All tracks through the conference were almost sold out, sometimes leaving me with no seat available, demonstrating here the interest by the attendees to the conference who are in turn the people shaping the future of the industry. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to listen the savvy advice of the seasoned and successful, but also I enjoyed the opportunity to constructively critique in a face-to-face fashion, whatever flaw I had encountered while using their digital concoctions. But foremost, I enjoyed the fact of being there and representing others like me, a cross section of the digital publishing industry. I am not an outsider, nor a vendor, nor a celebrity induced blogger and nor a regular attendee, but an intrinsic part and parcel of the puzzle that makes this industry going.
A keynote conversation with film director Michael Rayner aboutthe operatic nuances of his cult show "Battlestar Galactica"
Media & Entertainment Valuation SymposiumJames C Roberts, Global Capital Law. Marty Pompadour, Media Caribbean Int.
Seth Shapiro, News Amsterdam News, Larry Gerbrant, Media Valuation Partners
After ending my first round of sessions of the day, I counted the times of references and praises to the Twitter communication application during the first four hours of the morning and it resulted in a whopping 150 times, plus. After that, I lost count, because it was not a session or a track I visited in where the newly branded word, Twitter, wasn't mentioned, uttered or pointed out as a Divine Intervention. Even, I was asked by a Donahue-styled loquacious moderator "Are you Twittering this session?' -But interesting enough, it was not a Twitter spokesperson present in the conference. This communal behavior shows once more, the American affection for functional nouvelle vague which in turn help to propel brands or name recognition to higher levels by word of mouth or social osmosis as we see it here with Twitter, the iPhone apps, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube.
Another often mentioned and admired brand with a favorable rating by many of the speakers is the Hulu business model, breaking the barriers of a VOD with a full HD quality screen and providing current programming with limited advertising, All of these in one serving, free to the viewer. I am one of the first Hulu registered and continuous viewers, verifiable. I watch old and new TV shows and catch up with movies I may have missed in the past, like a couple of obscure original Clint Eastwood/Malpaso Productions. No doubt, Hulu will become shortly the choice TV cross platform of the near future for many viewers.
Many references were made about the giant YouTube, but also cautionary remarks were heard on the floor about the user generated content business model and their ability to maintain corporate advertising or branded sponsorship over time, due to the obvious legal ramifications of copyright infringement, aggregated content and low production values. On the upswing, YouTube devised a unique platform for targeted viral campaigns, lowering the production costs across the board allowing the creation of video ads in very innovative and measurable way to a larger demographic.
Many exhibitors were present at the conferenceLastly, the other word in many speakers delivery was “widget”. It is not a brand but an embeddedable mini application written with a simple code of flash, htlm and java customized to your needs. Widgetize your content and deliver the advertising capsule to your target audience with a small footprint in an effective interactive measurable way. We see now widgets everywhere from retail to movie trailers. I have created widgets for my site called Sprouts (a brand) to drive subscribers to purchase magazines from one of my sponsors and as a navigational and informational tool for my Sundance Film Festival coverage. It works- big time!
Frank Nein, Lexicon. Al Cohen, David Caruso Television
D.Stevens, James HinesOverheard in the conference:
"Compelling and attractive photos, music, video, widgets & words drives monetizing content and allows you to creates stickiness."
”Popular culture drives the human experience. Don't be afraid. Say it!. Vernacular is good, but be real! "
"Organically involve your audience with your brand integration". No Subversive or Intrusive targeting. Please"
Winners: Twitter, Hulu, Google, Facebook, Stumble upon, YouTube, Mozilla, Widget it! Technorati.
Losers: MSN, Microsoft, Vista, Yahoo, GeoCities
"Compelling and attractive photos, music, video, widgets & words drives monetizing content and allows you to creates stickiness."
”Popular culture drives the human experience. Don't be afraid. Say it!. Vernacular is good, but be real! "
"Organically involve your audience with your brand integration". No Subversive or Intrusive targeting. Please"
Winners: Twitter, Hulu, Google, Facebook, Stumble upon, YouTube, Mozilla, Widget it! Technorati.
Losers: MSN, Microsoft, Vista, Yahoo, GeoCities
