Unlike a university, Innoversity seeks to educate its attendees in a matter of days.

The third annual Innoversity Creative Summit, to take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre May 13-14, will aim to increase social and cultural diversity in Canadian media by bringing together emerging and established cultural entrepreneurs, members of the media and creative and cultural communities. Together they will explore diversity through case studies, panel discussions, Q&As, film and video screenings, workshops and pitching opportunities.

If organizer Andra Stevens has it her way, there will be at least 1,000 people mingling at the summit this year. In 2003, roughly 49% of attendees were directors, writers, camera people, actors or artists. Journalists from major media outlets made up approximately 35%.

‘We’re planning for a minimum of 1,000 delegates this year,’ says Stevens. ‘We ended up with 780 last year. It was two weeks after the [SARS travel advisory] for Toronto, so I think we did pretty well.’

Sue Heddle won the summit’s 2002 Open Door Pitch in the children’s and teen category with her idea for Wow, a show that introduces kids to different career choices. She returned to the summit in 2003, and this May she hopes to pitch another idea with partner Anthony Stanberry, whom she met at Innoversity.

‘It’s a really great networking place,’ Heddle says. ‘The exciting thing is you never know who you’re going to meet, and maybe in a few months you may be working on your new project.’

Barbara Williams, VP and GM at Toronto 1, will also be doing her share of networking.

‘When we go to Innoversity, we’re looking to meet as many people as we can because part of the business is to find the next big talent,’ she says. But there’s an even greater role for her this year as a speaker on a panel that will examine different ways businesses can adapt to growing diversity.

‘Just as a big picture, I think it’s really important to endorse diversity,’ says Williams. ‘One of the challenges that we’re facing is how to implement diversity into our business… Innoversity is a straight-forward, practical way to pull together all the partners, and that’s step one.’

The summit will host 33 guest speakers, including Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Commission on Racial Equality in the U.K.; Paul Lewis, president of Discovery Channel Canada; and Jane Britten, CRTC senior policy adviser.

During her first visit to Innoversity in 2002, filmmaker Sarah Michelle Brown found the Story Clinic to be most helpful. There, media trainers provide feedback and advice for those involved in drama, documentary, current affairs and information programming.

‘The story clinics with Ken Chubb are pretty invaluable,’ says Brown. ‘He’s a wonderful story editor… He won’t tell you how to write, but he’ll definitely challenge you as a writer.’

Stevens says organizers hope to hold mini Innoversities around the country in the future. With supporters like producer Dalton Higgins, this reality might not be too far away.

Higgins will be moderating ‘Almost Famous, Eh,’ a panel discussion on race in entertainment reporting and whether there is a cultural bias in defining the ‘next best thing.’

‘[In Canada,] it’s like a fake diversity; I think Canadians are in denial,’ says Higgins. ‘I think we’re pretty behind here and I’m hoping Innoversity, some time down the line, will change that, because it’s needed.’

-www.innoversitysummit.com