongoing career even he is almost 82 years young already.]
* nextMEDIA Keynote: In Conversation with Ted Sarandos – The Netflix Effect In Canada 09:45-10:30 Van Horne C [Kempton: This can be a really interesting session. Will see.]
* Tech Hub: Nokia Case Study Crump Room 11:30-12:00
* Online Video Lunch Conservatory 12:30-13:30
* Access to Hollywood Digital Buyers Baron Shaughnessy 13:45-14:45
* In Conversation With: Award of Excellence in Digital Media Award Winner, LISA KUDROW AOL Canada Theatre 14:45-15:30 [Kempton: I am very much looking forward to this session as I found 's Web Therapy very funny (see this earlier posting).]
I had a great time and learned a lot from attending Mike Farah, President of Production Funny or Die, and his teammates Jake and Chris’ Banff World Media Festival 2011 panel discussion. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike.
It will take me some time to write the article and process & upload the video after Banff. Stay tune.
I first met Michael Hennessy, Senior VP, Regulatory and Government Affairs, TELUS, some years ago at Banff Next Media. If my memory serves me, it was in a session where the panelists were beating up/”bashing” the telcos pretty hard. And then one panelist wondered out loud if there were (or why there weren’t) any telco representatives present?! To the surprise of that panelist and everyone else (including myself), Michael, attending as a member of the audiences, stood up and identified himself working for Telus and tried to present Telus’ perspectives/views. So even though I often don’t agree with Michael‘s views or analysis, I respect him for standing up that day.
Since 2009, I had the pleasure to chat with Tony Lacavera, Chairman & CEO, Globalive/WIND Mobile for a few times (see here and here). So it is my pleasure to chat with Tony again @Banff World Media Festival 2011.
It will take me some time to write the article plus process & upload the video after Banff. Stay tune.
I am very much looking forward to my day 2 (Tuesday) of Banff and getting ready for some more interviews. There are so many sessions to attend and people to meet. Some of these sessions are already clashing badly for me. Yikes!
* Continental Breakfast Alhambra Room 07:45-08:45
* Keynote: Jana Bennett, President, Worldwide Van Horne A/B 09:00-09:45 Networks and Global iPlayer, BBC Worldwide [Kempton's note: There are so much I can learn from BBC, so I always try to attend their sessions.]
* nextMEDIA Keynote: Grant McCracken, Van Horne C 09:45-10:30 Research Affiliate, C3, MIT [Kempton: I am so much looking forward to Grant's keynote. I even signed out his "Chief Cultural Officer" from the library but unfortunately I couldn't find time to read more before Banff.]
* Foreign Ownership: The Impact on the Theatre10:00-11:00 Communications Business [Kempton: As I tweeted, "Exciting @banffmedia session to see @WINDMobile @Globalive @Telus @hennessy4408 @pkedrosky #CRTC in one room http://bit.ly/WinTel #banff2011" P.S. I wonder if the CRTC Chairman will attend this session? :) ]
* Networking Break President’s Hall 11:00-11:30 and Van Horne
* View from the Top: Digital Van Horne C 11:30-12:30
* An NFB Special Luncheon – Connecting with Van Horne A/B 12:30-14:00 Canadians [Kempton: I love NFB. Look forward to new and wonderful things from Tom and his team at NFB.]
* The nextMEDIA Digital Launch Pad: Pitching Van Horne C 13:45-14:45 Agencies and Brands
* Funny or Die: Creating Hit Online Comedy Van Horne C 14:45-15:45 [Kempton: Very much looking to learn more about online comedy from the experts. Hope I can land an interview with some of them, that will be really cool. Will see.]
* Wine Break President’s Hall 15:45-16:15 and Van Horne
* In Conversation with: Award of Distinction Van Horne C 16:15-17:00 Winner, HOWIE MANDEL
****
Postscript
re: Banff World Media Festival’s free wi-fi network coverage
This is my 6th year attending Banff. When I first attended banff, it was Banff World TV Festival and Next Media as separate events, and now the two events have merged in an equal-ish manner as Banff World Media Festival. I came as a CTV Fellow on the first year and have been coming to Banff as a blogger for the other five years.
So I don’t want to sound ungrateful because I am very grateful for the opportunities. But in this day and age where wireless network coverages are so easy to setup correctly to prove continuous, full and reliable coverage, Banff World Media Festival’s free public wi-fi are left much much to be desired. I don’t want to say the wi-fi coverage at banff sucks, but a diplomatic version of the same sentiment may convey my slight disappointment. I write this in hope that Banff’s wi-fi coverage will be much much better next year.
