Congressprekers

Job title: Special projects editor “Gazeta Wyborcza”, European vice-president, INMA, Republic of Poland.

 

Speech title: Come back to the audience. An inspiring story about the re-birth of an intimate and passionate relationship between media creators and their users from the best read daily newspaper in Poland.

 

Biography: Grzegorz "Gregory" Piechota, is special projects editor at Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's largest quality daily newspaper. He develops and runs multimedia projects that involve editorial, marketing and research teams and was the originator of many of Gazeta's successful supplements, collections, editorial, promotional and advertising campaigns. He began his career at Gazeta in 1996 as a reporter in one of the smallest local offices rising to deputy editor-in-chief of one of Gazeta's spin-off newspapers. Since January 1, 2010, he will be also responsible for all not-for-profit activities of foundations created by Gazeta Wyborcza's publishing house to bring change in areas like health-care, education and literacy in Poland. He serves as a volunteer vice-president of the International News Marketing Association in Europe and sits on the association's continental board. Gazeta Wyborcza was named World Young Reader Newspaper of the Year in 2008 by WAN-IFRA association and Gregory has since joined the Prize jury.

Presentation Summary:
Come back to the audience. An inspiring story about the re-birth of an intimate and passionate relationship between media creators and their users from the best read daily newspaper in Poland. In his presentation he will cover the following topics. Stories that move the community. Readers who'd love to get involved. Editors who are no longer the aliens. Marketeers who break the barriers. Treasures inside your media company waiting for discovery.

Job title: Head of the editorial board of Knack

 

Speech title: Valorizing qualitative journalism.

Biography: Rik Van Cauwelaert (° 1950 ) was born in Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, near Brussels. He became journalist at his eighteenth, first as a photographer. He has been working as a writing journalist since 1977 until he started writing in 1986 for the weekly magazine Knack. He’s specialized in Belgian politics ever since. He became editor in chief of Knack in 1998, in the aftermath of the death of the former, legendary editor in chief Frans Verleyen. He is head of the editorial board of Knack since January 2006.

 

Presentation Summary: Valorizing qualitative journalism has become the main challenge for the traditional journalists all over the world since online journalism has entered the field with its focus on instant reporting. How could the traditional journalist answer this challenge without losing the qualitative, in depth approach?

Job title: Professor and Director of SBS Center ‘Communication for Sustainable Social Change (CSSC)’, University of Massachusetts, USA. 
Speech title: Surviving in a 24/7 media shock and awe -- distracted by everything
Biography:Jan Servaes (PhD) is Professor and Director of the SBS Center ‘Communication for Sustainable Social Change (CSSC)’ at UMass Amherst (USA, www.csschange.org), Honorary Guest Professor at the Huazhong University of Technology and Science (HUST), Wuhan, China, Researcher at the ‘Brussels Center for Journalism Studies’ (BCJS), Editor-in-Chief of ‘Telematics and Informatics: An Interdisciplinary Journal on the Social Impacts of New Technologies' (Elsevier, http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tele), and of ‘Communication for Development and Social Change: A Global Journal’ (Hampton Press), Editor of the Southbound Book Series ‘Communication for Development and Social Change’ (http://www.Southbound.com.my), and of the Hampton Book Series ‘Communication, Globalization and Cultural Identity’

Presentation Summary: Recent US research highlights that media are among the most powerful forces in young people’s lives today. There is evidence that increasing globalization within media systems has shaped a high degree of  individualism in society, and contributes to new attitudes toward sex, sexuality, and individual identity. High individualism can lead to narcissism and to a very positive and inflated view of self. This value is growing rapidly in the American culture fueled by the mass media, including the new media.

Job title:  Project manager ‘Het Belang van Limburg’, Hasselt, Belgium.

 

Speech title: The power of regional community spirit

 

Biography: Marcel Grauls has been working for Het Belang van Limburg as a foreign editor, senior editor, executive and managing editor.

