PICNIC '10

Today marked the start of this year's PICNIC Festival at the marvelous-as-always Westergasfabriek in my beloved Amsterdam. It also marked my first time there. The organisation describes the festival as "a gathering of friends old and new, where everyone brings something to the table" and that is exactly what being there felt like. It was wonderful to be surrounded by such a large and diverse group of smart, curious, friendly and interesting people. It seems impossible to leave PICNIC uninspired or indifferent.

Masters of Media @ PICNIC!

Where to start? There was so much to see and so little time! PICNIC being a convention in a festival setting, different parts of the very elaborate and full program are planned simultaneously. Even knowing that going in, it can be disappointing having to miss some of the potential awesomeness. It was even more challenging this time since my fellow students and I were only there on a 1-day ticket we had won. At the same time the festival setting adds so much flavour to the event that I wouldn't want it any other way.

Speaking of flavour: great tastes to be enjoyed there! From fabulous fresh pizza by Instructables (above picture) to delicious frozen yoghurt and 'adult only' coke from Germany, there was plenty to choose from. But that was only in between brain-intake sessions. After spending the morning trying some of the practical activities PICNIC has to offer, making our own funky colourful glasses (see: picture) for example, or playing around with augmented reality in Stedelijk Museum's ARtotheque, the early afternoon session 'Everything You Know About Transmedia Is Wrong' brought us our first mind-challenging experience.

Fab glasses on my fellow student Ekaterina Yudin

I love the whole 'collective brainstorm' aspect that PICNIC offers. The Transmedia Masterclass was such a great example of that. In a matter of two hours it presented several speakers from all over the world thinking out loud on what transmedia really is today and how it can be used for an improved future. What is comes down to is it's all about storytelling. It was great to hear Tommy Pallotta's thoughts on the subject. He is an immensely creative storyteller and filmmaker, and any time there's film talk, you've got my ear really. He spoke about his past transmedial film projects A Scanner Darkly and Waking Life but also gave us a sneak peek at the project he's currently working on: Collapsus, a crazy combination of (documentary) film, animation, internet, conspiracy theories and anything in between. Love it!

Anita Ondine was another of my favourite speakers here. She went beyond the entertainment factor and asked how we can in fact use transmedia as a tool for social change. The key, she says, is audience participation. It's about inviting the audience to influence the story from different perspectives and platforms. This evokes an energy that allows an emotional experience to evolve from the story.

More food for thought on the subject:

* "Transmedial storytelling has taken a wrong course because of the 'geeky precedence" - Dan Hon

* Transmedia doesn't entirely have to exist digitally. Social media is only a small part of what transmedia truly is about. It's conversation meets content, the virtual world meets the real world, it's creative participation.

* "If you're trying to create awareness, you're better off spending the money on hiring a really great PR agent"

This session really pushed my buttons. So many great ideas and new ways of looking at things! I will have to keep my eyes on future projects by all of the wonderful speakers involved here.

Since there was so much to see and discuss: to be continued...