Vancouver leading the way with Canada’s Premier International Web Festival

Posted June 1st, 2016 by vaffmarketing in Review, Events

BY Winson Won, VAFF Contributing Editor

Congratulations go out to VAFF’s community partner the Vancouver Web Fest for their exceptional festival this past March 18-20 2016 #VWF2016

The very likeable Executive Director Suzette Laqua, and her team pulled off a well-orchestrated event this year, showcasing the best in recent online-content and providing educational panels to encourage & foster the next crop of online-creators with distinguished keynote speakers. As financing for film and television continues to shrivel, the web still seems to be the best medium for getting passion projects out to the masses.

Only in its third year, the resounding buzz around the festival was about how this is a fun, yearly favourite. This was my first year attending and I definitely have to agree that this was an enjoyable weekend of good energy and people, relevant panels with expert keynote speakers and great value to any festival go-er. Generous swag and treats like doughnuts, cotton candy and free massages provided by the West Coast College of Massage Therapy were available throughout the weekend.

Running a couple weekends after this year’s 88th Academy Awards, a recurring topic at the panels I attended, expressed a strong desire for modern stories with a more accurate reflection of diversity on-screen. It was refreshing to hear people aspiring to make positive changes instead of all the reasons to not break the mold.

As witnessed by last year’s RedPacketChallenge (#VAFFRPC), VAFF is a firm supporter of the future of online content, and applauds Ms. Laqua and her team for raising the bar on how festivals ought to be run in Vancouver.

The attention to detail at VWF deserves a big thumbs-up and the rain was the only downer at this festival (which I’m sure Ms. Laqua will figure out how to eliminate for 2017). Did I mention that the 2016 Awards Trophies were customized with Swarovski crystals?

The VWF kicked 2016 off with an amazing festival and set the bar really high for other festivals to come. VWF is a must for anyone looking to become an online creator or for anybody who just enjoys a really fun weekend festival. Looking forward to VWF 2017!