 

Presentation summary: Portrait of a regional newspaper based on community spirit and innovative ideas

Job title:

Director, CEO “PPF Media”, the Czech Republic

 

Speech title: A multimedia project with a real social networkPPF Media, the Check Republic

Since 2008 Media Strategy Development Director, PPF, Czech republic (www.ppf.cz). CEO and Member of the Board of Directors, PPF Media, a. s.
Between 2006 and 2008 he was a member of the Board of Directors in the Vltava–Labe–Press, Publishing House and Managing Director and Editor-In-Chief of regional dailies under the brand name Deník. His duties included the development of multimedia technologies within the publishing house.
Between 2005 and 2006 he was Director for Multimedia in the Netcentrum Company, where he co-founded the Aktuálně.cz news server project (www.aktualne.cz).
Formerly he also worked as the director of newspaper division and Editor-In-Chief of the Hospodářské noviny daily for four years, which is the position he took after leaving his previous job as the Multimedia Director with the MAFRA Company. His duties in MAFRA included the launch of the iDNES.cz news server project. His first media job was with the Czech News Agency where he worked as a reporter.
Roman Gallo was born in 1965. He is living in Prague, Czech Republic.

 

Presentation summary:
This successful hyper-local project started its pilot project just 8 months before. Today is Nase adresa No. 1 in its circulation areas. Why? Because of its unconventional media mix. Between common solutions: printed weeklies and on-line dailies, we can see another crucial part of this project - news-cafes, where the news are produced. These cafes are community oriented places with a professional newsroom, where the readers, citizen journalists and media professionals cooperate in producing content.

Job title: Managing editor Hyperlocal Online Media for Telegraaf Media Netherlands.

 

Speech title: Hyper local success requires a symbiosis between professionals and amateur journalists.

 

Biography: Born 1960, Eindhoven. Master in Eastern European History and the author of "Alles voor het Nieuws" (1994). Former editor-in-chief Sp!ts, 3rd largest national newspaper in the Netherlands and of Dagblad De Limburger, one of the largest regional daily's. Boardmember of Kim, forum for reflection on (the ethics of) journalism. Member of the committee for contact with professionals at the Tilburg based Fontys School of Journalism (FHJ). Between january-june 2009 member of the temporary commission "Innovation and Future of the Press" of the minister of Media. Now building an online network of connected local platforms for news and other information in the Netherlands. Convinced to find a combination of sustainable business models.

Presentation summary: How to deliver a hyperlocal, hyperpersonal, hypersocial platform for every Dutch citizen. How to design a sustainable business model around hyperlocal information. How to provide ways for journalism to reinvent itself.

Job title: Head of Strategy at “These Days”, Belgium

Speech title: Media consumers segmented by motivation

Biography:  In her daily activities, Karin aims to bundle her digital marketing expertise, her passion for anthropology and outspoken interest in the impact of innovation on human behaviour to convince potential clients to take a deep dive into the fascinating world of new marketing by applying consumer, motivational and behavioural insights. Her specialties include building long-term communication and marketing plans as well as business strategical outlines for brands. She also enjoys leading the Strategy team

 

Presentation Summary: Karin will be sharing why she believes that conversation management and community-driven content are the future. Learn how to harness the power of motivational segmentation:
It’s all about rethinking your media audience. Do editors really have a clear view on who their media user is and what they really want? That’s the big question. I personally believe that the future lies more in user convenience, control and adaptation than in the exclusiveness of consuming news. Not yet convinced? Well, give me the chance to disclose the magnificent power of redefining your media audience into user segments.

Job title: Research fellow and lecturer with the research group Crossmedia Content, Business Modeling Policy and New Media, University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Faculty Communication & Journalism.

Speech title: Mentality as a segmentation model in crossmedia strategies.

 

Biography: Kees Winkel (1958) is a research fellow at the Research Group Crossmedia Content. He has been developing and conducting research on Crossmedia. He has been focusing in his research on 'new marketing'-type of topics, such as new target audience segmentation modeling in the context of social networks and mapping mental attitudes (mentality) of the audience. He’s also working on cross-media behavior, social network penetration and on cross-media formats and campaigns, including mobile issues (TV, MMS, SMS, Internet).
He will be presenting the research groups involvement in the RAAK program, focusing on  the (mental) attitude approach and cross-media consumption. He has also been teaching marketing and marketing communication.

 

Presentation Summary: Marketeers observe a shift in attitude and behavior of the audience towards brands in which traditional segmentation models are becoming more and more inadequate. If the hypothesis that the ‘old school’ segmentation does not function well enough anymore is correct, how can we still learn from, map and reach out to the audience? Could the concept of mental attitudes (mentality) of the audience work as an appropriate tool for a new understanding of the consumer?

