Future:Content, the publication

When It’s Nice That organised our first conference last year we decided to be ambitious (if something’s worth doing and all that). The event explored what the future holds for the creative industries, with a range of experts taking on this million dollar question. Today sees the launch of the Future:Content publication, distilling these massive ideas down into something that’ll fit in your bag. Handy.

The day-long conference held in November seemed to be a massive success judging from the feedback we got, but it wasn’t our intention to produce any lasting of the record of the day. But the question of the future is so crucial, and the ideas and themes the speakers addressed so useful, we changed our mind.

All of the presentations are reproduced word for word, with short links to any slides, photographs, audio or visual clips the speakers used. And what speakers they were. From advertising aficionado Russell Davies on his changing portfolio to Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic on filling some of the museum’s “gaps”, Neville Brody on Government cuts and artists’ anger to Sanky on his many hits — and the occasional miss — the depth and diversity on display is fascinating.

There’s concrete advice from Francesca Panetta, the brains behind the Hackney Podcast, a play manifesto from The School of Life, and the Visual Editions girls on what to do when you’re told what you’ve designed is impossible. Plus Sony Music’s Phil Clandillon and Steve Milbourne on their weird and wonderful stunts for some of the biggest bands around, and Adam Gee, Channel 4’s head of multi-platform, on how Embarrassing Bodies Live tackled the commissoners’ conundrum of making tv truly interactive.

But this magazine does more than document the day, it looks to move the debate on. There’s detailed feedback from people who were there, sketching out what they took from the conference, and three specially-commissioned essays off the back of the event. James Sunderland pulls together what it all means for professional creatives, Professor Andy Miah introduces bioart, and Michael Wolff has written a hymn to genuine, human interaction.

There’s high production values too (because that’s how we roll) and although the future is mightily uncertain, this book might just contain a few answers.

Details of our 2011 conference will be posted on the site in the next few weeks.