It’s nextMEDIA time again, when nearly 400 digital media mavens converge on Banff, June 6-8, to buzz about this brave newfangled world of ‘content creation,’ ‘multiplatform strategy,’ ‘convergence’ and ‘viable business models.’

It’s a good thing that the reference points are becoming increasingly familiar, because the business they’re referring to is morphing with lightning speed.

‘Every year, while we tackle a lot of the same topics, the landscape is shifting quickly,’ says Mark Greenspan, director of visual media for fest organizer Achilles Media. ‘NextMEDIA really is reflective of the evolution of the industry.’

The conference is bookended by big-picture thinkers Bill Buxton of Microsoft Research – whose opening keynote takes aim at emerging trends relating to new technology and design – and the crossover keynote of Malcolm Wall, CEO of content for Virgin Media, who will provide a cutting-edge account of how ‘big media’ is taking on the digital world.

NextMEDIA runs just prior to the Banff World Television Festival, so half of the confab’s attendees are from the television world, and it shows in the slate.

Take broadband rights for television programming, for example. Since last year, we’ve seen a number of online rights agreements with many of the labor unions on both sides of the border, the most recent being between AFTRA and the Hollywood studios. And while geo-gating (limiting access to online content to certain territories) has, as a result, sprung up as quickly as you can say CSI, this development is actually great news for the industry, says Claude Galipeau, VP interactive for Astral Media. A market requires its product to have a value.

‘There is more production, there are more clearances, and there’s more of an understanding of the value of these products and platforms,’ he says. ‘There are more clear business models attached to it – principally they’re advertising-based – but once you have clear business models, you’re able to have a contractual discussion that leads to reasonable results for both parties.’

So with a panel like ‘The Buying and Selling of Convergent Digital Media Content’ on June 8, featuring Joseph Ferreira of CBS, HBO’s Stanley Fertig, ATTIK cofounder Will Travis, and Pierre Lelann of TribalNova, and moderated by Rita Carbon Fleury of the Bell Broadcast and New Media Fund, it’s no longer just theory.

As per usual, the conference is well-stocked with innovators, among them Jim Louderback, CEO of the Internet television channel Revision3. His talk, ‘Building a TV Network for the Internet Generation’ on June 8, promises to offer a refreshing paradigm shift for TV industry members.

‘The new media of television on the Internet is different from cable or satellite,’ says Louderback. ‘Any new medium doesn’t ‘cow path’ the old media – you know, like how cows always walk the same path to get back to the barn. If you just shovel your video content online, you’re not going to be successful. You have to figure out how video online is different. By focusing 100% on the Internet, we feel we’re a little bit ahead.’

Revision3’s target audience is mostly people under the age of 30 who have abandoned traditional media. ‘They totally get it,’ he says.

Finally, it appears a general consensus on business models is emerging, with advertiser-supported venues being the winner for the time being, or as Louderback puts it, ‘So far so good.’

Not coincidentally, Greenspan notes, there will be an increasing number of advertisers in attendance and more on how to work with them, including a June 7 panel titled ‘The Top Ten Things You Should Know About Building Relationships with Advertisers,’ featuring Doug Scott of Ogilvy North America, James Cooper of Another Anomaly, and Jefferson Burruss of DDB, and moderated by Trapeze Media’s Michael Kasprow.

There’s also a June 8 panel called ‘Canada’s Hottest Digital Media Innovators,’ with secrets of success being outlined by Nexopia’s Boris Wertz, b5media’s Jeremy Wright, Markus Frind of Plentyoffish Media and Leila Boujnane of Idée Inc, with Ellie Corporation’s Ellie Rubin moderating.

Other panels include ‘Bollywood or Bust,’ featuring four giants of the Indian digital media realm; ‘The Secrets to Success for Convergent Media Producers’; ‘Harnessing the Power of Social Media Platforms’; and ‘Brilliant Ideas You Need to Know About Now! – Digital Distribution for the Next Generation’ – all on June 7.

Canada is a global leader in broadband connectivity, the CRTC notes in its recently released report on new media, with more than 60% of Canadian households now subscribing to broadband Internet. That’s up from just 10% in 1998.

‘Increasingly, the Internet and digital media are part of the everyday world of Canadians – the fabric of consumption,’ says Galipeau. ‘And no matter whether the industry is consolidated or not, we have to be multiplatform programmers.’