Job title: Researcher at the MICT-IBBT (Research group for Media & ICT), Ghent University, Belgium

 

Speech title: Media consumers segmented by (new) media usage.

 

Biography: Dimitri Schuurman holds a master degree in ‘Communication Sciences’ (magna cum laude) at the Ghent University since 2003 and is preparing a PhD entitled ‘User-centered ICT-innovation: towards a methodological toolbox on which user to involve at what stage during ICT-innovation in Living Lab-contexts’. He is a researcher for the MICT-IBBT research group at Ghent University. His research evolves mainly around user involvement for ICT-innovation research.

 

Presentation summary: We will present the findings from a segmentation study carried out with a representative sample of the Flemish population, based on the amount of time spent using different (new) media. This resulted in five distinct segments: onliners, (mobile) fun seekers, digital omnivores, traditional media users and media phobics. 

Job title: Professor Cross Media Content, Research Centre for Communications & Journalism, Hogeschool Utrecht, the Netherlands

 

Workshop title: Cross-media & Community Generated Content: Questioning Crossmedia

 

Biography: Piet Bakker is professor Cross Media Content  at the School of Journalism and Communication at the Hogeschool Utrecht and associate professor of Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR) at the Department of Communications at the University of Amsterdam. He worked as a journalist for newspapers, magazines and radio stations, and organized workshops for newspapers publishers, gave lectures and works as a consultant on newspaper innovation. He edited and published books and articles on reading habits, media history, local journalism, internet, Dutch media, international news, investigative journalism, the music industry and free newspapers. He teaches mass communication and journalism at undergraduate and MA-level, and runs the website www.newspaperinnovation.com

 

Presentation summary:  Can you make money online? Can pay-walls work? Can eReaders save the publishing industry? Can users contribute valuable content? Are online-first, online-only and online-all viable strategies? Is the integrated newsroom the future model? Should all journalists blog, twitter, make pictures, animations and maps, and shoot video?

Job title: Senior researcher at the IBBT research group for Media & ICT (MICT) at Ghent University (UGent), Belgium

 

Workshop title: Cross-media & Community Generated Content: Open or closed: UGC in professional newsrooms.

 

Biography: Steve Paulussen (PhD) is senior researcher at the IBBT research group for Media & ICT (MICT) at Ghent University. He is also a member of the Center for Journalism Studies (CJS) at the Department of Communication Sciences at Ghent University, where he teaches journalism studies. Further, he is a part-time lecturer in journalism theory at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). His research publications focus on different aspects of e-publishing, participatory journalism and newsroom convergence.

 

Presentation summary: -

Job title: Researcher at Memori at KHMechelen (Mechelen University College), Belgium

Speech title: Social media for social inclusion

 

Biography: 
Wouter Van den Bosch works as a researcher at Memori, research center of the University College of Mechelen. His research activities focus on innovative uses of ICT in fields such as eGovernment, online collaboration, online communities and social inclusion. Wouter looks at ICT from a socio-technical point of view, in that sense that he tries to find out how information technology can be better shaped to answer to our social needs. Over the last year and a half, Wouter has been involved in the INCLUSO project, a project funded by the EU with the aim of finding out how social media can be used to support the social inclusion of marginalised youth. 

 

Speech summary:
For many youngsters throughout Europe social media have become so engrained into their daily lives that the distinction between on- and offline activities blurs. Some mention the term 'digital native' to describe these youngsters who have grown up in a society where more and more of us are connected to the internet whenever and wherever we like. What are the benefits of growing up in a world like this ? And more importantly, what about those youngsters who, because of their socio-economical situation do not have access to such technology ? What is the role of the welfare organisation in all of this ? A short report on findings from the INCLUSO project.

