40 SPEAKERS - 32 SESSIONS3 DAYS - 3 KEYNOTES - 1 PASS

HPX Digital was a great addition to the overall Halifax

Pop Explosion and showcased the convergence of music and

digital technologies. Having delegates mix and mingle during

the conference and then get inspired by over 186 musical

performances at night was great and the feedback so far has been

nothing short of amazing. We are really excited to continue to

build the digital side of things for 2013 and have some tricks

up our sleeves to make it an even better event.”

Jonny Stevens - Executive Director Halifax Pop Explosion Association

I’ve been thinking about the event that would become HPX Digital since

2011 when Jonny Stevens, who I’d known from my time in the Halifax music

scene, approached me and explained that the Halifax Pop Explosion wanted

to figure out how it could transform its small, music industry-focused

conference into something bigger with a broad technology focus.

We talked about what makes events great, the demand in the local

community, and how we could take this first year to demonstrate that

Halifax can support an integrated tech/marketing/music festival that would

be on caliber (if not scale, given the space constraints) with some of the

best events we’ve experienced.

Halifax has a tech community that is thriving and growing, as demonstrated

by successful startups like GoInstant and incredible digital creations

like TakeThisLollipop.com, as well as Third Wednesday, DemoCamp, and a

host of other events that bring us together.

Halifax has what it takes - the first HPX Digital showed that. We have

proof of concept, we’ve exposed some incredible visitors (including

fantastic speakers like Alexis Ohanian) to a talented, enthusiastic, and

accomplished community, and we’ve got a great vision for next year.

So spread the word - you’ve just seen Halifax’s signature tech conference

be born - it’s a healthy baby and it’s going to grow fast. Thanks for

being part of it!

Jeff MacArthurCEO, Konnekt Digital EngagementUser Experience & Keynote Curator,HPX Digital

After 20 years as a music festival, Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX) this year added its first digital conference — following the lead of SXSW and NXNE. On the experience of this inaugural digital event, at which I was a guest presenter, there should be a second year, and it should stay about the same size with a similar mix of topics.

Smart presenters, intelligent questions from the audience (how often do you get that?), agreeable dinners with fellow presenters . . . all together an idiosyncratic amalgam of hard core geek presentations and sentient social analysis with some of what can only be described as quirky ‘performances’ (see below).

As with any digital conference, even one that takes place in only two small conference rooms, there were too many new ideas to take in at HPX Digital.

So, here are the four pivotal ideas I will keep until next year:

Faris Yakob (@faris) — showman, cultural savant and creative digital analyst — lets us know that Proximity is a Virtue and that marketers should not be marketing to people, but context. Other axiomatic comments: ‘Proximity is influence’, ‘location is a form of media’, ‘geekery is the R+D of humanity’ and ‘think of mobile as the constant now’.

Rosie Siman’s (@rosiesiman) presentation called Year of the People, which walks through a quiz about people vs. brands proves (to me anyway) “that people matter more than brands.” Ms Siman’s six trends that matter: storytelling, content curation, entrepreneurialism, transmedia, influence, do good. Digital strategist (with 360i in New York), pop culture

HPX Digital — Smart, Agreeable, Indiosyncraticby Boyd Neil

Daniel Berkal @danielberkalKyle Macdonald is amazing! Absolutely cutting edge and terrifyingly creative. Avant garde has a new face. (Literally.) #HPXdigital #HPX

rosie siman @rosiesimanYes. RT @faris: “Maybe it [art] is less about the thing you are making and more about the discussion you are creating” - @kcimc #hpxdigital

John Atkins @neuro929@jeffmacarthur great talk about user experience at #hpxdigital site experiences based on a balance between design, content and function.

James White @SignalnoiseThanks for the great day #HPXdigital. Met some great people, re-united with some friends. Looking forward to tomorrow’s panel at HIGH NOON.

Ian Conrad @porcelainduckA weird computer thing drew me. Or made me draw myself, or something #HPXDigital

Simon Lawrence @SimonBITS#HPXDigital Day 1 my favourite speakers were @bitchwhocodes @faris @kcimc. Connect with them, learn and enjoy my friends :o) #BITS

Stephanie Bergara @labergiebergRT @withoutayard: Don Pitts from @ATXMusicOffice sharing his city’s lessons w/tech growth via thriving music scene #HPXDigital...

