9th International Conference of

Finland Futures Research Centre and Finland Futures Academy

in Collaboration with Turku 2011 – Finland’s Candidate for the European Capital of Culture 2011

WORKSHOP 8: Applications of Creative Economy

Friday 8 June at 9.00-11.00
Chair: Marja Andersson

 


Combining Business Practises and Cultural Productions
Kari Jääskeläinen (Espoo Enterprises Oy, Finland)

In the recent couple of years the Finnish cultural industry has enjoyed a notable success in exporting it products. What is even more important, it seems that the players in the field have learned repeat their success. Sulake Corporation, the creator of Habbo Hotel virtual community is the 12th fastest growing company in Europe and Remedy Entertainment, the creator of Max Payne computer game has sold its products for almost 40 million Euros.

The research aims to identify, what roles have business and management skills played in the resent success stories of exporting cultural products from Finland. The two probably most successful cases of exporting Finnish cultural products are studied with the case study method.

Business and management skills have played a crucial role in the growth of both companies. Further on important has been, that the company has clear goals and its activities are focused in achieving them. Also finding the right partners, acquiring marketing and sales experience and the management competence in attracting and motivating talented people has been very important for the success of the companies.


New Sport Game of Geocaching Will Be in Future Experience Tourism Products
Pirita Ihamäki (Cultural Production and Landscape Studies, University of Turku, Finland)

Children treasure hunt, notes in bottles and scenic hikes have been change for 2000 year high-tech treasure hunt for families. This paper focuses on forms of interaction  in an international geocaching game. It presents an analysis for case researches how and where to use geocaching for experience tourism products. Geocaching is the new sport game: part treasure hunt, part outdoor exploration. It owes its birth in year 2000 to human ingenuity, the Internet, and Global Position System (GPS) technology. The concept of geocaching is simple. One person puts together a collection of things like toys, trinkets and places them in a container, called the cache, takes a reading of its position with a GPS device, then posts the location numbers an Web site called www.geocaching.com. Someone else looks up the location and finds the cache.

Geocaching game is as a sport with need for strenuous hikes through mountains and technical rock climbing, or it may be perceived as a game about finding tiny treasures, it has appeal so much so that the activity has grown from a few dozen enthusiasts at its onset to hundreds of thousands just for bast six years. This is the reason to make new competitive destination of future to use new technology (GPS) for experience tourism products. This paper investigates some aspects of how to make experience tourism products by using geocaching and ICT (information communication technology) technology. Case research called “Treasure Hunt- cruise” be tourism event witch using geocaching for experience tourism production. Research consist of virtual treasure hunt route, pictures, interviewing and findings. Geocaching for experience tourism products gives facilities destinations and services designed to meet the new needs of tourists. GPS technology benefits for tourism business facilities are limitless, this subject research is just started and more products will be coming for tourism marketing business.


Urban Festivals and the City. Ruisrock as a Case Illustrating Different Alternatives in Organizing and Financing a Rock Festival
Marja Andersson (Department of Sociology, University of Turku, Finland)

The significance of the symbolic economy of cities has been highlighted ever since the 1970’s following from a decline in industrial production in urban areas. Cities have been forced to generate new economic strategies, and the culture industry has become a new economic catalyst for cities. Urban festivals form an important element in the cultural strategies of cities. Cities and urban festivals exist in an interdependent relationship: festivals are used in the promotion of cities, and festivals rely to a great degree to the support of the city especially what comes to questions of organizing and financing.

This paper presents and assesses the risks and possibilities that are involved in organizing and financing urban festivals in different ways. Festivals can be organized by the municipal government, by non profit organizations or by commercial entrepreneurs. The financing of festivals is based on public funding, ticket sales and other earned income or sponsoring. The benefits and problems of these options can be illustrated by presenting Ruisrock, a Finnish rock festival in Turku. During its history, Ruisrock has been organized by a non profit musical organization, the municipality of Turku, a non profit foundation, and a commercial entrepreneur. The municipal government of Turku has aimed at maximizing the strategic use of the festival by balancing the risks and possibilities implied in it. This has been done by at the same time using the festival in promoting the city and ensuring the existence of the festival, and minimizing the economic, environmental and security risks involved.


 

The conference organisers reserve all rights to
any programme or schedule changes.