We're doing another live blog this time from the iSummit Conference taking place today and tomorrow at Toronto's MaRs Centre on College Street.

The plenary session is on right now. Titled, "Transformation: is it OK to say "Convergence Again?"

Moderator is James Lewis. Speakers are Gary Anderson, Norm Bolen, Maria Hales, Mike Lee, and Paul Robertson. For more info go to the iSummit web site.

They're discussing the power of video on the Internet. The premise is that this is the future of television. Norm Bolen just said that "Canadians are screwed." Why? Foreign sources with capitalized costs are rolling into our territory and outperforming us.

Update 1
"If you don't give them what they want they will bypass you." Paul Robertson, Corus. I can't think of a better way to describe how new Web 2.0 technologies and cultural pull is changing the way we conceive of the media audience. They are no longer passive.

"If we're not there experimenting and learning then we'll be left behind." PR

"It's a "pull" driven world not a push one." NB

"Three years ago we served 3 million video streams, now we serve 100 million." Gary Anderson, Bell Canada.

"Quality video is driving consumer behaviour." GA

Update 2

"It's about building communities online." Maria Hale, CHUM TV.

"User generated content will be bigger than anyone can imagine." NB

Well, we have to agree with this and Norm seems to be genuinely on top of the space with an awareness that new market forces are about to leap onto the market landscape. (Editor)

"How does user generated content pay for itself?" "How do you keep the "bad" side of user generated content out?" GA

Update 3 Questions
A representative of the music industry worries that a generation of kids are stealing the content of performers, etc., through mashups and other new ways of sharing and using digital info. Good question and one that the Electronic Frontier Foundation has responded to repeatedly. No answer from the panelists really except to say every generation appropriates music and the industry keeps growing in spite of - or maybe because of it.

"2006 is all about portability of content." MH