Kyle Racki @kylerackiListening to a fucking genius speak, Kyle MacDonald, at #HPXdigital

Kendra @halifaxfilmgal“Cultivate your vices.” This guy @kcimc is a Digital Hedonist. I LOVE IT #HPXDigital

Sylvia @sylviacreamerSo @kcimc is killing his #HPXdigital talk. This guy is a hilarious genius!

DAY ONE #HPXdigitalcurator, on her website she includes Canada among those places she might like to live for a while: You’re invited!

A media artist “working with code as medium and theme: interactive installations, tactical openness as performance” named Kyle McDonald (@kcimc) made everyone feel like a juvenile coder. Don’t believe me? Take a look at his website, or this description of one of his latest projects: “Blind Self-Portrait 2012 with Matt Mets While the visitor keeps their eyes shut, a moving platform guides a pen in their hand to draw a self-portrait, using computer vision to track their face and generate a line drawing. The result is a machine-aided drawing, a self-portrait you could never draw.”

Stacey Mulcahey (@Bitchwhocodes), who unfortunately thinks “her lack of verbal filter and extreme candor (is) just a small part of her womanly charms” is something other than an embarrassing attempt to appear hard ass, has this to say about the responsive web: embrace fluidity in design and function, focus on one content source, think mobile first because it starts with the barebones and works outward, and as a corollary of the last point when it comes to mobile design “Don’t think enabled; think optimized.”

I missed a couple I wanted to take in, including Daniel Berkal’s (@danielberkal) Project Butterfly and Alex Ohanian’s (@Alexisohanian) closing keynote. I guess HPX will just have to invite us all back.█

Harnessing the power of crowdfunding with RocketHub founder Brian Meece

Brian Meece knows a thing or two about crowdfunding—The speaker at the HPX Digital Conference is the CEO of New York’s RocketHub, one of the world’s largest crowd funding platforms, funneling millions of dollars from supporters to tens of thousands of projects across Canada and the US. Lizzy Hill got a chance to pick his brain about everything ranging from working with the White House to the surprising ways he found success.

If you could offer a piece of advice to the newcomer to crowdfunding, what would it be?

Have a clear and concise pitch for your project; have a core group of supporters that can validate the project and show that you’re a legitimate leader; and then have really good rewards to give back in exchange for the financial contributions—stuff that people want, that they can get excited about.

You’ve used crowdfunding yourself as an artist to raise $6,000 for your band, Brian and Silbin (And Friends)—What tactics did you find worked best? What were the most unexpected successes?

We found that a lot of successful projects have a sense of momentum once they’ve finished their campaign because everyone in their community is rallying around them wanting them to succeed, not only with the crowdfunding campaign but beyond. So I have an interesting story: one of my rewards for my cd was that for $50, we would “Sargeant Pepper you”—We’d stick your face on the cover of the record. And as a result, somebody who had their face on the cover of the record brought that cd into their workplace. They happened to work at a big tv company and I ended up getting a placement deal for my music, just for having them literally involved in the cover of my record. That’s one example of the community supporting and finding new opportunities for somebody making something happen.

You’ve spoken about meeting with the White House and the potential of working with the US government to use crowdfunding as a model. What exactly are you up to?

Rocket Hub has been working with Congress, The SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] and most recently, which was yesterday, we met with the White House on crowdfunding. Basically, the US Government recognizes that crowdfunding is a new form of capital creation, and that it can potentially empower entrepreneurs to start companies, and some of those companies are going to grow and hire people and be good for the US economy. So we’re providing data—we’re providing suggestions on regulatory components for this new law called the Jobs Act that will enable entrepreneurs to open up investments in their endeavors. So instead of somebody crowdfunding and giving c.d.s and T-shirts and coffee mugs in exchange for financial contributions, they’ll be able to give up stock in their companies ... We see the massive potential for a new product that’s built on an investment basis.

by Lizzy Hill

Passion is a fickle beast. Sometimes it carries you forward, pushing you to things you didn’t think were possible. Sometimes it runs away with you, dragging you behind while you struggle to control it. And sometimes it disappears so quietly that you never even realize it left. Before HPXDigital, I had lost my passion. I didn’t realize it, but I was bored by what I was doing, going through the motions without real drive, and for someone intent on a career in design, that is a truly dangerous thing.

