Our fifth annual Making Your Media Matter came to a close on Friday, February 13, and I was excited to see the buzz in the room about the topic of our last panel — does making a beautiful film about a “difficult” issue compromise your subject? Has democratized technology made it so that craftsmanship is no longer valued? Does a film with gorgeous cinematography not feel as “real” as one filmed on a camera phone? Everyone had an interesting perspective, and the dialogue between panelists and audience was so active that we are very inspired to keeping it going.

You can find our rap report, videos, podcasts, and photos from the event here. More than just documenting this year’s conference, I hope to start aggregating thoughts on what to plan for next year, and need your input! Please send any comments or ideas you might have to me at hanold [AT] american.edu, or begin a conversation here on the social network.

We will be maintaining the social network throughout the year to provide useful resources and information for those interested in tools and resources that can help in making media that matters.

You can watch the videos from the conference in the video playlist below. Enjoy!

-Alison