Thank You for Being Part of the Beirut Service Jam 2013
A few weeks ago, the Beirut Creative Cluster and Mirada Madrid decided to team up and bring the Global Service Jam to Beirut for the first time.
A few weeks ago, the Beirut Creative Cluster and Mirada Madrid decided to team up and bring the Global Service Jam to Beirut for the first time.
On April 2, we celebrated the launching of the cluster by organizing the Creative Upload Party (CUP 1.0) at Playroom, Nahr El Mot, under the patronage of H.E Minister of Telecom Nicolas Sehanoui. Nearly 400 A-list industry professionals, university faculty members and market shakers were present to celebrate the Lebanese creative industry.
Many notable people talked about the Beirut Creative Cluster during the party. Mr. Mohammad Rabbah of ZRE, which initiated the Beirut Digital District talked about the BDD and how important is its partnership with the Beirut Creative Cluster (BCC). 
Then, Mr. Hani Asfour, our President, noted in his speech that the aim of the BCC is to improve and stimulate the creative industry in Lebanon. Also, Mr. Diego Escalona Paturel, Head of the cooperation section at the Delegation of the EU to Lebanon, specified that the EU is glad to support the cluster and wishes all the best in the future. Then, Mr. Maroun Chammas, CEO of Berytech, noted that the BCC is a very important entity to have in Lebanon because the creative industry in the country needs support and motivation. Finally, H.E Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui highlighted the importance of the digital economy in Lebanon, mentioning his excitement concerning the launching of the BCC.
Our guests enjoyed the relaxed and fun atmosphere, and they were entertained by the talented band, The FreeRolls, featuring Cheryl Khairallah, who took their breath away with her voice. Also, the Beirut Groove Collective DJs played a great set of music.
What is really behind the name of our party, “Creative Upload Party”? In fact, our country Lebanon has positioned itself as one of the leading markets in digital media consumption (the download to upload ratio is close to 10 to 1); while this might be looked at as a positive indicator for some industries it also highlights the lack of our production in the digital content arena. One of the missions of the BCC is to encourage digital content production; there should be more local work being uploaded from Lebanon and consumed across the world so that our country becomes again the regional epicenter of creativity.
In addition, the launch of the BCC was designed around three axes culminating in a party.
1. Designers & entrepreneurs co-creating new service solutions in response to a global theme in partnership with Mirada Madrid
2. A four-day workshop with three UK experts in partnership with the British Council
3. The creation of a trade mission to represent the industry at MIPTV 2013 in Cannes
Finally, we would like to thank our partners in the party Beirut Digital District, IDAL and Alfa, and thank you IXSIR, GreyGoose and Emblème for your support.
@wonderbrothers.comAndreAbiAwad:
“Beirut Creative Cluster launching with a mission – 3 Pillars: Talent, Infrastructure, Environment #BeirutCluster”
“We are so happy to see such an initiative coming to life. Good luck to @wonderbrothers.comBeirutCreativeC”
@wonderbrothers.comBeirutDigitalD:
@wonderbrothers.commiradamadrid:
@wonderbrothers.comjoumanamattar:
@wonderbrothers.comBlakeUcef:
Lebanon’s creatives are scaling up together to take on the international market with the newly launched Beirut Creative Cluster.
“We’re pioneering this. And there is absolutely no guarantee of success,” pronounces Salim Tannous. He’s managing director of the newborn Beirut Creative Cluster (BCC), a consortium of 25 design and media agencies working together to advance Lebanese media services within and without Lebanon.
Sitting beside Tannous is Hani Asfour, founder of the design firm Polypod and president of the seven-member board of the BCC, who nervously laughs: “I’ve just dived in to the deep end, and am going to see what happens.” He quickly adds: “and you’re the lifeguard Salim!”
“And I barely know how to swim!” Tannous retorts. The two men together could go back and forth, it seems, for hours: trading anecdotes about museum visits, architectural features or thoughts on the BCC. Both want to heap praise and credit upon the other; neither would accept it in return.
“But I have to say I can’t take any credit for the BCC yet,” Asfour remarks. “It’s all Salim’s legwork, his foresight, his vision. I look to him for guidance.”
“The cluster is not me, it’s them,” Tannous later returns.
Whoever is doing the work, the Beirut Creative Cluster represents a powerful new development in the national economy. For clusters are extraordinary means for a set of businesses to increase productivity and obtain the benefits from a greater economy of scale – without sacrificing competition.
Tannous describes the cluster as a “platform” to “allow collaboration between people in the same industry to drive innovation.” Though “cluster” is an inherently ambiguous term. The details on how a cluster of companies cooperates varies widely from country to country; and they can expand, Tannous notes, to as large as 700 companies. Even clusters of clusters will develop within major national industries. He cites cosmetics as the biggest in France, with such companies as L’Oréal involved.
The British Council and Beirut Creative Cluster, in partnership with Skillset Media Academy Wales, are running their first cross media workshop in Lebanon.
CROSS MEDIA?
Cross Media, also known as Multiplatform or Transmedia Storytelling, is a media property, service, story or experience distributed across media platforms using a variety of media forms such as television broadcasts, online videos, mobile phones, and downloaded podcasts.
