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March 28, 2009
Pune: For the first time National Cyber Media Conclave 2009 (NCMC) was organized at one of the premiere media schools of the country, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.
The day-long seminar organized by the junior media trainees of the institute witnessed the presences of distinguished dignitaries from cyber media industry spanning from CEOs of reputed social welfare organizations and networking sites. That the cyber media is bringing a change and will be a very important catalyst to a revolution was the common sentiment echoed at NCMC’09.
While the first half of the conclave primarily showcased the interactive nature of the cyber media, the second half pertained to its relevance as a tool for branding and marketing. Session I, aptly focusing on the potency of the cyber media, witnessed the likes of Kiruba Shankar, CEO Business Blogging and seasoned journalist Shivam Vij telling about the virtues of blogospheres and exemplify it through instances of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. “During the Bombay attacks it took approximately sixteen minutes for the story to appear online.” However, Shankar added “A blog is a personal space.”
Vij drew the audience’s attention to the hostility between the contemporary and new media. “Hostility between the mainstream media and bloggers definitely exists.” he said. The conflict has gradually thawed and both the entities, the mainstream media and cyber media have realized that coexisting together in such a dynamic media environment is imperative and what better evidence to this than the avowal of Viewspaper CEO, Shiv Dravid, who asserted one fundamental truth- In a country like India, which is the biggest democracy in the world, the media shall always be the fourth estate.
Jasmin from Blank Noise.org, an interactive portal addressing issues pertaining to the exploitation and harassment of women emphasized that internet can be an effective medium for social change and in a very emotive address, she asked the audience to “Protest and do something about exploitation themselves.”
This was seconded by Rashmi Dhanwani, proponent of the famous Bell Bajao campaign, which used contemporary media and new media together to bring the change.
Is the evolution of the cyber media in tandem with its print and broadcast counterparts? Atul Chitnis, India’s techno-wiz believes, “Be it podcasting, narrowcasting or broadcasting, the internet, replete with its interactive web platforms viz. Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 are evolving and opening several avenues of communication at par it not less than the other forums.” He also introduced the concept of the Open Source Software, a technology which, though in its nascent stage, has resulted in savings of about USD 60 billion per year to consumers.
Jai Madhavan from Bharat Matrimony had a very insightful and statistical account of the cyber media’s branding potential. “Customer segmentation, customer profiling, attribution control followed by the tracking of competition, happens in the most efficient and concise manner through the internet. The key is to keep it simple, sensible, enjoyable, relevant yet screen worthy,” he noted.
Interactivity has become a key term for a number of new media tools evolving from the rapid dissemination of Internet access points, the digitalization of the media, and media convergence. While we speculate about the impact of this cyber media, it is already bringing on a revolution.
The author was present among the audience at NCMC 2009.
Other sources:
www.simc.edu
www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15763966&catID=7&category=Lifestyle www.articlesbase.com/college-and-university-articles/national-cyber-media-conclave-09-839411.html www.amazines.com/article_detail.cfm?articleid=832011
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