Edinburgh lacking some internationalism

I travelled to the Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival this past weekend. The AIB had offered to promote the event to its worldwide readership with a print advert in 'The Channel' and online banners on the main AIB website and in the electronic news letter.

The event has been running for 30-plus years, and brings together many of the top names in UK television - both channels and production houses - for three days of debate and networking. This year was, apparently, a record one for the number of delegates, and there were international attendees from Scandinvia, Germany, Qatar and North America. But the debate was very UK-centric, with only a couple of sessions that looked outside the UK's TV industry.

I was impressed by Clay Shirky of NYU who talked about the future of TV and convergence, sharing ideas and helping to start conversations. Wadah Khanfar, DG of Al Jazeera Network, gave his views on international news. But those were really the only sessions that looked at the rest of the world. Perhaps next year there will be more of an international flavour and sharing of ideas across borders. The AIB's ready to help with this.

AIB at IBC 2008

The AIB is going to be at this year's IBC exhibition and conference taking place in Amsterdam from 12 to 15 September. We've got a stand at one of the main crossroads of the event, at the top of the escalators outside hall 11 and it's there that we'll be highlighting the AIB Knowledge Network.

Drop by and pay us a visit if you're coming to IBC this year. We'd love to have a chat and share ideas and learn about the challenges facing you in the rapidly-changing media industry. We'll also share with you the AIB Hotspots @ IBC...find out more in Amsterdam.