As a technology and information-based society, the multimedia mix surrounds us — all the touch points of technology that we interact with every day. We are all interconnected through the Internet, cellular phones, text messages, email, online chatting, blogs and forums.
This drive toward digital technology is now becoming more prevalent in our society. Social networking is not just a buzz word; it’s a phenomenon. YouTube, a video sharing site, has only been around for five years, yet has attracted more than a million users everyday. In fact, every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded onto YouTube. Twitter, a micro-blogging site, was launched in 2007 and in that short period of time has now populated the online community. It’s hard to pass by a website that doesn’t have the Twitter logo. Don’t underestimate that Twitter is simply based on short status updates; in actuality, it is a platform that facilitates real-time communication instantaneously.
As the generation who grew up with MSN Instant Messenger, Hotmail and the iPod, we have witnessed all these technological developments. We recognize that there is a momentum towards the integration of multimedia, changing the way our society interacts with one another. On the other hand, as students, we have learned that print is also relevant in the multimedia mix; it is a tangible way to communicate. The question is: how will this high dependence on digital technology affect print?
Perhaps now we have gained further insight on the matter after this year’s annual colloquium, hosted by the School of Graphic Communications Management (GCM) at Ryerson University. For those who are unfamiliar with this event, GCM third year students plan and host an industry colloquium annually, to address prevalent issues in the printing and graphic arts industry.
This year’s event took place on February 2, 2010 and focused on Innovative Multimedia Campaigns. An expert panel of speakers addressed the theme by touching on a number of different aspects concerning multimedia. Daniel Dejan, North American ETC print and creative manager at Sappi Paper, delivered a compelling speech about the life of print. JP Fozo, general manager at Rogers Publishing, provided interesting insight on effective multimedia marketing campaigns. And finally, Jeffrey Stewart, CTO at Trekk Cross-Media, changed our perspective on social media and its importance in our evolving society.
Not to mention that this year’s colloquium mixed things up by changing the way it has been traditionally organized in the past. For the first time, there was a fully catered dinner, a discussion panel and an expanded industry guest list. The evening was elegant and brought students and professionals together to explore the fusion of multimedia. But more importantly, the goal was to not only facilitate valuable educational insights, but to advocate continuous learning. This year, students wanted to emphasize that it is important to understand how to effectively integrate multimedia to remain competitive and current. As a class, the students made a strong collaborative effort to make colloquium successful and to continue to foster a stronger sense of community between the printing industry and GCM students.
Upon reflection, we cannot deny that digital technology will affect print. However, this does not mean that print will diminish, it simply means that the role of print will change and evolve in the multimedia mix. We shouldn’t be alarmed because we still believe the print industry will continue to have a strong presence.
Consider this: the Gutenberg press was one of the most monumental inventions in the 21st century; it propelled an entire information exchange worldwide by making books more accessible to the general public. This wealth of knowledge distribution through print publications laid the foundation for our current communications and publishing industry. The ironic thing is that it doesn’t sound much different than the World Wide Web. In retrospect, the multimedia mix is just another information and communications wave, except this time, it is growing at an exponential rate simply because of the accessibility newer technologies provide. In fact, the concept of multimedia is not a foreign concept to print, just an evolution of its own concepts of effective communication, integration of technologies, productivity, efficiency and building meaningful relationship with clients. The future is to integrate the strengths of digital media and print together.
Fusion: Exploring the Multimedia Mix was truly a monumental event for GCM. It set a new precedence for the event, but more importantly, it facilitated continuous learning. It is essential for us to adapt in today’s technologically advancing industry. You can begin by asking yourself: how do I fit into the multimedia mix?
The next upcoming event at Ryerson is the Job Fair on March 4, which is a networking exchange between potential employers and future graduates. For more information please visit the website at www.ryerson.ca/gcm.