After three days of kickass speakers, interesting people, and new ideas I felt an energy whose absence had gone almost unnoticed. Something had changed. I felt excited, animated, riding a high that one week later is still going strong. I learned a lot of things from HPXDigital. I now understand better how to connect with audiences and promote myself. I’ve learned how giving things away for free can make you far richer in the long run. I’ve made some new friends and developed opportunities I didn’t even realize were open to me. But most importantly, I fucking love what I do, and it’s not slipping away again.

- Sebastian Tory-Pratt

by Ryan Patey

Going to any conference, especially

those that last more than a day, is a

lot like a Choose Your Own Adventure

Book (or an Adventure of Your Own

Choosing, depending on whether or not

you own the copyright to the previous).

Of course, when it comes to a digital

conference or most things tech-related

these days, it’s more like a Tweet/

Instagram Your Own Adventure. Sadly,

it doesn’t have quite the same ring to

it, but you can take that up with the

owners of those copyrights, if you feel

so inclined.

As the Copy Editor for JAC, a fully

integrated digital agency based in St.

John’s, NL, and one of the key sponsors

of the HPX Digital conference, it

became my duty to let the world know we

were here, and there, and there, and

over there as it happened. On a daily

basis, that’s not so hard, but when

We came, we saw, we tweeted.

you add the conference mothership, the

Halifax Pop Explosion music festival,

into the mix, you’ve got quite a few

days where my iPhone battery ran out

well before I called it a night.

Luckily, I did manage to catch a

bunch of things from JAC’s adventure.

Starting from the moment we all hopped

in a Jeep to meet with a client in

PEI, and right up until the closing

party, I added small bits of data to

the thing Peter Mansbridge referred to

as “Internet”, and more folks commonly

call “home” now. Whether it was the

fog on the bridge while surrounded

by nothing but water or our fearless

leader dropping the f-bomb (Flash)

during his panel on the future of the

web, the folks at home followed our

adventure of our own choosing. Or they

were laughing at that cat in the box

from Japan. You can’t win them all,

Seb Tory-Pratt @yellinglouderSo many ideas bouncing around my head. #hpxdigital is doing its job.

Leo Dell’Anno @UsualsuspectguyI was just introduced to the Email Game http://emailga.me/ During Amber Macs presentation! #HPXDigital I am so playing this!!!!

John Arnold @migrantpAndrew Burke, he’s so hot right now! @ajlburke #HPXDigital pic.twitter.com/aotinVcL

Lara Killian @larakillianUsing lots of video content to support her points, @rosiesiman trying to prove that people are more interesting than brands #HPXDigital

Amanda Wenek @AmandaWenek‘The Dark Knight’ world wide scavenger hunt (http://Vimeo.com/6303664 ) is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. #hpxdigital

Destination Hfx @meethalifaxAlso loving all the great quotes & tweets from @HPXDigital #Conference! Lots of learning going on in #Halifax. #HPXDigital2012 #meethfx

Ashwin Kutty @WeUsThemInc“Catvertising” - new age advertising, the next phenomenon by @mavylala of thetweetsofjohn @HPXDigital #HPXDigital

rosie siman @rosiesimansitting in #hpxdigital session on ‘what makes ideas stick’ with @mavylala who works at john street, an agency i’m kinda obsessed with. awsm.

Gwyneth Dunsford @gwynduns.@mayvlala is sharing successful campaigns she has worked on. This one for Stanfields underwear is amazing http://bit.ly/XtkMpC #HPXDigital

HPX Digital @HPXDigitalGiving client real time metrics allows you to react @mavylala #HPXDigital2012

DAY TWO #HPXdigitalright?

