The Children’s Media Conference is the UK’s premier gathering for the kids’ media and entertainment industry – and it happens in Sheffield. Last year, the conference welcomed over 1100 delegates from television, radio, film, games, interactive media, magazine and book publishing, the licensing and toy sectors and the arts and culture sectors. This year’s conference runs from Tuesday 5th to Thursday 7th July.

The event is a fascinating combination of presentations. When I attended last year, I learned how the BBC’s data about where and when we listen to radio reveals the pattern of our lives; heard about the complex processes that go into creating an animated feature film and discovered what’s involved in pitching programme and product ideas to commissioners. Last year’s event had two main themes for me: one was diversity (particularly around gender, race and disability) and the other was the increasing shift towards interactive, multi-platform content.

If you are involved in, or interested in, creating content, games or digital products for children, then I strongly recommend that you attend the conference. You’ll not only have access to the latest research and thinking, but you’ll also make invaluable connections. (I met people who worked at Disney, the BBC and Channel 4, and people from all over the UK, Europe and even Malaysia. And I was only there for one day.)

 

Introducing Playground

This year’s conference also includes “Playground”, the CMC’s first interactive digital art exhibition for children. Playground will bring works from the cutting edge of interaction and play to the Site Gallery from 5th – 10th July.

The free exhibition will be open to children, families and CMC delegates and will feature an inspiring selection of games, apps, toys, invention kits, physical products, VR, digital crafting and hands-on making.

Alongside the curated show, the organisers are looking for exhibits to inspire children and delegates at CMC. If you are working on something or know of something that you think should be included, you can let them know using this form but you need to do so by 5pm on 28th April.

 

CMC Special Offer

The CMC Early Bird rate of £325 + VAT is now on sale until 3rd May and is available for everyone to buy. After that, you will still be able to get the special discounted rate of £325 + VAT right up until the start of the conference – a saving of £105 + VAT on the full rate of £430 + VAT. All you need to do is contact us after 3rd May to get your Sheffield Digital discount code which you’ll need in order to register for the special offer.