Fourth Story Media

Lisa Holton discussed Fourth Story Media’s current thinking, and recent developments in The Amanda Project at Digital Book World January 26th on the panel “Synergizing the Book and Web: Books Plus in the 21st Century.” The panel – moderated by Market Partners International’s Lorraine Shanley, with Will Schwalbe (our office mate and CEO of Cookstr), and Hillel Cooperman (founder of Jackson Fish Market) among others – covered everything from the challenges of being a start-up to exploring new digital business models.

Some highlights:

• The twitterverse especially loved Lisa’s mention of The Amanda Project’s recent collaboration with Modcloth.
• ForeWord highlighted The Amanda Project as an “innovative application of reader engagement in authoring,” alongside other projects like the ever-popular book social networking site GoodReads, and HarperCollins’ new site for aspiring writers Inkpop.
• And (our favorite) Chapman/Chapman said in his DBW summary: “Fourth Story Media are doing very, very cool shit with transmedia storytelling.”

Following Lisa Holton’s recent presentation at the InCT 2008 conference in Utrecht, a number of international blogs and magazines have picked up the story of The Amanda Project and Fourth Story Media.

• Frank Watching has a long rundown of the Lisa’s entire InCT presentation (in Dutch)
• Beat Internacional is featuring The Amanda Project trailer (in Catalan)
• InCT Magazine has a lengthy article about Lisa & the creation of Fourth Story Media (in Dutch)

I had the honor and privilege last week of speaking at a cross-media conference for Dutch publishers.  The conference was run by inCT, a magazine, website and publishing company focusing on technology innovation within the publishing industry.

It was a blast.

For starters, the conference was held in Utrecht, which should translate into “heaven.”   Not only is it filled with cobblestone streets, picaresque canals, divine cafes and a community that bikes everywhere, but this is the statue in the center of the village.

The conference featured a variety of cross-media projects including a documentary filmmaker who was using Google Earth to extend the film’s exploration of the history of the Netherlands, and an executive from MTV Europe who discussed a TV/online property for kids.

I met some wonderful people, all exploring interesting ways to merge print and online media.  Piero Stanco, who runs Kluitman, a successful children’s publishing company based in The Netherlands, particularly impressed me.

Unlike many other children’s publishers who create sites for multiple users, Kluitman decided to devote most of its site to children. As a result, it is chock full of great games, activities, and book-related information for kids. Piero is a true visionary; I look forward to watching how he evolves his Internet business.

One of the most interesting people at the conference was David Huijzer, the man who ran it.  A dynamic entrepreneur, David is passionate about publishing, digital technology, and the great dialogue taking place between them.

I urge everyone to check out his site, brush up on your Dutch (or use google translate), and get inspired by David and his vision for a digital publishing future.

And if you are ever in the neighborhood, make a side trip to Utrecht—you won’t want to leave.