Job title: Professor and researcher at IBBT (Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology) and SMIT (Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

 

Speech title: Mass self-communication, privacy and user (dis)empowerment

 

Biography: Prof. dr. Jo Pierson is Senior Researcher at SMIT (Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication) – part of IBBT (Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology) – since 1997 and holds a PhD in Social Science (Media and Communication Studies) since 2003. He lectures on undergraduate and masters courses at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, covering socio-economic issues relating to the information society, digital media marketing and qualitative research methods. His core scientific expertise is situated in the field of strategic innovation research on the meaning and use of fixed and mobile media technologies at home, at work and in public settings. His research focus is on involving users in the technological development process based on ethnographic studies and Living Lab approaches. Related research areas include dataveillance and privacy, offline/online communities, interactive digital television, digital media marketing, e-inclusion issues, and information society policy at European and national level.

Presentation Summary : Mass self-communication, privacy and user (dis)empowerment
The media and technology landscape is changing fundamentally, with a shift from mass media and personal media to media for mass self-communication. Within this transitional digital media ecosystem we aim to understand if and how users and communities are empowered - as proclaimed in Web 2.0 manifestos - or on the contrary are becoming disempowered. The presentation will discuss how this balance is shifting on a conceptual and a practical level, in co-evolution with technological, economic and social changes. This is demonstrated by issues of dataveillance and privacy.

Job title: Technology sociologist, internet pioneer, 2.0 Analyst, Belgium

 

Speech title: Traces in the Sand. Musings on People,  Digital Media and Privacy

 

Biography: Ben Caudron (°1965) is one of Europe’s Internet Pioneers and is widely acknowledged as though-leader in the field of interactive media, ICT and its impact on society at large and organizations in particular. As a passionate sociologist he’s very sensitive for the effects information technologies have on people and groups and power structures. His focus on privacy is just one manifestation of this interest.
Currently Ben is active as advisor and guide in the fields of Technology  Adoption, Change & Innovation management and Culture Change Strategies. Recently he has been applying these expertises in a number of Enterprise 2.0 projects. Ben is also mentoring a number of young professionals and start-ups, offering 20 years of applied experience with academic research, business creation and general management.

Job title: Researcher at the Media Expertise Centre and Lecturer at KHMechelen (Mechelen University College), Belgium

 

Speech title: Generation Y and news: fun-seeking versus traditional.

 

Biography: Vicky Franssen holds a master degree in ‘Theoretical and Experimental Psychology’ at the Ghent University since 1996 and a PhD in Psychology since 2003. She lectures at the dept. ‘Informaticamanagement and Multimedia’ and is a researcher for the Media Expertise Centre, both at the KHMechelen (Mechelen University College). Her research focus is on (social) psychology, youth and communication.

Presentation summary: Recent research shows how young people (generation Y) consume media for news; their attitudes, orientation and motivation towards news absorb. To what level do they participate, seed and co-create for news? These findings will be held against the results of present collected data from Generation X. Do both generations differ in news motivations, consumption patterns and intentions to co-create, or not?

d news, fun-seeking vs traditional

Job title:
Inge Kluft: Head of Production for Children and Youth, in charge of the internal production company called VRT Jong
Sarah De Laet: Strategic advisor for Ketnet

Speech/Workshop title:
Strategies of the Flemish Public Broadcasting Company towards youth initiatives

Biography:
Inge Kluft graduated as a master in mass communication at VUB, Brussels and added a Master in Arts, television production at Emerson College, Boston. After her studies she immediately started working in television, in different jobs from script editing to television production. Since 2000 she's working for the Flemish Public Broadcaster, VRT where she started as a producer at the news department. In 2005 she switched to childrens television and became the station manager of Ketnet.
Sarah De Laet (37) studied psychology at Leuven University. She started her career as market researcher with Censydiam. She worked a lot on children and youngsters subjects/brands. Since 2002, Sarah works for VRT. She started working for TV1 but is now strategic advisor for Ketnet.

Presentation Summary: As Public Broadcast company, VRT has an agreement with the government to reach every Flemish media user, from 0 to 99 years old...Youngsters are also a part of them...But as you probably can guess, this cut-and-paste generation is not that easy to get at. With this presentation we would like to give you a glance on how we try to do this...

Job title Leen d’Haenens: Professor in Communication Science at the Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

 

Job title Hatim El Sghiar: PhD-Researcher at the Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology (CMC), Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

 

Speech title: Television News & Ethnic Minorities: A functional approach.

