On this page:
Friday Keynote Luncheon with Dr. Henry Jenkins:
"Beyond the Borders of the Book: The Transformative
Power of Fandom in
the Age of Media Convergence"
A generation of young people have learned to read, to write, and to
transform the world through their engagement with Harry Potter. So
what happens next? In some ways, the success of Harry Potter might be
seen as the last gasp of the old mass culture -- since there are few
people on the planet who have never heard of the book, the films, the
games, or the assorted tie-in products. In some ways, the success of
Harry Potter might be seen as a foreshadowing of the new participatory
culture and of niche media, given the role which all kinds of
grassroots activities have played in sustaining and expanding interest
in the saga. Would Harry Potter have been the success it is without
LiveJournal, blogs, podcasts, social networks, fan fiction sites, and
the like? What happens now that the book series has ended? This is up
to us.
Henry Jenkins is the head of the MIT Comparative Media Studies
Program. He is the author of twelve books, including several which
deal with fan culture: Textual Poachers: Television Fans and
Participatory Culture; Science Fiction Audiences: Doctor Who, Star
Trek, and Their Followers; Fans, Gamers, and Bloggers: Exploring
Participatory Culture, and Convergence Culture: Where Old and New
Media Collide (which includes a chapter on Harry Potter fandom). He
blogs five days a week at Confessions of an Aca/Fan,
henryjenkins.org.
Dr. Jenkins was featured in the October edition of Portus Previews, our monthly podcast featuring all things Portus. Click here to subscribe in iTunes, or visit News and Updates to learn more.
Saturday Keynote Luncheon with Monique Trottier:
"Digital Owls, Pensieves and Portkeys: The phenomenon of electronic
media in building and sustaining an online audience of Harry Potter fans"
Podcasting, vidcasting, blogging, RSS. The online environment is one
that is media rich. And yet because the signal-to-noise ratio is
exceedingly high, individuals and organizations who wish to connect to
like-minded online users must understand the dynamics of this online
marketplace — the social square where we gather to share and exchange
news, gossip, products and services. In the case of the Harry Potter
series, the emergence of social media tools and techniques meant that
fans around the globe could connect and interact in ways not
previously available. These tools also meant that author J.K. Rowling,
her publishers, and the webmasters of fan sites could extend the
message of Harry Potter beyond the confines of their own websites and
could generate buzz throughout social networks and the blogosphere.
These dynamic online communities, podcasts, blogs, video blogs, and
RSS feeds make the Harry Potter series stand out in an increasingly
crowded space.
Monique Trottier was instrumental in developing Raincoast Books'
online marketing campaigns for the Harry Potter series. She was the
internet marketing manager at Raincoast, where she implemented the
company's literary podcast series, making Raincoast the first Canadian
publisher to podcast. Her work on social networking, corporate
blogging, podcasting and personal blogging has led to speaking
engagements across North America.
Monique's blog on books, technology and publishing can be found at somisguided.com.
Monique was featured in the November edition of Portus Previews, our monthly podcast featuring all things Portus. Click here to subscribe in iTunes, or visit News and Updates to learn more.
|