Of course, for those of us who were

there, we all know it was probably the

moments that could not be captured in

140 characters or processed through

a vintage filter that really made the

conference interesting. Things like the

idealism of simply giving it all away,

the simple, yet complex, mantra of just

going out there and doing something

if you’re passionate about it, and

the number of memes in Alexis’ final

keynote are just too big to summarize

well. Hell, even the feeling I had when

two people walked past me talking about

how funny the JAC ads were couldn’t

really be posted online properly.

Although, I sure did try to recreate

it the next day when I met up with the

team!

Sure, the whole conference could have

been streamed live around the world

from a camera in the palm of someone’s

hand, if they were stoic enough to stay

still for that long. We could even each

write our own summary in far more than

140 characters to try and get across

what our individual experience was

like, but I still think something would

be missing: real life.

For this reason, and many others,

I’m looking forward to next year’s

conference. I suspect JAC will be

present in some way, maybe not with a

nose-picking, problem solving zombie

for a spokesmodel, but we’ll be there.

In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if at

least one of us has tried to check-in

for it on Foursquare already. █

“It’s less about the thing you are making and more about the conversation

you are creating” ~ How to Give Everything Away by Kyle McDonald,

HPXDigital 2012

The HPXdigital lounge was a “pop-up Hub” experience. The Hub’s intention

was to support a meaningful experience by hosting a welcoming lounge area

and visualizing interesting content. In the spirit of digital creation

we invited together a mixed team of creative people to produce a zine

of the three days (brainchild of Rob MacArthur) as well as share content

via social media and film. It was GREAT to work with Alex from Local

Connections Halifax and Sebastian who wove together rich content for the

zine. Iain Keith brought his illustration talent to the fore by creating

visual session reflections, which we really love. It was also a pleasure

to work with Riley Lamarche again, a local filmmaker, to get some B roll

currently being distilled in an effort to capture the first HPXDigital

experience!

We love characters and enjoyed people who came through the lounge like

Rob Daily of Daily Unsigned in LA. Rob came up with the concept of doing

funky photo takes from the “Lively” chair provided by Office Interiors as

a giveaway for participants. Make sure you think of Office Interiors the

next time you need some nice office fixings, they were a great partner.

We enjoyed hearing about ideaBOOST, connecting with Leonardo, as well as

meeting Brian Reece from @RocketHub. Good times, great connections. Please

drop in at the Hub anytime at 1673 Barrington, 2nd Floor, Halifax, NS.

“I have finite time and resources, we get more back from each other by

sharing and create limitless possibilities” ~ How to Give Everything Away

by Kyle McDonald, HPXDigital 2012

- Joanne MacRae & Tracy Boyer Hosts of the Digital Lounge

James White @SignalnoiseI take the stage today at #HPXdigital for my DESIGN RENEGADE presentation. High noon. Stories, art, rock n’ roll. Possible laughs.

Kendra @halifaxfilmgalIt’s top o’ the morning at #HPXDigital, @rockethub is going to talk abt crowdfunding and he just called Halifax gorgeous.

Boyd Neil @BoydNeilGreat few days @ #HPXDigital. Smart speakers + super programming ... Sorry I have to leave early. See you at SXSWi in March!

thehubHALIFAX @thehubHALIFAXThe Network is about Depth, Width and Touch. Depth is important, social validation. @rockethub #HPXdigital http://ow.ly/i/12sXU

Jason Wong @jasonlwong@hpxdigital came prepared wearing my hipster thick rimmed glasses. Fitting right in today!

Daniel Arndt @dantrimental“There is no ‘finished’ in software, only points along the way.” just realised I’ve never finished anything... #HPXdigital

Connections Hfx @ConnectionsHFX@schutzsmith This guy, this is an amazing guy. #HPXDigital He knows what he’s doing.

Extreme Group @ExtremeGroupOur #FF this week goes to our friends down the hall at @karmagaming and @dystillr. And to @hpxdigital for a great conference.

Riccardo Giraldi @giraz#HPXDigital @RedPaperHearts “Experiences, not possessions lead to greater happiness” pic.twitter.com/Y7jY03Se

Jesse_C_Scott @Jesse_C_ScottGoodbye @HPXDigital ! Thanks for the good times... Hope to see you again next year!

