From March 10-11, the TV of Tomorrow Conference 2009 will be in full swing at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. It’s the third annual TVoT Con, which I’m really excited about because I missed WonderCon and FurryCon and I can’t wait to see what characters everyone dresses like, especially for the awards ceremony for Leadership in Interactive and Multiplatform Television. The award trophy — as per the TVoT website image — has been carefully crafted to resemble a nebulous blob of melting ice sculpture, which is also really meaningful.
The TV of Tomorrow Conference 2009 is all about what happens when every single college kid in the US no longer has cable, and VC’s realize that the computer is not in fact a TV with a typewriter on top that you hold upside down and shake and money falls out, and content delivery startups from big to small realize that a pre-roll ad is the Internet video equivalent of cutting a ripe fart in the face of your viewer. The great news is that the conference aims to “explore the interactive technology being developed in today broadcast media.” It is an “insiders look” at the technology and companies developing tech and content — and with panels about understanding the convergence of social media audiences and building online community with viewership around shows, it’s a good thing the con is reasonably priced at $975 until midnight March 5, when it then goes up to a very reasonable layoff special price of $1275. But it includes free chocolate and free branded bags to keep you warm during the “Show Me The Money” panel, and gated community denizens can feel secure.
Not that we don’t all love a panel called “Show Me The Money.” Like, I loved the 2007 “Show Me The Money” panel at SXSW where videobloggers (including myself) discussed (argued about) making money (or not) from indie video content. Hey at least TVoT has a Q and A with Tim Kring, creator and executive producer of “Heroes” — you know, the show where no one ever dies.
