This was one of the many videos shown at Media 2020 : A Vision Of The Future today in Croke Park. I’d been along to the event as a guest, chipping on some of the live tweeting of the conference under the #med2020 tag.

I’ll update later with a list of all other videos once I’ve compiled notes on the day. For my own tweets from the day check @kenmcguire on Twitter.

Here’s to fresh content and engagement over the coming months!

One of the objectives for 2010 in the office here, for the blog, is to show a little bit more about what goes on behind the scenes, walls, doors of Event Media.

In November last year we set about recording vocals for eight tracks from US-based band Pain and Progress. Some of the tracks, Low and New Obsession, can be heard on their MySpace.

The band’s lead singer, Jimmy Trigger (James Doran) is based here in Kilkenny and when not travelling to the US to record with the band, he’s here in the office to record the vocals on our own setup, some of which you’ll see in the video shot this morning (above). The vocals are mixed with audio delivered by Mark Hunt in North Carolina and returned back to the band for demoing. No CDs, no couriers, no post, strict online delivery of the tracks within minutes of them being finished. Some 5921km away.

This morning we’re linking back up with the band to run some more mixes, record a few additional vocals and send two more tracks off to the US for inclusion on their new demo CD.

Pain and Progress join the list of acts including Itchy Trigger Finger, Von Bizmark, South, The Lions Mane, Empire Social, Clive Barnes, Saving J, The River Valley Band and more that we’ve been working with since the expansion to Event Media last March.

The above video was shot on an iPhone 3G using the Qik app.

We believe in The Pinkertons. Or, at least we know that they’re real, as is highlighted by the lastest and final installments of the Vultures web com series, produced here in Kilkenny by friends of Event Media, Mycrofilms. Ourselves and Mycrofilms will be linking up in November this year to deliver a full day workshop on audio and video podcasting with Artlinks, but more on that later.

We’re highlighting the Vultures series here on one hand as it’s an excellent product from a production company we’ve got close ties with, and on the other hand, those familiar with our offices might recognise some of the settings. Throughout the series (in which there are seven episodes), the Vultures gang have used our board room as a police holding cell and our older, larger office space as the Pinkertons lair.

It was great to have the group around and, from my own part, take an active involvement in certain episodes. The series closed out on September 19th with a cast and crew screening in Kilkenny. Episode six, Attack Of The Pinkertons, can be viewed above or via Blip.tv and episode seven (already show to cast and crew) will be published online on Sunday October 4th.

Hopefully there’s more of the same to come from Mycrofilms and Vultures.

Around two months ago off the back of one of the blogging courses delivered for Artlinks, I was approached by the Kilkenny Arts Festival to consider getting involved in the social media promotion of the festival. Two years on, we’ve worked out a good plan for the festival, we’re currently four days in and there’s all sorts of activity taking place across the festival blog, Twitter, YouTube and beyond.

As part of the coverage of the festival we’re packaging short videos for their YouTube channel, shot handheld in HD on a Sony HR10, covering a wide variety of gigs and events. Currently available online are clips from Julie Feeney, Le Concert Spirituel, Jim & Dr. Nick and Aka Moon, with footage from Amiina, Xi and Si, Katie Kim and RSAG transferring in the office this morning.

The festival started on Friday night and runs through to Sunday August 16th. Many of the childrens, literature and theatre events are already sold out but if you’re looking for tickets and more information on the festival, check out KilkennyArts.ie or visit the festival blog here where you’ll find me contributing over the course of the week.

Since the changeover earlier this year, we’ve been tackling more audio work and more video work. This is the latest piece to come out of the office, produced for The Devious Theatre Company. The group are currently promoting a new theatre production that opens in just over two weeks and are looking for a series of video blogs to help spread the word about the production.

The video and audio were captured on a Sony HDR-SR10 with 5.1 audio, all shots captured last Thursday night (July 2nd) and woven together in Final Cut Express on the Mac. Title screens and name overlays added as PNGs to the process. Music underscoring the piece is a recorded instrumental version of Superstition by Stevie Wonder.

You can find out more about Devious Theatre by visiting DeviousTheatre.com. We’ve got a few more of these diaries to release over the next two weeks and when we’ve got more, you’ll have more.