DAY THREE #HPXdigital

Music and technology work pretty nicely together. These days it seems like you rarely have one without the other, and this has certainly been true for me over the last week as I’ve been participating in Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX) and HPX Digital (the associated media/marketing/tech conference). I’ve been emceeing (that word does not look right to me at all… emcee’ing… mcing… um… being an emcee) and helping out with some of the social media for the conference and it has been great. I’ve met some awesome people involved in the tech and media industries here in Halifax, and the cream of the crop in the tech/digital/media scene from all over North America.

So I’m highjacking my own (oft-neglected) music blog to write a post about the digital media world and the superstars of this conference. Every single presenter I saw was fantastic (which is usually not the case at 3-day conferences), but I’ve narrowed down my top 6.

1) Kyle McDonald (@kcimc): Who is this guy? Where did he come from? Why didn’t I know about him before? McDonald is a media artist from Brooklyn who blew my damn mind with his presentation on giving everything away. Over the course of one hour Kyle demonstrated a selection of his wild, wonderful and jaw-dropping projects using 3D projections. He exists in the most fantastic of spaces where art and technology collide and the the results are nothing short of magnificent. When the robot overloads take over, I definitely want this guy on my team.

2) Boyd Neil (@BoydNeil): This man has 100% more street cred than 99.99% of all people in the tech industry. He started his presentation with a photo of his younger self being hauled off by the police for political protesting. Aside from being an expert who gives and takes exactly zero bullshit, he is an excellent speaker and his discussion of online activisim/slactivism was really well done. The crux of his talk was that if online activism isn’t accomplishing anything, it’s not the fault of the so-called “slacktivists” but the fault of the organizers who haven’t been successful in motivating people to actually act on behalf of a cause. He got the wheels in my head spinning.

3) Saul Colt (@saulcolt): Um Saul… if you ever read this – I want to be friends with you and I don’t care if you’re awkward in small groups (his words, not mine). Who wouldn’t want to be friends with someone who self-identifies as “the smartest man in the world”? I have never seen or met anyone like Saul before in my life. He is a genius in the most mad-scientist/magician sense of the word. His presentation on marketing to customers (who don’t want to be marketed to) was beyond hilarious and extremely useful for anyone who

by Leslie Fleming

MARKETING AND MEDIA AND KEYNOTES… OH MY! (HPX REDUX)

has ever been in the situation of having to do a lot with a little. This was the first time in the history of my life that I have ever wished that a slide show would go on longer.

4) Amber Mac (@ambermac): When someone has 80k+ twitter followers and 500k+ facebook subscribers, there is a chance that they might not be very down to earth. This is not the case at all with Amber Mac. After delivering a fantastic presentation on the 7 steps to social media success for entrepreneurs, Amber mingled with attendees and showed why she’s been crowned one of Canada’s top social media experts. Seeing her talk and learning about her success was a real inspiration for all the women in the audience (like me) and I’m sure the men too!

5) Daniel Berkal (@danielberkal): Berkal is a VP at the Palmerston Group in Toronto and had the audience completely engaged with his talk on sociable butterflies and the difference between the people who are truly social, accessible and influential in real life versus the hyperconnectors who appear to be social in the online space, but don’t truly “connect” with many people in the real world. I would highly recommend downloading his presentation and reading it, because it’s fascinating on a personal level AND applicable to businesses and branding.

6) Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian): the co-founder of Reddit and Hipmunk, investor in 50+ companies, defender of the internet – Ohanian is so articulate and well-spoken, so successful, and so normal. His keynote address highlighted his wonderful story-telling ability and endeared him to everyone in the room. He was fun and interesting, and handled some difficult questions like a pro. Also, this happened:

Excuse me while I geek out for a bit…

Anyway, my tech side has been completely indulged during the day in the presence of some amazing industry experts and my music-lover side has been in sweet sweet melodious heaven as I got to take in some awesome acts by night.

It was a fantastic 3 days and I can’t wait to take part again next year.█

MARKETING AND MEDIA AND KEYNOTES… OH MY! (HPX REDUX)

Ian Keith MurrayIMAGICON ILLUSTRATIONimagicon.ca