THE WORKSHOP
This 12 hour programme will draw on Skillset Media Academy Wales’ pool of expert industry tutors and their experience in running similar modules – in particular the Academy’s successful programmes Transform@wonderbrothers.comLab and CINOVATE, a programme to train film festival and cinema managers.
The programme will be led by Erica Wolf-Murray, Founder of Lola Media; James Mullighan, arts and film consultant, producer and commentator; and Patrick Roberts, design and communications consultant, who will draw on extensive experience of developing companies and individuals in the creative industries sector through their consultancy roles.
WHAT?
A 12 hour programme which will be divided into:
Participants will be divided into small groups (5-6 people) for the toolkit, case study and production sessions.
Participants will:
WHO?
Lebanese entrepreneurs and content developers working across the creative and cultural industries (film, TV, publishing, performing arts, advertising/communications, video games/interactive entertainment and media), with at least 3 years experience working in the sector.
WHEN?
25-28 March 2013 at Berytech’s new venue Beirut Digital District – Bechara El Khoury Street.
HOW?
Apply by submitting the below form. The deadline for applications is 1 March 2013; selected participants will be contacted on Friday 8 March.
WORKSHOP FEE
A $100 per participant which includes training materials and manuals, coffee break and lunch, internet access, and a one time optional e-mentoring session.
For registration, kindly visit: http://www.britishcouncil.org/lebanon-creativity-uk-cross-media-week-in-beirut.htm
Mirada Madrid, in partnership with the Beirut Creative Cluster is hosting the first ever Beirut Service Jam!
From 1-3 March, come together with people from different backgrounds (design, business, academics, entrepreneurs, & students) to co-create new service solutions in response to a global theme. More than 68 cities worldwide will take part in this Global Service Jam and will be investigating user habits, understanding their needs and prototyping new service solutions. Promises to be 48 hours of fun and exploration with jammers from all over the world!
For more info + registration:
hola@wonderbrothers.commiradamadrid.com
70-692698
Beirut Service Jam
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Twitter
The Creative Media Days investigate the role of ICT innovation in media, focusing on the creative possibilities and the emergence of new business models. The BCC took part in a series of conferences and workshops that looked into new business models, innovative technology and emerging platforms and applications.
Experimentation, creativity, Future Internet capabilities and Social Innovation are cornerstones of most of the active European Network of Living Labs (ENOLL) in this field.
450 delegates from around the world participated in the 15th TCI annual global conference which was held in San Sebastian from the 15th to the 19th of October.
The theme of the conference was “Constructing Place-based Competitiveness in Times of Global Change”. A lot of attention has been given to firm- and cluster- level strategies for competitiveness and strategies for ensuring sustainable competitiveness and development.
Hosted in a part of the world renowned for building competitiveness strategy; the conference also offered an opportunity to share and reflect on the competitiveness trajectory of the Basque Country, a Spanish region with strong tradition, experience and results in cluster and competitiveness policy. Delegates had the chance to explore some of the region’s innovative clusters – renewable energy, machine tools, wine and tourism … – and unique experiences such as the city regeneration of Bilbao or the cooperative organization of Mondragon.
Cluster Tour around Renewable Energy
The Basque Country has a long tradition in energy production. These well-established Basque firms maintain a leading role in new traditional energy projects and are at the forefront of innovation in the sector
During the 15th TCI annual global conference which was held in San Sebastian from the 15th to the 19th of October, the European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis (ESCA) awarded the Beirut Creative Cluster (BCC) the European Bronze Label for Cluster Management Excellence.
The benchmarking methodology used structured interviews carried out in a workshop format by a director of ESCA. The focus is a review and comparison of the cluster management with respect to various portfolios of cluster organizations worldwide. The special workshop session was offered during the 15th TCI Annual Global Conference.
The methodology of benchmarking of cluster management organizations was developed by: VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH (VDI/VDE-IT) by a special request from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. Since 2007 they have benchmarked more than 250 cluster management organizations.
On Wednesday August 22, twenty five company owners from across different creative sectors came together to form an agglomeration that will be known as Beirut Creative Cluster (BCC).
The establishment of the BCC is the result of a yearlong effort led by Berytech with the support of the European Union; both Berytech and the EU were fortified in their common belief that clusters are the much needed drivers for economic and social development in Lebanon. The vision of the BCC is to create a world class cluster of content, platform and technology providers, developing and distributing innovative digital content and technologies to global markets. This can be achieved through a series of collaborative projects to develop a strong physical and financial infrastructure along with specific activities to boost trade and stimulate competitiveness.
During the second week of May, Berytech organized a series of group sessions, workshops and individual meetings revolving around the launch of a media cluster.
The sessions were animated by Mr. Alain Tubiana, Managing Director of image cluster ICONOVAL, and member of the board of the French National Clusters Association.
His work in Lebanon was divided into four parts.
The first day was dedicated to the Berytech team, Mr. Tubiana shared his knowledge around cluster models and discussed sustainability issues while Berytech shared with him the work that has been done since August of 2011 consisting of reports and presentations about the local media industries.