Some links for you:

• C4 Revising 4iP Timetable; Christmas Job Cuts, But Kangaroo Unaffected – 4IP extended from 2 to 3 years with bigger investments coming later in the programme.
• Would appointing a creative director solve Birmingham's image problems? – Design Week – "As Wolff says, 'For whatever reason, be it football or anything else, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool have a more charismatic feeling. There's some great stuff going on in Birmingham that nobody really knows about.'"
• Competitive global europe needs a broadband europe – "Europe needs to consider how best to ensure universal availability and access, not just by connection but also by device, to affordable broadband internet, which is already a central service for millions of people across Europe."

Some links for you:

• Self Portrait Birmingham – "Self Portrait Birmingham is a collective of photographers and artists based in Birmingham who are building a self portrait of the people of Birmingham initially through photography. The aim is to run self-portrait sessions throughout Birmingham."
• Media Talent Bank Blog – Media Talent Bank blog now has an RSS feed that works. This is the link for the feed.
• YouTube – BrumMusicArchive's Channel – Youtube channel that does what it says on the tin. Brings together lots of Brum related music clips

Some links for you:

• World experts meet to boost creative industries – Top Creative Industries types meet to shape the world creative business conference which will take place at The Grove in Hertfordshire from 26 – 28 October 2009.
• Midland Offstage Skills Consortium – New one on me: “MOSC is an employer led organisation, made up of representatives from arts organisations, suppliers, training providers and freelancers, in live theatre and music across 70% of the Midlands.”
• Screen WM – Driving innovation and excellence in screen media : News – Justin Edgar’s film is starting to get some good press – and awards as indicated here. He once filmed an episode of Doctors (BBC soap) at my house. And that’s as close to the movie industry as I’m ever likely to get…..
• National Creative Industries Conference 2008 – 11th december, Liverpool. “With a comprehensive programme of debate, workshops and keynote presentations, as well as guided visits to some of the North West’s leading creative sector developments, the National Creative Industries Conference 2008, ‘Creative Cities’ will seek to explore the concept of a ‘Creative City’ in the face of changing economic times, and will consider the impact of competing social, economic and infrastructural drivers on a City’s economy.” £295 plus VAT (£346.63)
• New report projects regional job losses of 180,000 – how was that calculated? « Observations – Excellent post that identifies the methodology behind the headline figure of predicted job losses for the region. I love a bit of hardcore research methods.

Some links for you:

• C:CUBED 4 Dec | bTWEEN – Invite only event but you need to be there. For more information, contact Just-b. on 0114 221 0589 or mail info[at]just-b.com. "This is your chance to find out about two new potent funding opportunities: 4IP and the Digital Content Development Programme. Meet the funders and find out what they are looking for. The day will bring decision-makers from key regional arts organisations and digital agencies together to explore how digitisation is revolutionising the arts world"
• “Your blogroll defines you…” | Boy Wonder's Blog – A useful list from Anthony Herron of the blogs he reads. Many key local ones on there (but not mine but then again I rarely blog about music)
• Beat the bullies | Uni Survival – I now do a bit of writing for Dubber's Unisurvival website. Essential reading for students.
• The hinternet, the internet we’re missing – jon bounds – Nice piece by Jon Bounds on the web we're at risk of losing and what we can do about it.
• Swordfish Studios Sold Off in Two Parts | Wii News – It appears Codemasters has bought out Swordfish studios in Birmingham. Great to see Codemasters expand in the region. They took over the former Sega Driving studio in Solihull last year as well.

Some links for you:

• BBC NEWS | Technology | The Tech Lab: Philip Rosedale – Second Life co-founder gets excited about electricity
• West Midlands’ economy continues to feel economic pain « Observations – Ouch: “The West Midlands saw the steepest fall in new business activity of any UK region in October. “
• Skillset Blog » Blog Archive » More news from the DPA conference in Brighton last week – Report on a presentation about Second Life: “there are three trends that industry should bear in mind: i) user time in virtual worlds is rising and maturing, so don’t ignore it; ii) consumers are building strong digital personas already – through social media – virtual worlds are a logical extension of this – it will happen; iii) Web 3.0 is fusing the virtual and real world – the technology is there.”
• A new series of posts on forming the perfect 4iP pitch – 38minutes – What is says on the tin. Someone (maybe me when I have a min) needs to duplicate this over at the West Mids version of 38 minutes – ‘Who Needs The Sea?‘
• Game changers | Screen WM – Driving innovation and excellence in screen media : Blogs – Jason hall at Screen WM gives an excellent round-up of a panel he chaired on ‘games for Social Change’. Really useful links to West Midlands serious games folks.

Some links for you:

• Symposium No.1: Things To Make & Do. – Staff Uni are having a week of events and repsentations about filmmaking. I have no idea whether this is a public or a student only event but the idea is a good one and shows off the kind of work this particular academic department is getting up to – including help shoot a feature film!
• The 2008 How-Do Media 100 – the full list revealed – North West Media News – How-Do – The North West has a top 100 media people list – time for one in the West Midlands? As discussed here.
• Can crowd-sourcing public service media ever work? | mypipeline – ‘No’, is kind of the short answer. Having submitted an idea to 4IP the author decides that the wisdom of the crowds model works less well than expert scrutiny.