The #mthcon22 programme is out this week and we’re proud to say that it is a carefully-curated reflection of some of the most pressing and urgent issues facing media-technology-driven industries today. 

Whether it’s the demand for greener streaming, the highly complex issue of decarbonizing film production, or the significance of online worlds such as the Metaverse and the stratospheric business of NFTs and DAOs, understanding and grasping these topics is no quick and easy matter. This is why #mthcon22 has brought them together in our full-on, informative programme: from September 28 – 29, we bring you two packed days of amazing content: 8 tracks on 2 stages, over 60 top-flight speakers, four hands-on workshops and the opportunity to be part of a community of around 700 mediatech aficionados, with matchmaking, networking, aftershow party and more. 

Our high-powered tracks on Stage 1 include the hard questions posed by “Production and Distribution: the Next Level” where our speakers will discuss the new technical production requirements for the booming streaming market, as well as strategies behind broadcast video on demand. With the battle for eyeballs raging, these sessions will give behind-the-scenes reveals from the industry’s armory. 

On Stage 2 we open with the fantastically relevant topic “Web3: Delivering the Future”, with sessions about what is being built on the Ethereum platform (way beyond just pumping ETH as a cryptocurrency), as well the new concept of a decentralized cybersecurity mesh. Cryptoeconomics, anyone? Come and find out! 

BLOCKCHAIN, NFTs & DAOs - Business, Art or Hype?

We’re talking about blockchain technology, as it’s probably the most fundamental game-changer in the development of the third iteration of the internet. It makes possible the shift to a Web in which end users – that’s you and me – control and manage their own data and information outside the control of centralized Big Tech. Blockchain also enables the powerful emerging asset class of NFTs, and the creation of Decentralized Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) both of which are developing exponentially as they’re deployed across such diverse areas as VC investment groups, real-estate transactions and tokenized entry to events or access to other special-interest groups.

Whatever the ‘hypes’ were in the very early days, the lightning-speed developments in serious business models driven by NFTs and DAOs are where the real interest lies, and that’s why we’ll be focusing on some of them at #mthcon22. Our expert speakers are pioneers in the applications of these technologies, and include the principle founder and CEO of Agriledger, DeFi expert Genevieve Leveille, as well as Dirk Boll of Christies, one of our featured speakers of the week. See below!

Christie’s was the first auction house to handle art NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), and Dirk Boll, former EMEA President of Christie’s, spearheaded the activity: the Beeple piece he auctioned last year (for a breathtaking $69 million) set the bar high for art NFTs and endowed them with respectability. With the NFT art market currently worth around $2.5 trillion and climbing, Dirk describes NFTs as both “interesting technology and a new artistic language used to create, communicate and also trade art”.

Excitingly, he has called this “the birth hour of a new era in art history”, and is enthusiastic about digitalisation and Augmented Reality. On stage at #mthcon22, in our track “Blockchain, NFTs & DAOs – business, art or hype?” Dirk will be talking about these and other developments in contemporary art, and their potential for use in philanthropic and other causes.

Always pushing the boundaries of innovation in storytelling, Kim Adams started out at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic and went on to work with some stellar names in animation including Pixar, Oculus, Google and Facebook. With a passion for creating things that have never been seen before, Kim embraced the burgeoning technologies of Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality, inspired by the ability to take traditional storytelling formats into more immersive and interactive realms by the merging of tech and animation. Kim is now taking on the challenge of transitioning mixed-media storytelling to Real Time at Adventure Lab, the company she co-founded, and which is described as being “like an escape room, role-playing game and performance all in one unique social experience”.

Grounded in the real world, however, Kim counts motherhood as one of her greatest adventures! On our #mthcon22 stage 1 in the session “Merging Tech, melting the silos: how MediaTech builds the Metaverse” Kim will give us some fantastic insights into what it takes to break frontiers in this area so fundamental to our humanity: storytelling.