Engage Expo Blog has Moved to EngageDigital

The Engage Expo show blog has moved to the new www.EngageDigital.com blog.

It can be found here:

http://www.engagedigital.com/category/engage-nyc-2011/

Location Based Services and Mobile Marketing Track Added to Engage!

Given rapid pace of innovation with location-based services and mobile marketing we are adding a LBS and Mobile Marketing track to our 5th annual Engage! Conference and Expo.  The news comes just a month after our first Location Based Marketing Summit.

The 1 day track will bring LBS and mobile marketing to Engage’s audience of entertainment firms, consumer products firms, advertising agencies and marketers.  As with our LBM Summit the LBS and Mobile Marketing Track will provide attendees a detailed examination of best practices allowing them to walk away with a deep understanding of what works and why.

If you want to get involved as either a speaker, sponsor or exhibitor please contact the following individuals:  For speaking contact Chris Valentine at valentine @ engagedigital.com.  For sponsorship and exhibitor details contact Tim Williams at tim @ engagedigital.com.

Engage! and Toy Fair Partnership Means a Focus on Digital Kids Product, Monetization and Marketing

We announced our co-location and partnership with American International Toy Fair in June but thought it worth repeating here for who tuned in more recently and may not be aware of the relationship.  For those of you who don’t know, Toy Fair is the largest toy and youth product exhibition in the Western Hemisphere. More than just toys, Toy Fair is attended by a who’s who of leading companies focused on the burgeoning youth market.

Through a joint partnership both Engage and Toy Fair are co-locating in the Javits Convention Center.  The 108th annual Toy Fair will be held February 13-16, 2011.
The 5th annual Engage! Expo will overlap with Toy Fair on February 15-16, 2011.

The full 25,000 Toy Fair attendees will have full access to the Engage! Expo show floor and Engage! attendees will also have access to the Toy Fair showfloor.

The Engage Conference will include a dedicated track on digital kids, dads and moms and will include sessions on marketing, product design and development, creative and monetization.  Expect the subject of youth to once again be a major theme at Engage!  More details will be announced here and on our twitter stream in the coming weeks.

If you want to get involved as either a speaker, sponsor or exhibitor please contact the following individuals:  For speaking contact Tonda Sellers at tonda @ engagedigital.com.  For sponsorship and exhibitor details contact Tim Williams at tim @ engagedigital.com.

Engage! = The Tools For Reaching the Constantly Connected Consumer

Now in our 5th year, Engage! Conference and Expo receives a new theme for 2011:  Tools and strategies for reaching the constantly connected consumer. The proliferation of new devices and services allowing consumers to be “always on” creates a new set of challenges for companies eager to have an impact with consumers.  Engage! provides insight into the latest strategies, technologies and techniques.

As with previous events expect our audience to be everyone from consumer products companies and entertainment firms to brand marketers and advertising agencies. There are also a significant amount of retailers and merchants who attend.

Sessions topics will include

* social games, virtual worlds and MMO’s
* app development and mobile devices
* digital monetization strategies
* digital kids, dads and moms
* location based services and mobile marketing
* gamification, and more.

Early Registration Opens for Engage! 2011, Join Us In NYC Feb. 15-16th

We are excited to announce that earlybird registration has opened for the 2011 Engage Conference and Expo®, taking place February 15-16, 2011 at the Javits Convention Center in New York City. Engage is the definitive event for companies eager to reach constantly connected consumers.

Our 2011 show focuses on “user engagement everywhere” and will feature a wide selection of sessions, lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions presented by leading industry experts. Sessions topics will include

* social games, virtual worlds and MMO’s
* app development and mobile devices
* digital monetization strategies
* digital kids, dads and moms
* location based services and mobile marketing
* gamification, and more.

Since our inaugural show in 2007, Engage! has been the go-to event for companies eager to learn how to connect with, engage and monetize consumers online.  Now in our 5th year the theme for Engage is reaching the constantly connected consumer.  The proliferation of new devices and services allowing consumers to be constantly connected via their homes, work, car or simply on-the-go create a new set of challenges for companies eager to have an impact with consumers. Engage provides insight into the latest strategies, technologies and techniques to produce maximum engagement.

Engage will co-locate for a second time with the American International Toy Fair, the largest toy and youth product exhibition in the Western Hemisphere. More than just toys, Toy Fair is attended by a who’s who of leading companies focused on the burgeoning youth market.  Through the partnership, the full 25,000 Toy Fair attendees will have full access to the Engage! Expo show floor and Engage attendees will also have access to Toy Fair.

