5 August 2008

CrowdFire is a first-of-its-kind fusion of digital media, fan participation, social networking and digital technology

Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly Productions, creators of Outside Lands  Federated Media Publishing, Microsoft and Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival have together launched CrowdFire, an online and onsite destination where users participate in a large, crowdsourced act of digital media creation.

The CrowdFire experience begins with an online community in which participants share their favourite images, video and text with each other. In continuing the collaboration, Outside Lands concertgoers will also have the opportunity to participate by uploading their digital content to CrowdFire pavilion kiosks. Participants’ creative output is then fused into a real-time digital media mashup displayed on both screens at the festival and on the CrowdFire Web site.

“CrowdFire is a new way to establish community, connect people and share experiences,” said Bill Capodanno, director of digital marcom planning and effectiveness at Microsoft. “Windows provides a common language and a seamless experience for concertgoers to engage in the CrowdFire community, whether they are interacting online, on kiosk PCs or using their mobile phones.”

The CrowdFire pavilion will showcase the next generation of PCs and mobile devices along with the Windows-powered living room, an Xbox 360 gaming contest zone and a Zune interactive area featuring the tracks of Outside Lands performers. CrowdFire participants will receive news and information about Outside Lands via Windows Live Alerts, learn more about bands on Windows Live Spaces, and can let friends and family know how far they’ve travelled to attend the festival with Microsoft Virtual Earth.

“CrowdFire is a first-of-its-kind fusion of digital media, fan participation, social networking and digital technology,” said Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly Productions, creators of Outside Lands and co-creators of the Bonnaroo Music Festival. “Our fans and concertgoers are incredibly digitally savvy, but they’re also incredibly socially active. They want a place to bring the two together. This is the perfect synthesis of music, online networking and face-to-face fun.”