The CFTPA conference is going paperless this time around, giving away an iPod Touch to each delegate in place of the usual hefty delegate bags.

The devices will provide schedules, moderator and speaker bios, venue and panel information, and a video of the welcoming address at the 19th annual Prime Time conference – thereby eliminating the 100,000 pages the event usually produces.

The initiative is the brainchild of Marc Séguin, VP of feature film and technology at the CFTPA, who tells Playback the idea came to him a few weeks before last year’s event, when the staff was in the midst of stuffing delegate bags.

‘I clearly remember going to sleep thinking, ‘This is crazy… there must be a better way,” Séguin recalls, noting that delegates ‘don’t have the room to take it all home… they pick and choose what they like and ditch the rest.’

The iPods – which delegates can take home – will also offer a social networking function. Delegates who ‘opt in’ will be able to write to each other or ask questions of panelists.

An iPod Touch retails for between $200 and $300, and Prime Time is expecting some 600 to 700 delegates. The environmentally friendly move is ‘surprisingly expensive,’ says Séguin, noting that Apple does not give discounts to large orders.

CFTPA drew on funds and expertise from agencies such as Alberta Film and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and other partners including Cisco Systems, the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association and web designer Jaywest Productions. Developer Parliant Corporation’s Ottawa office designed the software that drives the iPod initiative.

Prime Time runs Feb. 18-20 in Ottawa.