We expect the available registrations to fill up quickly. So, we would like to offer you the opportunity to reserve your spot at a reduced alumni rate!

Don’t delay, register today.

Top 13 Reasons You Can’t Afford to Miss Engage Expo Santa Clara

Top 13 Reasons You Can’t Afford to Miss Engage Expo Santa Clara taking place next week in Santa Clara.  Registration ends this Friday so don’t miss out.

#1.  Meet and network with hundreds of executives including leaders at
Ganz, Wild Planet Entertainment, Pogo/EA, Jafco Ventures, Activision, Electronic
Arts, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Jax Ltd., Apple, Hasbro, American Girl, Ubisoft
Entertainment, LeapFrog, Next World Capital, Mattel, Playdom, Disney, Rovio, NPD
Group, IDG Ventures, Creativity, Inc., Norwest Venture Partners, Nexon America,
NHN USA, Inc., Gala-Net, Toy Industry Association, Academy of Interactive Arts &
Sciences, Needham & Company, Wedbush Securities, IMVU, Digital Chocolate,
VentureBeat, Wired, Playmatics, Kabam, Hi5, Zamzee Co., Online Alchemy, Creata,
and a whole lot more.

#2.  NPD Group’s Anita Frazier will discuss social network gaming trends and total
content spending estimates including digital sales.

#3.  Armen Mkrtchyan with Disney Consumer Products details Disney’s plans for
technology standards for web connected toys.

#4.  David Stewart, Director of Product, Playdom discusses Building and Launching a Top App on Facebook: Social City

#5.  Peter Vesterbacka, Mighty Eagle, Rovio Creators of iPhone hit Angry Birds (6.5M downloads) discusses broad expansion plans for the franchise

#6. Carter Keithley, President, Toy Industry Association will share how the toy industry is embracing technology.

#7. Trip Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Digital Chocolate talks about Getting Beyond
Facebook, Are Apple and Google Part of the Solution?

#8.  Tim Chang,  Principal, Norwest Venture Partners, talks about today’s investment climate for games and entertainment tech.

#9.  Joseph Olin, President ,  Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences defines what success means in game design and development today.

#10.  Two leading wall street analysts Sean McGowan, Senior Analyst, Leisure &  Lifestyle, Needham & Company and Michael Pachter, Managing Director Equity Research Wedbush Securities, Inc. share their insight into the video game and toy markets.

#11.  Speak with and hear from investors on the subject of Games, Digital Toys and Entertainment as well as Mergers and Acquisitions.  Panelists include Pat
Kenealy, Managing Director, IDG Ventures, Chris Shonk, Managing Director, Liahona Ventures and more.

#12.  The Virtual Goods track provides what developers need to know to leverage
virtual goods. Areas covered will include social games, Facebook apps, virtual
worlds, mobile applications and more.

#13.  Games, Technology and Toys track covers business models, design,  development and investment issues surrounding social games, mobile games, virtual worlds and toys.

Registration for Engage Expo Santa Clara Closes in 5 Days: Join Disney, Mattel, Rovio, NPD Group, and many more

Online registration for the Engage Expo Santa Clara will close in 5 days, this Friday, September 17th.  Discounted registration of $595 is available until this Friday when online registration closes.  Also group discounts are available. Register two people and the third person is free. This is not something we’ve promoted heavily but a number of people have asked us about it so we decided a mention here was overdue.  You can of course register at the door next Wednesday but the onsite price then is $895.

The show takes place next week, Sept. 22-23 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The conference brings together leaders from the technology, video game, toy, and entertainment industries and provides critical cross-industry learning and valuable new business partnership opportunities. This year’s event focuses on virtual goods, social and mobile games, virtual worlds and web-connected toys.

Speakers include senior level executives from Disney, Mattel, Playdom, Rovio, NPD Group, IDG Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Nexon America, NHN USA, Inc., Gala-Net, Toy Industry Association, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Needham & Company, Wedbush Securities, IMVU, Digital Chocolate, VentureBeat, Wired, Playmatics, Kabam, Hi5 and many more.  Full details are available at http://www.EngageExpo.com/sc2010/

Mobile Advertisers Forecast to Spend $1.8 Billion on Location-Based Campaigns in 2015

According to a new study from ABI Research, businesses are primed to spend $1.8 billion on Location-based advertising in 2015 as part of their overall mobile marketing budgets.
“It’s still early days and there’s no single ‘right’ approach to location-based advertising,” says ABI Research practice director Neil Strother. “This remains a very fragmented market that is full of experimentation.” Engage is hosting the Location Based Marketing Summit, Sept. 29-30, 2010 in NYC.  The event will provide an in depth look at LBS marketing strategies.

