<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
p.arial-body1, li.arial-body1, div.arial-body1
{mso-style-name:arial-body1;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.arial-body
{mso-style-name:arial-body;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle22
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
span.EmailStyle25
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>New Media in West Africa<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Thursday, Nov. 8<br>7-9 pm<br><a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=E25">E25-111</a><br>45 Carleton St., MIT campus<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><a name=abstract></a><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Despite many infrastructural and economic hurdles, entertainment media industries are <br>burgeoning in West Africa. Today, the Nigerian cinema market--"Nollywood"--is the second <br>largest in the world in terms of the annual volume of films distributed behind only the <br>Indian film industry. And an era of digital distribution has empowered content created in <br>Lagos, or Accra, to spread across geographic and cultural boundaries. New commercial <br>models for distribution as well as international diasporic networks have driven the circulation <br>of this material. But so has rampant piracy and the unofficial online circulation of this content. <br>What innovations are emerging from West Africa? How has Nigerian cinema in particular <br>influenced local television and film markets in other countries across West Africa, and <br>across the continent? What does the increasing visibility of West African popular culture <br>mean for this region--especially as content crosses various cultural contexts, within and <br>outside the region? And what challenges does West Africa face in continuing to develop <br>its entertainment industries? </span></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span class=arial-body><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Speakers</span></b></span><a name=speakers></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://ftp.derrickashong.com/about-me/" target="_blank"><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Derrick N. Ashong</span></strong></a> leads the band Soulfège, a group that produces an eclectic blend of <br>hip-hop, reggae, funk, world beat and West African highlife music and has been featured <br>in such major media as MTV Africa and NPR. Also known as DNA, which is the name of <br>his <a href="http://ftp.derrickashong.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>, Ashong hosted Oprah Radio’s </span></span><em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Derrick Ashong Experience</span></em><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> and Al-Jazeera <br>English’s social media TV show </span></span><em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Stream</span></em><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=arial-body1><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/cmaclay" target="_blank"><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Colin M. Maclay</span></strong></a> is the managing director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society <br>at Harvard Law School. Both as co-founder of Harvard's<a href="http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/itg/" target="_blank"> International Technologies Group</a> <br>and at Berkman, Maclay’s research pairs hands-on multi-stakeholder collaborations with the <br>generation of data that reveal trends, challenges and opportunities for the integration of <br>communications technologies in developing communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=arial-body1><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Fadzi Makanda</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> is a business development manager in the New York office of <a href="http://irokopartners.com/" target="_blank">iROKO Partners</a>, <br>a distributor of African--and particularly Nollywood--entertainment. Makanda leads the development <br>and execution of U.S. advertising sales strategies for the company. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Moderator: </span></em><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br></span></i><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://mobilium.com/about-us/about-ralph-simon/" target="_blank"><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Ralph Simon</span></strong></a> is founder of the <a href="http://mobilium.com/" target="_blank">Mobilium Advisory Group</a>, which studies innovation in mobile usage <br>in such countries as Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. He has served as an executive at <br>Capitol Records, Blue Note Records, and EMI Music, and he co-founded the Zomba Group with <br>Clive Calder of South Africa. Simon earned the title "Father of the Ring Tone" when he created the <br>first ring tone company in 1997.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>All forums are free and open to the public. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>More information: <a href="http://web.mit.edu/comm-for">http://web.mit.edu/comm-for</a><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=arial-body><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>