 

 

Biography: Leen d’Haensens is Professor in Communication Science at the Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and Lecturer at the Department of Communication Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She teaches on media policy, on media and minorities, and analysis of media texts. Her past and current research interests include ‘old’ and ‘new’ media use patterns and media content preferences among youth, including ethnic minority youth, with respect to their sense of belonging, the construction and experience of identity. She also investigates framing mechanisms at work in news content and looks into the impact of news frames in mainstream media outlets on people’s opinions, as expressed in online forums and chats. ^

 

Biography: Hatim (Hatem) El Sghiar (1979) studied history at the University of Ghent and worked several years both as a professional and a volunteer in several minority and refugee organisations, among others in the area of media and minorities. He conducted research at the Middle East and North Africa Research Group (MENARG), Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Ghent, on the theme of Islam in Flanders. He is currently doing a PhD-project at the Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology (CMC) at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. His research among Flanders-based families from Moroccan and Turkish descent deals with the influence of identification on the use and interpretation of several media genres, with an emphasis on television news.

 

Presentation summary: The developments and popularisation of communication technologies from the end of the ‘80’s onward, created a significant multifaceted and complex role for (news)media in the lives of minorities, given their potentially broader media menu and the possibly greater impact on their lives. Dealing with media and news does not happen in a vacuum, but departs form the own world (experiences, myths, etc.). Despite the often researched (real or perceived) negatively biased context of portrayal, minorities don’t seem to turn away from western media and the alternatives they sometimes seek, are still used in combination with the western channels and are treated as critically as the western supply. In our presentation we briefly try to paint this picture, using some findings about (motivations for and functions of) western and non-western television news from our qualitative research among families with a Moroccan and Turkish background in Flanders. Additionally, we stress the role of identification processes on different levels of involvement with items in the news.

Job title: Postdoctoral researcher / lecturer at Journalism Studies Antwerp (JOSTA - Lessius University College Antwerp)

Workshop title: Communication by social media

Biography: Michaël Opgenhaffen holds a PhD in Social Sciences (Media Studies). He lectures at the Master in Journalism at Lessius University College Antwerp. He's researching the production and consumption of online journalism and new media, this in collaboration with the Centre for Media Culture and Communication Technology (K.U.Leuven).

Presentation Summary:  Social media like Facebook and Twitter are very popular these days. Not only they are used by teens who want to chat with peers, also news media, governments and commercial companies can use these platforms to communicate with their stakeholders and public, and vice versa. In this session, we provide some insight into the possibilities of communication by social media.

Job title: PhD Candidate at the Research Group Cross media Content, Business Models and Policy New Media, the Netherlands

 

Workshop title: Social media are highly accessible media

 

Biography: Erik Hekman (1982) currently works as a PhD candidate at the faculty of Communication and Journalism at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Hogeschool Utrecht). The majority of his job consists of doing research for the Research Group Cross media Content, Business Models and Policy New Media (www.crossmedialab.nl) lead by Harry van Vliet. His main research topics are social media, value creation, cross media and digital cultural heritage. He also works as a lecturer for the studies Digital Communication (DC) and International Communication and Media (ICM) where he is responsible for courses such as Web Design, Media Research, Media Economics and Media Trends. His educational background consists of a bachelor degree in Information and Communication Technology (B.ICT) at the University op Applied Sciences Arnhem and Nijmegen (Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen) and a masters degree in Media Technology at the Leiden University (MSc).

Job title: Business unit manager Internet Sanoma Magazines Belgium

 

Speech title: Why pull does (not) work! How surfers think about surfing”

 

Biography: Jeroen Overstijns has previously held different management positions at publishing houses like Wolters Kluwer and Corelio, where he focused on migrating traditional print business to online propositions, both for B2B and B2C markets

 

Presentation summary: Once, we thought and hoped the Internet would change anything. It would give us access to practically everything and even make democracy work better. Every technique would offer a new way forward. And yet. Where are we now? Engaging more in brilliant conversations? Having more fun? Then why do antidepressants sell so well in this new age of happiness?