Nonetheless, the options are becoming more clearly defined. Location-based ads are enabled by three sets of technologies: GPS, Wi-Fi, and Cell-ID (location determined relative to mobile phone transmitters.) The most successful campaigns use a mix of some or all of these, depending on the product or service, the region, the consumers, and the location accuracy required.

New location-based services are springing up, catering to mobile shoppers. Some are “check-in” services such as Loopt, Gowalla, Foursquare, and Facebook with its Places, for consumers who are willing to “self-identify.” Others, such as Shopkick, use an iPhone app to reward shoppers just for visiting certain stores.

“Some might be put off by the ‘Big Brother’ aspects of this,” says Strother, “but it’s really about the value-exchange: if you care about getting discounts or being rewarded for shopping, is the value-exchange high enough so that you’ll accept having your whereabouts known to these companies in return for the benefits?”

How should a retailer begin? Strother lays out a step-by-step guide for the would-be location-based advertiser in the report. The main points:

- Establish your marketing goals, as with any other marketing campaign
- Analyze your customers’ mobile and location habits and develop your location approach
- Choose location partner(s) and determine the best technologies for your brand
- Execute your geo-targeted campaign, measure the results, and refine

ABI Research’s “Location-Based Marketing” examines the current dynamics of the mobile location-based advertising market: drivers, inhibitors, key players and forecasts. It profiles consumers’ opinions, and includes case studies and a step-by-step guide.

It is included in two of the firm’s Research Services: Location Platforms and Enablers, and Mobile Marketing Strategies which also include other Research Reports, Research Briefs, Market Data, ABI Insights, ABI Vendor Matrices, and analyst inquiry support.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies.

Disney Consumer Products Seeking to Establish Standards for Web-Connected Toys

Disney Consumer Products is looking to establish a set of standards for web-connected toys. The idea of establishing standards has received mixed reviews from other major toy companies. Web connected toys are now the norm but companies are left to their own
devices when it comes to design and implementation, according to Kenlip (Ken) Ong,
who until recently was Head of R&D at Disney Toys and Consumer Electronics.  Ong was championing the standards initiative inside of Disney but is due to depart the company shortly. Armen Mkrtchyan, Technology Manager, Toys and Consumer Electronics, Disney Consumer Products, is carrying on the standards activities and will be speaking
on the subject and sharing Disney’s perspective at the upcoming Engage Expo Santa Clara
(Sept. 22-23).  The conversation in Santa Clara will be the first open discussion on the subject.  Perspectives, verbiage/jargon, expectations vary from company-to-company and
sometimes from product-to-product. The idea is to create a set of standards that all toy companies can follow when creating web connected toys. The discussion will address the
benefits and issues.  A detailed overview of Mkrtchyan’s session is here.

Angry Birds creator Rovio to discuss expansion strategy at Engage! Santa Clara (Sept. 22-23)

We are super pleased to announce an Engage Expo Santa Clara fireside chat with Peter Vesterbacka Mighty Eagle (and head of North America operations) for Finnish developer Rovio, creators of the iPhone hit Angry Birds (6.5 million sold since Dec).
Peter will discuss how Rovio is taking it’s iPhone originated brand and plans to turn it into a powerhouse entertainment franchise, through merchandising and other activities. Session description below.

Angry Birds: Turning an iPhone-Originated Brand Into A Powerhouse Entertainment Franchise
Rovio’s Angry Birds iPhone game has become a sensation, having surpassed 6.5 million downloads since it’s release in December 2009. In this special interview gain exclusive insight into Rovio’s strategy on how the company is leveraging Angry Birds’ success. Learn how Rovio is the first company to take an iPhone originated game and turning that intellectual property into a broad entertainment franchise. Merchandising will be a key activity very soon and more entertainment deals are on the way. In this special featured interview Peter Vesterbaka, who helms the company’s North American expansion, share’s the company’s strategy and his insight on how most mobile game developers are thinking too narrowly when building a game franchise.
- Peter Vesterbacka, Mighty Eagle, Rovio (creators of Angry Birds)