I had a very enjoyable time attending Ariel Garten’s (CEO of InteraXon) NextMedia Keynote address: Thought Controlled Computing @ Banff World Media Festival 2011. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ariel.
It will take me some time to write the article and process & upload the video after Banff. Stay tune.
I’ve long been a long-time fan of NFB. Today, I had the pleasure to conduct a video interview with Tom Perlmutter – NFB Chairperson & Government Film Commissioner @ Banff World Media Festival 2011.
It will take me some time to write the article and process & upload the video after Banff. Stay tune.
As in previous years, I left Calgary really early in the morning to drive to Banff to attend CRTC breakfast with Chairman Konrad Von Finckenstein at 7:45am. This year, the Chairman did Q&As with attendees of the breakfast.
It will take me some time to write the article and process & upload the video after Banff. Stay tune.
If you spend some time with Scott MacIsaac, the first thing you will notice is that he is an easy going & sweet young man. And if you are lucky to hear him play the piano in a concert, you will discover he is a talented classical pianist and has alsowonmanyawards.
When I first heard Scott performing in 2009 at 16, I knew that Scott was talented but I only knew him as a person through the eyes of his grandpa Lee Yee 李怡, a famous Hong Kong writer/editorialist. In order to write about Scott in an informed manner, I spent an afternoon plus an evening chatting with Scott and his parents Doug, Wendy and grandpa Lee Yee. And conducted two extensive over the phone followup interviews with Scott and Lee Yee. I appreciate their time very much especially since Scott is leaving Calgary soon (in August 2011) to enter Yale‘s Certificate in Performance program to study piano with Professor Boris Berman.
The Portrait
After some careful considerations, I decided the best way for me to share my insights about Scott is to divide this article into three sections: 1) Impressions, 2) Two Q&As, and 3) YouTube videos (my “Portrait of a Young Classical Pianist” short video, Scott’s TSO Competition videos, and his Calgary performance) allowing you chances to see Scott plays the piano and to listen to him and his parents in their own words.
Impressions
I am not a piano/classical music expert, but judging from the multiple awards Scott has received over the years, I can safely and objectively say he is very talented! :) And the two performances of Scott I attended in the last few years, I thought the music were played beautifully and many pieces were performed full of passion. In chatting about piano music with Scott, I often saw his eyes lit up and his face filled with a big smile. And in our chats, he, even at his young age, recognizes a perfect performance doesn’t really exist and there are always things to improve in every performance.
When I raised the observation/fact that the career of a concert pianist can be tough and classical piano music isn’t exactly rising in popularity, I sensed he truly sees piano as his calling and willing to work very hard to overcome the challenges faced by concert pianists everywhere. And he even aspires to try to reengage the younger/newer generations to love classical piano music more. Scott clearly knows this is not an easy task so I really admire him for wanting to try. Read the rest of this entry »
First of all, I’ve been a long time admirer and reader of Kevin Roberts‘ ideas in advertising, branding, and marketing, all in all, safe to say I’m a big fan of Kevin. Recently, I found it very cool that Kevin’s idea of Lovemark has gained acceptance in business schools that even my neighbour’s university marketing class is teaching the concept of Lovemark! It puts a big smile on my face to think that I was responsible in creating the first Wikipedia entry for Lovemarkwhen Kevin’s book first came out in 2006 (yes, time flies and that was 5 years ago)!
Love Lost
Back to the reason for writing this article. I want to bring up the important question of “What happen to a Lovemark when the love was lost?“
Part of me understand why Kevin hasn’t talked much about love lost in the two Lovemark books or in his writing. After all, it is more engaging & positive to focus on the good and inspiring. Also, it is probably bad business to talk about “love lost” when trying to sell to clients.
So I guess it is up to independent “practitioners” of Lovemarks, like myself, to try to point out that it can’t be all love all the time! As with any “meaningful love“, there has to be risk of love lost, or cases where love was actually lost. I think it is important for each of us, if not collectively, to keep a list of Lovemarks that are no longer loved.
In my list of admired companies, you will see Apple Computer and Lexus had been removed and are no longer on my list of Lovemarks. I know I will have more Lovemarks in the future, and I also realized that it is unrealistic to ignore love lost.
Posted by kempton 
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