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addicted by bringing back creativity.” Husni also urged publishers to recognize that they are not dealing with monolithic audiences who all want the same thing. “The No. 1 demand of readers is choice,” he said. “And control.” “In the last decade, digital became
very, very personal,” Silicon Valley– based tech strategist Geoffrey Moore observed during DigitalNow’s open- ing general session. The IT systems developed in earlier decades were built as systems of record, he said. They transformed the world, but “you were expected to learn the systems — the systems weren’t supposed to learn you.” The rise of broadband, enabling video and interactive platforms like Skype, and social-media platforms including Facebook, have changed the rules again, making technology “much, much more immediate and emotional,” Moore said. Organizations now face the challenge of re-engineering their tech- nology to perform not just as systems of record, but as “systems of engagement,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.” A pre-conference tour for media included behind-the-scenes glimpses at how Disney World incorporates technology into its operations, such as a 3-D printer that uses plastic resin to
fabricate small equipment parts and QR codes that bring photographs to life, via embedded links to animations. At a memorable media breakfast, the gleaming stainless-steel surfaces in the Contemporary Resort’s convention center kitchen and the chef’s whites worn by Executive Chef Robert Gilbert and his team lent a laboratory-like flavor to a bravura demonstration of molecular gastronomy that included Mickey Mouse–shaped waffles served with “butter powder” and “milk air.” The culinary team’s inventiveness continued throughout DigitalNow: At breaks, attendees were offered choices that include guava-juice shots with pomegranate ice and lime air, flambé donut holes, and blueberry- and cherry- pie milkshakes. On DigitalNow’s final evening,
attendees mingled over cocktails and dinner amid the aquatic exhibits at The Living Seas at EPCOT — with a visit by a scuba-diving Mickey Mouse — before dessert with an al fresco finale, the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks and laser show.
. — Barbara Palmer
For more information: fusionproductions .com/digitalnow
Food Fun Disney chefs whipped up yogurt bars and 'pop rocks.'
JUNE 2012 PCMA CONVENE
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