LOn March 16 and 17, the Riga Art and Media Technical School hosted a Youth Media Conference and a hackathon for creating content ideas. More than 200 young people participated in the event, and the youth teams prepared a media content idea within 30 hours and fought for the main prize – the technical support of the youth media center “Young Media House” worth 1000 euros for the implementation of the program idea.
Lauris Zalāns, personality of “RADIO TEV”, creator of digital content, winner of the “Kids’ Choice Awards” award at the “Nickelodeon” awards ceremony, Lauris Zalāns, shared his experience story “The key – simplicity and positivity” at the conference.
New media personalities Artūrs Jenots, Lauris Zalāns, Nansija Garkalne, Sintija Leimane, as well as news editor of Latvian Radio Kārlis Dagilis and freelance adviser to the Minister of Culture Patriks Grīva participated in the discussion “Young people in the media”. Compared to other countries, young people admitted that the situation with content creation in Latvia is favorable and free from censorship, but more creativity and support for content creation is needed. According to the latest data, 72% of young people in Latvia rely on the information presented by opinion leaders and influencers, and as Nansija Garkalne admitted, more “niche influencers” or experts in various industries who can produce high-quality content on the specific topic are needed.
Various master classes took place on both days of the Youth Media Conference. Writer Gundega Roze shared her experience in the master class “Writing as the art of understanding”. Mārtiņš Taukačs, cameraman and director, gave advice in the master class “Video content creation”. In order for the hackathon teams to get to their ideas more successfully, Raimonds Platacis worked with the young people. On the other hand, Oskars Priede helped to improve his presentation skills in his master class.
The leaders of the youth program of the US media center “DCTV” also shared their experience. Providing professional training, resources and a creative environment in Manhattan, this media center gives young aspiring filmmakers a platform to express their voices and experiences using documentary film as a primary form of communication. Many young people have reached platforms like Netflix and HBO with their works through DCTV.
Experienced journalist Inga Springe in the lecture “Do you think critically? “Critical thinking does not mean thinking critically about others, but about oneself,” he told about the currently particularly relevant topic – critical thinking.
Artūrs Yanots discussed the challenges of radio as a medium with “Radio 5” personality Tomas Grēviņu; the recording of the conversation and the answer to the question “Is radio the future?” it is also possible to watch in recorded video format
At the conference, Ieva Ilvesa – Advisor to the President on informational space and digital policy issues, shared an emotional story about the importance of a journalist’s work not only in Latvia, but also in the world. You can watch Ieva Ilvesa’s performance and insights in the presentation “Democracy dies in the dark – quality journalism on the watch of democracy” here
This year, a content idea generation hackathon was held in parallel with the Youth Media Conference. Five teams participated in it, and on Friday afternoon the young people presented their ideas to the jury: Ieva Ilvesa, TV3 “900 seconds” moderator Ivo Jurkānas, TVNET culture editor Tom Treiberg and LMT content business manager Kārlis Dorbes. The team “3 Nutmegs” received the main prize – the technical support of the youth center “Young Media House” in the amount of 1000 euros for the implementation of the program idea. The team was represented by Amanda Kalnpure from Jelgava, Laura Nulle and Jānis Valdmanis, who is studying to become a video operator at the Riga Art and Media Technical School. The idea of the youth program “Change for the better” is about exchanging things with random passers-by, following the rule that each subsequent thing should be more valuable than the previous one. At the end of the series, the item obtained will be donated to charity.
“This was an interesting and very educational event for young people, where they could learn more about the media industry and its diversity through lectures and stories of experiences. The hackathon itself was full of stress and tension, because in the team we were persistent and aimed only at victory! I also got to know the methods of how to stimulate creative ideas for other areas of life, which I will also use in my future activities,” Amanda Kalnpure, a member of the hackathon winning team “3 Nutmegs”, shares her experience.
Other hackathon teams also received recognition and surprise prizes from supporters.
Special award from TV3 – to the “Pagarinātajji” team for the charity project, reality hike “Step across Latvia”
Daniela Lipsne, 18 years old, Riga State 1st Gymnasium
Jēkabs Dzenītis, 20 years old, University of Latvia
Rudolph Podzis
Nikola Kleinberga, 18 years old, Riga 93rd Secondary School
Ernests Burmistris, 16 years old, Jelgava Spīdola State Gymnasium
Special award from LMT – virtual reality program for historical knowledge “Legends of Latvia”
Wendy Jirgensine, 19 years old, Riga Art and Media Technical School
Aleksandra Rosenfelde, Janis Rosenthal Art School
Emīlija Zvana, 19 years old, Riga Art and Media Technical School
Special award from TV3 – for the behind-the-scenes program of the profession “Craftsman for his director”
Ritvars Īsis, 25 years old, studies as a video operator at Ogre Technical School
Special award from TV3 – for the program about motorsport from the point of view of the new champion “What does victory require”
Markus Utēns from Koknese, 14 years old, Ilmāras Gaiš Koknese secondary school
All participants of the hackathon received a prize from “TVNET klik” – an annual subscription.
“It was a pleasure to meet “Young Media Sharks” – the future of Latvia is in the hands of excellent young people, and they know what they are doing, they are not afraid and are not tired at all, even if they did not sleep and worked the night of the hackathon. May you succeed in implementing the planned projects and fulfill many new creative ideas!” Ieva Ilves, the president of the hackathon jury, advisor to the President on information space and digital policy, shares what she experienced at the conference.
Youth media conference and content idea generation hackathon was organized by youth organization “Avantis” and “Young Media Sharks”, producers – Ilona Bičevska and Mārtiņš Taukačas. The main sponsor of the event is the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Latvia. Partners and supporters – Riga Art and Media Technical School, youth content agency “Young Media House” and Pica Lulu.