Job title: Head of Digital, Duval Guillaume

 

Speech title: Deserve attention versus buy attention

 

Biography: Kris studied Communication Sciences at the University of Antwerp. He started as junior marketeer at the Kinepolis Group. Soon he became responsible for all online communication of the Kinepolis Group. After Kinepolis he moved to Microsoft to work at the consumer marketing and PR offices. After one and a half year working for Microsoft Kris took on a European role, first as responsible for consumer marketing of MSN/Windows Live and later on as Digital Media Communications Manager of the entire consumer and online department of Microsoft.  As ‘geek marketeer’ you can follow Kris on his blog http://crossthebreeze.com  or on Twitter http://twitter.com/crossthebreeze .

 

Speech summary: Old principles of push & pull pave the way for conversation models. If media companies are able to get close enough to their audiences, perception of push or pull will fade away. Users deserve and desire controle.

Job title: COO Telenet Mobile

Speech title: Mobile Interactivity

Biography: Philip Macridis is Chief Operating Officer at Telenet Mobile, with responsibility for operating this new division of Telenet.  Philip draws on 23 years of Telecom, Media and Retail experience to establish Telenet Mobile in the Belgian market. His goal is to help Telenet become the first Cable Operator to successfully provide converged Fixed and Mobile services to consumers. Recent achievements have included the launch of Handset subsidies in Belgium and becoming the fastest growing Mobile network in Q4 2009. Prior to joining Telenet, Philip was Managing Director at Carphone Warehouse, Europe’s largest distributor of Mobile phones, and a Director at BskyB, the leading Satellite PayTV operator. Philip holds a Masters degree in Satellite Communications from Surrey University as well as international patents in telecommunications. He also held board positions at Virgin Mobile France and Carphone Warehouse UK. Philip currently lives in Brussels and commutes most weekends to London to his wife and two children. When not working, He enjoys sailing, scuba diving and travelling.

Presentation Summary:   The first part of the presentation will focus on the opportunity presented by mobile devices to the wider Media industry: Mobile devices such as phones, music players and laptops are an essential part of life for billions of users. Compared to stationary devices such as TVs and desktops, mobile devices have specific, often restricted, input and output requirements. It is difficult to compare “sit-back” user interaction with a TV, with the typical “lean-forward” interaction with a mobile phone or other handheld device. In the wider media industry, we often focus on the limitations of mobile devices in terms of form factor and viewing experience. However, recognizing, embracing and exploiting the contextual and private opportunities of mobile usage is also becoming crucial for Media companies. The second part of the presentation focuses on the social aspects of mobile interactivity, in order to gain a better understanding of how consumers feel about, live with and are empowered by mobile technology. How have mobile phones affected us, do they help us become better communicators, how do they impact our family, our identity, our relationships? 

Job title: Manager CSV Media Clubhouse, Ipswich, UK 

Speech title: Media pluralism via alternative and community media in Ipswich

Biography:  15 years in mainstream media delivering social action broadcasting on issues ranging from Drug and Alcohol misuse to Community Action. Has been Regional Manager for the East of England for several years delivering on-air and off-air social action campaigns and initiatives.  10 years developing local community media initiatives that work with the most disengaged in the community through upskilling and giving a voice.

 

Presentation Summary: 
The presentation will explore social inclusion and community cohesion through the engagement of disenfranchised groups in community media. We will look at what strategies have worked for the CSV Media Clubhouse in Ipswich in broadcasting for the most hard to reach.

Job title: Editor-in-chief Intermediair, VNU Media (The Netherlands)

Speech title: Online or Flatline, an escape from the media-morgue

Biography: Alex Beishuizen started his career as a radio reporter. After several years workings as marketing manager at a number of regional broadcasters, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the internet portal SoneraPlaza. Subsequently he served as head of several editorial departments at the Dutch national daily Algemeen Dagblad. From 2006 until February 2010 he was is editor-in-chief at the Dutch IT trade journals Computable and CRN. This year VNU Media appointed him editor-in-chief at Intermediair, a weekly with a strong focus on career, economy and science.

Presentation Summary:  The traditional media has no choice: to survive in the harsh new operating environment, in which traditional revenues are being rapidly depleted by the rise of free globally distributed information and the decline in advertising revenues, newspapers, magazines and broadcasters have no other option than to make the transition to the Internet. Alex Beishuizen , editor-in-chief of Dutch IT weekly Computable, the largest IT trade journal in the Netherlands, transformed the 41-year-old print publication into the first magazine produced solely by online editors. This new and bold approach won Computable the prestigious LOF Award for trade journals in the Netherlands in April 2009. In May 2009 Beishuizen went on to publish a book (Online or Flatline) based on his experience and achievements at Computable. From the moment it hit the market the book caused considerable commotion and discussion among media professionals in the Netherlands.

