Page 61 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 2 2011

THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 2 2011 | 61
NEWS | THE CHANNEL
reality.” So how do we go about
reinventing a good thing?
We started with our delegate
research: five years’ worth of
thoughts, feedback and ideas from
News Xchange attendees. We agreed
we would always put the delegate
first. We studied that research.
Then, with a team comprising
me, a NY‑based brand identity
professional, a web strategist from
The Netherlands, a conference
production expert from the UK and
three colleagues from Eurovision,
we assembled at the EBU HQ in
Geneva for a full‑day creative
brainstorm. We were armed with
flip charts, crayons and cookies. We
pledged to keep driving forward
with our ideas and to be guided by
the principle of curiosity: “What if..?”
We came away from that day
with our mission and our values
firmly in place. We came away
knowing this: News Xchange is the
news industry’s most provocative
and most insightful conversation. It
is where those with a passion for
news come to connect, collaborate,
challenge and create. Simple, clear
and straightforward.
WHAT DOES ITMEAN?
The values we identified are
equally straightforward. News
Xchange is: Collaborative,
Imaginative, Provocative, Bold,
About News. And that’s really just
the starting point. The real test is
taking those values and making
them real. For example, what does
it mean to be Collaborative?
Well, it means a great deal. It
means we are open, positive, non‑
hierarchical, democratic and fun.
And as a result, we explore rather
than preach. We ask our community
for new ideas and for feedback, and
we actively recruit new voices. We
use our website to encourage and
foster debate and information
sharing.
We decided to focus this year’s
event on here and now questions:
things that matter right now. No
future‑gazing, no theorizing.
Under Eurovision’s guidance, we
appointed an Executive Team to
work on the roll‑your‑sleeves‑up
business of creating News Xchange.
People who serve on the Team – all
volunteers (!) from organizations
ranging from Al Jazeera, ABC
News, the AP, CNN, YouTube,
NHK and Reuters to Sky, Global
Voices, RT, SNTV, Global Thinkers,
TV2 Norway, Headway International,
The New York Times and this
year’s host broadcaster, RTP – do so
because they want to help craft
those big questions. We listen.
The key to real brand strategy is
delivering on the promise. Here are
some of the ways we’ll be living the
News Xchange brand this year;
they will make the experience
different and exciting and new.
First, we are developing an
agenda that has a coherent
narrative. It is going to be about
something and it’s going to tell a
story. We are asking provocative
questions, including: Does news
have to be funny in order to get
audiences? Is it such a crime to be
wrong? If you can only choose one,
which is more important –
innovation or the craft of
journalism?
Second, we are going to mix the
rhythm of the event: some sessions
will be longer, some will be shorter.
And some will feature panelists
while others will feature single
keynote speakers. And finally,
we’re living the ideas of Bold and
Provocative and Creative and
bringing in a special speaker whose
radical ideas about visual
storytelling will have us all
thinking in new ways.
GOING FOR THE PROVOCATIVE
And the final thing I’ll say is that
the look and feel of the event is
drastically different, as well. In
keeping with our values, we are
really going for Provocative and
About News, and we’re taking
every opportunity to explore what
that means to the way the ballroom
is configured all the way to how we
create a sense of excitement or even
danger in the room…
So if someone were to ask me
what distinguishes News Xchange
from all the other conferences out
there, you know what I would say?
That we’re the conference that
never stops. That we are driven by
what our delegates tell us is
important to them, not what we
think is interesting. That we
connect people to peers, experts
and colleagues around the world.
That we make it possible to start
the conversations before we get to
Cascais in November and to
continue them long after the event
is over.
We are an experience. And we
are evolving. ■
The key to
real brand
strategy is
delivering
on the
promise
“
”
▼
News Xchange 2010 panel hosted by
RT’s Peter Lavelle (right) with Birand
Bingül, WDR and Giselle van Cann,
NOS News
Peter Vickers, Eurovision
ww
w.newsxchange.org
Is it such a crime to be wrong?
If you can only choose one, which
is more important – innovation
or the craft of journalism?
▼