At our last advisory meeting, we discussed that although the major broadcasters are still an important part in the shifting media landscape, their commissioning funds are essentially limited. Creative companies should explore other routes to get their ideas into production. How does the mobile industry interface with independents for example? An urban myth tells us that the operators are desperate for innovative content and services, so how, if at all, do they work with independent talent to ensure that this content gets to market. And how about the new major players, the ISPs. What is the relationship between them and the small creative player?

I hope that this panel will be chaired by Imran Ali from Wannadoo ( or Orange as they are now)– I expect to be able to confirm him by the end of play today – and that he’ll tell us about some of the interesting work he has been responsible for at Wannadoo R & D.

Adam Gee is responsible for adult (informal) learning/factual interactive initiatives. Recent projects range from Lost Generation (Not Forgotten) to Germ, from Jamie’s School Dinners to Breaking the News. He is also responsible for IDEASFACTORY, a major creative industries talent development initiative from Channel 4 and is a specialist in multiplatform interactive projects around TV. He is a strong advocate of disguised/informal learning and creative blends of on-line/off-line activity. He will talk about Channel 4’s new media strategy and what kind of projects they intend to commission over the coming year.

Jem Stone, lovely man and Executive Commissioner BBCi will be covering how the BBC new media commissioning process works and some of the BBC New Media’s newest attempts to support independents and third party innovation. This will include the Innovation Labs, backstage.bbc.co.uk and the BBC’s API strategy. He’ll provide some tips on cold pitching, how to raise your profile to BBC commissioners and what bbc.co.uk is really looking for.

I am also still trying to track someone form the mobile industries who is willing and able to talk about how the mobile operators interface with independent talent and how they are intending to answer the growing need for innovative mobile content. It occurs that they are all so desperately busy trying to make an effective business model around paying back the phenomenal amount they had to fork out for the 3G license fees.