Job title: Coördinator REC Radiocentrum

Speech/Workshop title: Broadcasting Urban Culture(s) - A future model for diverse media – participation

Biography:
Already organizing parties, dj’ing en hosting radio-shows around urban music and breakbeatculture, Sven De Coninck’s career took of teaching youth culture at Ghent University. Meanwhile he turned former college club Urgent.fm into a fully blown cultural radio station for the Ghent region empowered by all layers of Ghent (youth) society and winning the Ghent Culture Prize. While broadening the scope of Urgent.fm the ideas erupted for a broader project around creativity, knowledge and radio. In 2004 Sven founded the REC Radiocentrum. This knowledge centre for radio culture creates new views on radio and media for aspiring and established radio creatives as well as top level radio and media management. The REC Radiocentrum creates a full knowledge circle for radio in Flanders. REC gathers and performs research, combines research with practical ideas, communicates this in its educational projects, consultancy and virtual knowledge centre and tests these ideas in a network of 11 Radiolabs. Sven currently manages the REC Radiocentrum.

Presentation Summary:
Every society is challenged with the integration of inhabitants of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. A crucial part of the integration process is integrating these diverse views and identities into one public opinion. Digital and broadcasting media can contribute a great deal to this integration process, but often find it difficult to appeal to diverse identities. Urban music styles like hiphop, r’n’b, rai’n’b, ragga, dancehall, drum’n’bass, … do appeal to people of diverse identity ànd fill out the best places in the music charts. So urban music offers opportunities to connect and support integration. From this point of view the REC Radiocentrum is constructing an Urban Music Channel, that tries to unite several identities and tries to serve this unserved audience. This
In his talk Sven De Coninck will focus on the bottom – up strategy and participation techniques for the new urban redaction(s), the construction of this new format and the challenges for branding this new media product .

Job title: Deputy Mayor for Youth, Work, Economy and Education, City of Mechelen, Belgium

 

Speech title: Empowerment and participative media, strategies from the city of Mechelen

Biography: Caroline Gennez is currently Deputy Mayor for Youth, Work, Economy and Education in the city of Mechelen. She is also very active in Belgian national politics as Party Leader of the Flemish Socialist Party (sp.a). Caroline Gennez is an elected member of the Flemish Parliament and is acting there as a substitute member of the Committee for Culture, Youth, Sports and Media.

 

Presentation summary: In her presentation, Caroline Gennez will talk about several media projects in Mechelen. The purpose of all these projects is to get people involved in communication and information. It is important to provide a space where they can experiment with media and meet other creative people to inspire each other. Especially young people are encouraged to participate and stimulated to bring on their own ideas. Doing so, they are educated about media. These days young people are surrounded by different kinds of media, but they need to learn how to use these tools in a sensible way. Examples in Mechelen: The Media- and Entrepreneurship Center (MOC) will combine several disciplines such as economy, education, youth and energy in one innovative meeting place where entrepreneurs have the opportunity to try out new ideas. 360radio is a media laboratory focusing on urban music and lifestyle for youth. Villa Crossmedia is a media and information center including a radio studio for young people aged between 15 and 25.

Job title: Program manager at IBBT (Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology), Belgium

 

Biography: Nico Verplancke graduated as a master in applied economics at the K.U.Leuven in 1997, but has been working in various technology oriented jobs ever since. After working for software development companies such as Guidance and Real Software, he started as a program manager with IBBT in 2004. IBBT is a Flemish interdisciplinary research institute focused on ICT, applied to domains such as media, healthcare, mobility and logstics and green ICT. Nico Verplancke is responsible for the follow up of projects in the media domain, he launched the Art&D program that stimulates collaboration between researchers and artists, and was involved in creating the INCA award for creative developers. He also blogs on culture and technology on Cobra.be .

