Company News • 10.08.2009
360° Conference on the future of visual communication
viscom presents the programme for the first “viscom tec.09 conference“
Technologies change communication - but never have these changes been as dramatic as today. Communication is web based, printed, digital, mobile, interactive. People are "twittering" and "blogging"; companies stage webinars, produce podcasts, shoot image films for YouTube, build media facades, produce large format prints or design digital signage solutions. Anything goes - but which technology will win the race in future? And which communication channels will take the message to the customer and increase sales? The gigantic wave of innovation confronts marketing decision-makers, media planners, advertising agencies as well as the "movers and shakers" in the field of printing, advertising technology and shop fitting and trade fair construction with new challenges.
This is why the first viscom tec.09 conference provides a 360° view: on 30 September, the day before the start of the international trade fair for visual communication in Düsseldorf, the conference will present the different points of view of the various branches of the industry, from conventional advertising via the out-of-home sector through to web and mobile-based communication and digital signage.
Keynote: Focussing on the user
To enable participants to tune into the topic which will be explored in four panels with a range of speakers, the viscom tec.09 conference will start with the keynote speech: "Technology focussing on the user". While outsourcing of services directly to the client saves companies and public agencies a lot of money, to many a customer it is annoying: installation, checking or download of all the components takes a lot of time. Since these operations hardly ever proceed entirely without hitch, frustration, stress and trouble are pre-programmed. A phenomenon that author Dr. Sigrid Faltin, winner of numerous awards for her documentations and films, approaches with a sense of humour. Her book "Scheiterst du schon oder schraubst du noch? (Are you failing already or still tinkering?)", which she wrote parallel to her film "Der Kunde als Knecht (The customer as a servant)", made it into the bestseller list of the SPIEGEL magazine in 2009.
Panel 1 - Communication scenarios of the future:
Technology changes behaviour. Laura Davis-Taylor, founder and Principal of Retail Media Consulting Atlanta/USA, Scott Seaborn, Head of Mobile Technologies, Ogilvy Group UK & Co-Chairman UK Mobile Marketing Association and Matthias Wesselmann of fischerAppelt, tv media GmbH will give talks on this exciting topic. Scott Seaborn has been working in mobile advertising for more than ten years. The Brit is considered a pioneer of mobile marketing, his work won several awards. Laura Davis-Taylor has been exploring the topic of digital signage since 1999 and established one of the first interactive departments of a US advertising agency. She is a member of the advisory board of the largest in-store media conference in North America (http://www.digitalsignageexpo.net) and chairs the POPAI Digital Signage Advocacy Committee. Matthias Wesselmann is a specialist in the future of communication in the media. His main areas of work are both the (further) development of approaches in media theory and quite practical issues of implementation of innovative communication formats in new and conventional communication channels. Currently, the holder of a degree in media science is focusing his work on the use of moving images in brand and corporate communication via new channels as well as in new areas of application such as IPTV, WebTV or PoS TV.
Panel 2 - Everything to be a medium?!
Any shape, any size, any material, any time, anywhere. What is possible and what is going to be possible soon? These questions will answered by Thomas Peter Fischer (CEO jumptomorrow GmbH Vienna) and Dr. Sascha Peters. Dr. Peters studied mechanical engineering and product design at RWTH Aachen and ABK Maastricht, worked as a scientist in the Product Development Division of the Fraunhofer IPT and founded Haute Production UG, a company for the development of architectural and product innovations on the basis of innovative materials, in the summer of 2009.
Panel 3 - Interactivity: Everybody with everybody and everything
Interactivity is going to play an ever increasing role in future. Smartphones and games consoles stand for the first wave of the new interactivity in communication. How will interactive technologies change communication, and how will they be integrated into our everyday life? The topic of "Touch: mobile interaction with the world" will be dealt with by designer Timo Arnall of the Oslo School of Architecture & Design. He is the head of a research project on mobile technologies and particularly interested in the interaction of design, the media and technology and their application in everyday life. Chris Harrison of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute of the Carnegie Mellon University is working on touch technologies and their interaction with the user. His topic is: "Interface-less interfaces: Are fingers the keyboards and mice of the 21st century?"
Panel 4 - Money for what?
Who is going to earn his living with what? How will budgets be divided up in future? What will be the media currency of the future? Will reach be replaced? Advantage of "metrics"? Which evaluation models are suitable for the new technologies? Questions upon questions which will be explored by Oliver Poppelbaum (ECE flatmedia G.m.b.H.), Wulf-Peter Kemper (oysterbay werbeagentur GmbH), Sascha Dermanowicz (OMD Germany) on the agency side and the head of marketing of a well-known brand company on the customer side, with Peter M. Müller-Brühl as a moderator. Before joining ECE flatmedia G.m.b.H. Oliver Poppelbaum was Managing Director at Scholz & Friends Group GmbH. In this position he was responsible for the entire Interactive GmbH division, i.e. all activities centred around the Internet, mobile marketing, IPTV, communities, affiliate marketing, etc. Peter Müller-Brühl, Head of Business Development fischerAppelt, tv media GmbH, has many years of experience in the area of client, distributor and employee communication at Daimler AG: from portals to corporate TV through to digital signage.
viscom tec.09 conference: Focus on interactivity
The focus on joint practical activity and dialogue rather than on a static conference is also emphasised by the location of the first conference. With the "Royal" in Düsseldorf the organisers chose a venue that provides room for creative exchange in a relaxed atmosphere.
