Category Archives: Transhuman News

Media release 25 January 2013

Futurist joins Obamas Digital Director at Air New Zealand Social Media Breakfast Air New Zealand has added globally acclaimed futurist, entrepreneur and social media authority Ross Dawson to the line-up at the first Social Media Breakfast of 2013 to share his digital innovation forecast.

A best selling author, Ross Dawson predicted the social media revolution in 2002 in the celebrated book Living Networks. He will discuss his early predictions for social networking, the major trends now shaping the future of social media in Australasia, and which emerging platforms to keep an eye out for in 2013.

Dawson is sought after by leading global organisations to share insights on the extraordinary business opportunities presented by digital innovation and how to stay ahead of the curve in the social media space.

Dawson joins headliner Teddy Goff at the Air New Zealand Social Media Breakfast on Wednesday 13 February. Goff was the groundbreaking Digital Director of President Obamas data-driven 2012 re-election campaign. Teddy Goffs team harnessed data effectively to fundraise a ground breaking US$690 million, build online followings of more than 78 million people, and register more than a million people to vote in the largest online promotion programme in political history.

Goffs techniques have been celebrated in some of the worlds biggest news outlets, including the New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post and Rolling Stone for revolutionising political fundraising. At the Air New Zealand event he will share tips on harnessing the growing power of social media and insights fresh from the campaign trail.

Air New Zealand is the 36th largest airline in the world yet is ranked sixth in the world for social media presence and is viewed as a leader and innovator in the digital marketing space.

The first Social Media Breakfast of 2013 is Wednesday February 13 at the Viaduct Events Centre. Breakfast will be served from 7am; the event will run from 8am-10am. The Social Media Breakfast is hosted by Jesse Mulligan, and will include a question and answer session with all speakers following presentations from Ross Dawson and Teddy Goff.

Tickets to the Social Media Breakfast are $75 (including breakfast) from Ticketmaster http://www.ticketmaster.co.nz.

ENDS

Continued here:
Futurist joins Obama’s Digital Director at Air NZ Event

Gary Barlow - Never Forget (Live at Scarborough Futurist Theatre 19/01/2013)
Gary Barlow performing Never Forget live in concert on his "Gary Barlow: In Concert" solo tour. Filmed live at Scarborough Futurist Theatre on Saturday 19th January 2013.

By: Friesian Cow

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Gary Barlow - Never Forget (Live at Scarborough Futurist Theatre 19/01/2013) - Video

Syd Mead worked closely with James Cameron designing the USS Sulaco for the Aliens movie. When Sega and developer Gearbox Software signed a licensing deal with 20th Century Fox to create a virtual sequel to the film, Aliens: Colonial Marines, for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U, they enlisted Mead to further explore the ship. The visual futurist has worked in games before, designing a new light cycle for the TRON 2.0 game after working on the original film and creating the aliens for the PC game Wing Commander: Prophecy. Mead talks about how video games are opening up new opportunities for Hollywood film franchises in this exclusive interview.

The Hollywood Reporter: What are your thoughts on Aliens migrating to video games?

Syd Mead:As in current movie productions, now they do a parallel production. The gamers expectations are so high, it practically drops into theatrical. Theres no surprise that they would take the franchise with Gearbox Software working with 20th Century Fox and come out with a game. They did sequels of the original movie in the first place, so why not? The game market is at least as big, or bigger, than the theatrical release part. So it makes sense for business reasons and stylistically. Who knows, if this goes well maybe theyll make another Aliens movie.

THR: How did you work with Gearbox Software on this game?

Mead:We were approached after they got the got the agreement with Fox. I got the assignment of doing the interior. Obviously, I designed the exterior of the Sulaco, and for the movie, some of the interior sets like the drop ship bay. They wanted to recreate the mechanical mood of the Sulaco, interiors that Id already done, which is one of the reasons why they contacted me.

THR: This Aliens: Colonial Marines game is very cinematic. What are your thoughts about how far gaming has progressed over the years?

Mead:A lot. My first video game was with the Don Bluth Studios in Toronto back in four-bit days. We only had seven VGA colors; the pale blue and pink. Then I worked with 989 Studios/Sony in San Diego on what was going to be the Jet Moto 4 for PlayStation 1. Then they changed all the coding for PlayStation 2. They got a phone call from Tokyo and said, Stop everything. Dump it. So they dumped it. We only got to Jet Moto 3. Working with games now, its not the limitation of the technique, its the limitation of the ideas, the demographic its aimed at, the quality of the gameplay, the scripting, runtime, and all that.

THR: Where do you draw inspiration from when it comes to creating things like what youve done with this game?

Mead:From the story. I dont write the story. I can do a good outline for my presentations, but Im not a narrative storyteller. I read the story, or the script in the case of a film, and that starts the creative process. I work one-to-one with a director. In this case, one-to-one with the guys at Gearbox and that starts the process.

THR: What was it like working on the original Aliens with Jim Cameron?

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Visual Futurist Syd Mead Discusses 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' and Video Games (Q&A)