Job title: Managing fellow at ”Psilogy”, Belgium

 

Biography: Founding partner of Psilogy - a brand strategy and innovation consultancy, Xprimi- a web2.0 application development company and Atmosphere –CSR strategy consultancy & training. Philip is a licensed psychologist from the University of Ghent, Belgium. He has over 15 years of experience in strategic marketing and brand management both in global marketing intelligence/strategic planning/consultancy and operational management roles. He started his career in various marketing functions in the drinks and fashion industry and has learned the tricks of  global branding while working for Heineken and Camel . Has held senior vice president positions at Synovate (Censydiam) Americas. He has consulted companies on segmentation and positioning in Asia, Europe and the Americas in: Automotive, Retail, Frozen Food, Baby-care, Pet-care, Personal care, HHP, Chocolate, Health Care, Beer, Tobacco, Nutritional Supplements, Dairy, Telecom/IT,Insurance and media.A boy that loves his toy (be it a Landrover or a Taylormade) to get outdoors and play in the mud.

Biography: Francis Vermeulen is writer, mentor, coach and professional speaker on topics like self-awareness and leadership. He helps people, companies or organisations to proactively anticipate the future by guiding them towards new opportunities and solutions. Francis is a social media lover. To him social media are fascinating in more than many ways…

Job title: Professor Media and Communication Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium; senior researcher at IBBT (Interdisciplinary Institute for Broadband Technology)/SMIT (Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication) 

 

Biography: Joke Bauwens holds a PhD in Media & Communication Studies. She is a media sociologist, lecturing at the Media Studies Department of the Free University of Brussels.
Her research interests and expertise are situated in the field of media practices of young people (teens and children), social and cultural practices in digital and virtual environments, and transitions in the field of broadcasting.

Job title: Professor of Communication Studies, Head of Media, Policy and Culture Research Group, Vice dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium

 

Biography: Hilde Van den Bulck is Professor in Communication Studies and head of the Media, Policy and Culture Research Group and vice-dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Antwerp (B). She obtained a PhD from the Universiteit of Leuven (B) with an historical study of the role of public service broadcasting (PSB) in the project of Modernity, focussing on Flemish PSB. Her expertise is situated in two complementary areas. On the one hand she focuses on technological, economic and political processes impinging on media policy, in particular with regards to PSB. In that regard she recently published on the future of PSB in a world of digital convergence. On the other hand, she specialises in diachronical and comparative analyses of media culture and collective identities. She recently published on the role of media in celebrity culture.

Job title:  : Researcher at the Media Expertise Centre, Lecturer at KHMechelen (Mechelen University College, Belgium) and literary critic Knack Magazine.

Biography: Was Fullbright visiting teacher at Moon Valley High (Phoenix, Arizona,USA) in 1987/88 and visiting professor history of the media at Brussels University (KUB). Is currently teaching journalism and communication history at KHMechelen.   Holds a PhD in Literature (Mediatisering en Literatuur, Acco, 1995) and lectures on the history of communication and media (Echte mediaprimeurs, LannooCampus,2008). Also writes on literature (Taverne du Passage. Over Nederlandse schilders en schrijvers in België, Ons Erfdeel, 2007) and literary criticism.

Job title: General Adviser at Unizo, Member of the Board of directors of the ‘ Unie van de Uitgevers van de Periodieke Pers’ (UPP), Member of the organization of journalists of the periodical press, Belgium.  

 

Biography: Ronny Lannoo, 65 years old, until the First of March 2010 General adviser at UNIZO, the Union of independent entrepreneurs. He has been the editor in chief of the Small Business (KMO) magazine: Z.O. magazine, he has been spokesman and director of communication of UNIZO. Besides this, Ronny holds another career as the secretary of  the professional association VUKPP, governor of UPP and secretary of the ‘Academie voor de Periodieke Pers’. He’s member of the chamber of VRM, which is the Flemish Regulator for Media.

Job title: Researcher and head of the Media Expertise Centre at KHMechelen (Mechelen University College), Belgium

 

Biography: Annet Daems holds a master degree in ‘Communication Sciences’ at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) since 1993. She is coordinator of the Media expertise centre (MEC) of Mechelen University College. Her research interests include youth and their media behavior and the aspects of media distribution. Annet has been involved in different media related social service projects. Since 2009 she’s head of the post-graduate program ‘Manager Interactive Communication’ (mica). Annet is also related to the Journalism department of KHMechelen as curriculum developer.