Invoke’s intrepid business strategist Dario Meli just returned from a weekend in Toronto where he was invited by the Canadian Film Centre to head a day-long seminar entitled ‘Online and Networked’. Drawing on his extensive experience in the business of the internet, he was able to offer insight into some of the coolest and most exciting things that are happening on the web and why they are so important.

Having mentored professionals through the American Film Institute and at the Banff World Television Festival, Dario is also looking forward to running similar workshops at major film festivals around the world in 2010. Invoke is proud that Dario continues to pursue his personal passion for bridging the gap between traditional and social media as he works from New York, ensuring Invoke is on hand to advise traditional media in its foray into the 21st century.

From June 7 to 10 the Banff World Television Festival will celebrate 30 years of bringing together television and new media’s most creative and innovative business people. After speaking as a panelist at the Banff nextMEDIA conference, Invoke’s business strategist and partner Dario Meli will join the World Television Festival as a new media mentor for Telefilm Canada’s inaugural TV 360 program. Bringing together a select few individuals from media, film and television, the TV 360 program is designed to teach industry professionals how to introduce and pitch their projects to both national and international buyers. As a TV360 mentor, Dario will be there to instruct them on the best way to accomplish this.

Dario will also have the pleasure of working alongside two other new media influencers including David Gale, Executive Vice President of New Media at MTV Networks, and Dante Anderson, Vice President of Product Development at Kuma Reality Games. Together they’ll work to prepare all TV360 teams for the final project pitch in front of a board of entertainment executives.

From New York Internet Week to Banff World Television Festival, social media has swept the world. Without question, it’s now imperative that employees in the media industry know how to harness and leverage the power of social media. Invoke is thrilled to have the opportunity to share our expertise with this new generation of media professionals.

Business Strategist and Invoke Partner, Dario Meli, will be a panelist at the Banff nextMEDIA conference taking place June 5-7. Speaking to representatives from companies such as Microsoft, RIM, Globe & Mail, MTV networks, Canwest and Ubisoft, Dario will join fellow Social Media experts to explain how best to engage the social media space. Fellow speakers on the panel Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin: Anyone else having trouble keeping up? include Chris Becker, CEO of FileMobile, Maggie Fox, Founder and CEO of Social Media Group, and Shira Lazar, maven of both new and traditional media. The panel is to be moderated by Kris Krug, President of Raincity Studios.

Now in its third year, the Banff nextMEDIA conference is recognized as one of North America’s most influential digital media events. In a move to fuse the creative energies of the digital and film communities, the Banff World Television Festival will follow directly after the nextMEDIA conference. Invoke’s experience increasingly demonstrates that major media properties, many representatives of which will be in attendance at Banff, are no longer able to ignore the titan power of the Internet. Traditional media wants to know more.

Invoke is delighted to be recognized as a thought leader at both events as we work to bridge the gap between social media and the world-at-large.