Magic happens in the Rundle Lounge

Now that I have a beer, a cup of coffee, and a glass of wine, I am good to go on writing this blog post. Either that or it will be a terrible disaster.

This morning we were suppose to have a presentation by Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Larry King, unfortunately he could not make it to the conference so instead we got a hilarious presentation from Steve Hannah, President & CEO, The Onion.

The Onion Keynote- Banff World Media Festival 2012

It was hilarious; he literally just sat, stood, drank water, ruffled paper and pressed a button for a laugh-out-loud power point presentation. Of course it was the most entertaining presentation of the festival.

Afterwords it was onto a panel on the Global Media Outlook, where I learned video is increasing 33% a year and EVERYTHING is going mobile. And in the next year mobile ads are going to quadruple – brace yourself.

Even at lunch I got to hear about the future of mobile.  I was however more keen to eat my delicious dessert.


That afternoon it was off for more meetings in the “Rundle Lounge” . Yes, everything happens in the Rundle Lounge, aka, tons of business. It’s where all the meetings were held and it’s also home to this spectacular view of the mountains. I honesty wish I took a photo of this place BEFORE the rain came, or I had brought a better camera.

The Rundle Lounge- Banff World Media Festival 2012

After the third day of conferences you start to feel a bit exhausted, with all the panels, keynotes, meetings and after parties. Good thing there just so happens to be an oxygen bar on site! Now this was my first time using one of these interesting devises although I have seen them before. I was told it was suppose to increase alertness and act as a stimulant on the same lines as coffee or sugar, but without the high. I felt no difference, maybe just a bit more giggly and rather goofy.

One of the highlights of the festival was the In Conversation with Chuck Lorre session.

Such a fascinating man. He is the creator of Two and a Half Men; my parents favorite TV show that my dad literally watches EVERY night and has seen every episode of – twice. As well as The Big Bang Theory, one of my personal favorite shows, mainly because it reminds me of my university years and I like giggling at all the nerdy jokes.

Chuck Lorre- Banff World Media Festival 2012

Basically what Chuck Lorre had to say was to encourage young writers to build strong characters and to not sell them out just for a joke. And to make every episode of their show funny, you have to literally laugh-out-loud; something so simple but yet so overlooked in comedy.

If others can do this story, then it’s not our story – Chuck Lorre in regards to creating great characters.

The Rockies Awards Gala

The Rockies Awards Gala - Banff World Media Festival 2012

That evening was one of the premiere events of the festival, The Rockies Awards Gala. Hosted by Lisa Ray, they presented a variety of awards but most noteworthy being:

Award of Excellence in Digital InnovationGoogle

Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy AwardChuck Lorre

Canadian Award of DistinctionJeanne Beker

Congratulations to all the winners!

Jeanne Beker- The Rockies Awards Gala- Banff World Media Festival 2012

Ah yes, another fantastic evening.

If you missed it,

Day 1: That time I got a police escort home from #Banff2012

Day 2: My not so secret plan to become a Reality TV Star

2 comments

  1. jimmbboe says:

    Sounds like a great day. I’m a Big Bang Theory fan myself, seen every episode 4-5 times. Drive people crazy quoting the show! lol

Comments are closed.