Thursday, October 07, 1999

Internet World: Writers and Technology

The WWWAC Writers SIG met Thursday, October 7th, and hosted a provocative panel chock full of ideas and controversy at the Lubin House. Moderated by Ken Grobe, the head writer of MINDPROBE, an interactive TV game show for the Sci-Fi and consultant to Oxygen Media, the speakers were Brendan Casey, Producer of Convergence. MTV Networks, Mark Thompson acting CTO OgilvyOne, Martin Schecter, Movie Channel Producer, On2 Networks (www.on2.com) and Vlad Edelman, Senior Producer, News America Digital Publishing. The discussion was on convergence and how it will potentially impact writers and the work they perform. Feedback from some attendees was that the diverse panel offered a solid viewpoint, but what was most interesting was when some of their ideas clashed. They were a little techno phobic, although it may be attributed to their experiences of working in a large company and the struggles with higher-ups when they want you to try different technologies or formats that don't always work when you actually get down to the writing.