Casting Crib Cutesploitation – Using Your Kids as Content

John Halcyon Styn is on a SXSW panel: Casting Crib Cutesploitation – Using Your Kids as Content. He own Royal Pink Productions (http://royalpinkproductions.com/), a consulting company that specializes in online video ad social media. Royal Pink Productions help craft digital landscapes of people’s websites with integrity and authenticity. In other words, they work with large corporate organizations which work with the individual consumers connections that have become critical in the modern digital world. So, they help large corporations use the tools, such as Youtube and Facebook, effectively and with integrity. Royal Pink Productions has experimental projects such as HugNation.com (http://hugnation.com/) that work to use the web to foster connections. Here is his interview on CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UgMkNF80_8. Here is his blog: Life Student (http://www.lifestudent.com/).

John frequently speaks about blogging, webcam chat and community building, and consults with large companies to help them understand the delicacies required when courting the information generation. He has been going to SXSW for about 10 years. He has received the web award and been on a number of panels. He posted his SXSW interview at http://styn.net/sxsw/. Here is his interview about SXSW: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfMFSaJV0Go&feature=player_embedded#.

According to John, many people, who were innovators and users of the early web, become parents. He said he is interested to know what the risks and rewards are of having children while broadcasting online. So he decided to speak about “Casting Crib Cutesploitation – Using Your Kids as Content.” This is because he wonders whether or not people are on the edge of a huge crisis of privacy. He used the exampt of “David after dentist”, saying videos are simply fun, but have influence on the violation of a person’s future or privacy.

The Future of Online News...Are we There Yet?

Andrew Huff's panel for SXSW 2010 is called “The Online News of Tomorrow.” Such a title can conjure up several topics and can have a discussion that would lead into various directions. Mr. Huff is the editor and publisher of Gapers Block, a city-centric web publication based in Chicago. He is also a professional blogger and social media consultant. Knowing this about Mr. Huff, the first question regarded his opinion on the future of online journalism, specifically as it pertained to the hyper-local brand of news that he is a part off. He believes both print and web news will move extremes (worldwide and hyper-local) and believes “localized editions (different content for different parts of the city) will best positioned to remain strong thanks to local businesses
trying to reach their immediate neighbors through advertising.”
As to how such publishers can “sell” their type of localized coverage to consumers in mid-sized cities not named New York or Chicago or Los Angeles, Huff pointed to examples in Lawrence, Kansas (Lawrence.com), the Duke City Fix in Albuquerque and BhamTerminal.com in Birmingham, Alabama. He posits the venture “can work in smaller markets if they understand their audience well.”
It appears the transformation in this, a century old industry, will encourage innovation and consumer empowerment. Such is evident with the rise of user generated content. Huff points to CNN’s iReport as evidence of the trend taking hold. He did caution that the press may encounter a legal minefield when publishing accounts produced from non-employees or non-journalists. However, as soon as that issue is eliminated or defined, the practice may increase.