Streaming Media 2025 Chair Andy Beach and DTNS's Tom Merritt talk creator track takeaways at SM 2025
Award-winning tech podcaster Tom Merritt, co-host of the Daily Tech News Show, will moderate three key sessions at Streaming Media 2025, the streaming industry’s premier event coming up October 6-8 in Santa Monica. Merritt’s sessions will largely focus on the new dynamics and strategic innovations creators are bringing to the streaming space, and how creators and studios alike can hone their creative workflows and create content more efficiently, beginning with The Rise of Live and Participatory Content on October 7, followed by Independent By Design: Creators Who Built Their Own Path and Fan Communities and the Future of Engagement on October 8.
Merritt spoke recently with Streaming Media 2025 Conference Chair Andy Beach about the conference and what his sessions in particular will offer to independent creators as well as anyone interested in the creative process. He also reflects on his 20+ year career as a technology translator with a career spanning over two decades, his journey from creating websites in the late ’90s to his current work on the Daily Tech News Show. Merritt and Beach also discuss recurring patterns in technology evolution and the importance of integrating new perspectives, particularly with the rise of large-language models and widespread technology adoption.
Independent By Design
Beach prompts Merritt to give viewers an early look at what his sessions will offer, starting with the Wednesday, October 8 panel “Independent By Design: Creators Who Built Their Own Path.” He asks, “What is the one line you want people to know about the panel and what do you plan to bring to the stage?”
“The takeaway I would like people to have from that one is that there are lots of other ways to do this—more than you might think—and I'll suggest my own way, which is different. If you're an independent creator, obviously you're going to pick up some tips like, 'I could work that way. That's more efficient. But even if you're from a studio, there are going to be some things that will make you go, 'I never thought of implementing that because we had a way of doing it, and maybe that's a little better way or a different way of doing it.'"
“So, even though it's a creator track, " Beach replies, "it's not just for creators--it's really for anybody who's interested in the process overall.”
Merritt affirms that the sessions are for “Anybody who's interested in the process of [content] creation, even if you yourself maybe don't label yourself as a creator.”
“What do you want those that come to this session to walk away with overall? Beach asks.
“I would like them to walk away with new ideas that will make what they do more efficient, more effective, and higher quality. When I go to these sessions and I feel like I've spent time well is when I come out with one thing or two things that I am excited to try, because it solves a problem that I didn't have a solution for.”
Register today for Streaming Media 2025!