2008 Looking Back/2009 Looking Ahead
Chances are the next big digital media company won’t be built on a new technology...it will likely be built with existing technology, by figuring out how to perfect it.
However, if successful digital media companies like Google, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, companies have taught us anything, it’s that the technology is in fact secondary...it’s the people that matter. All of these companies understood that the web isn’t just about technology or about content...it’s about people using technology, people creating content.
Google, for example, figured out that when people search for something on the web, they don’t want to go to a cluttered, headache-inducing portal page. They don’t want winking, blinking rich media. People just want to type words in a box and get a bunch of links.
The
unexpected success of Hulu.com (the joint venture between NBC Universal
and News Corp) has caused broad rethinking within the media about how
to distribute TV and other video online. In August, by ComScore's
measure, it served more than 122 million TV shows. Hulu has been able
to build a brand from nothing and create a significant consumer
business just by putting TV on the web. And much of the success of Hulu
(among other properties created inside NBC Universal Digital Media) is
due in large part to the vision of one man, George Kliavkoff, the Chief Digital
Officer of NBC Universal.
George Kliavkoff is NBC Universal’s
first Chief Digital
Officer. Kliavkoff is responsible for furthering
the company's digital media strategy and developing new business models
and markets. He oversees the distribution of digital products across
multiple platforms, including on-demand, interactive television,
broadband, wireless, and IPTV, as well as digital innovation and
product development, portal and partner relationships. Kliavkoff served
as the interim CEO of Hulu, NBCU’s online video joint venture with News
Corp., and now sits on the board of the JV. Kliavkoff also sits on the
board of the Peacock Equity Fund, a $250 multimillion joint venture
fund with GE Commercial Finance to invest in early stage digital
companies.
Prior to joining NBC Universal, Kliavkoff was with
Major League Baseball Advance Media (MLBAM). As executive vice
president, business, Kliavkoff was responsible for MLBAM’s New Media
licensing business and for all business development related to
baseball’s interactive media unit. Kliavkoff oversaw MLBAM’s search
strategy and its games (console, internet, mobile, and fantasy)
licensing programs. During his tenure at MLBAM, Kliavkoff was named one
of Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40,” a list celebrating the
40 most influential sports executives under the age of 40.
Interviewing
Mr. Kliavkoff will be Limor Schafman, a good friend of
NY:MIEG and a past moderator and panelist. As president of
KeystoneTech Group, Limor brings her extensive experience to bear on
behalf of technology companies interested in introducing new products
to the marketplace or repositioning existing products into new
marketplaces. The technology arena offers Limor a spectrum of
opportunity to employ her business philosophies: listen closely to the
market, develop solution based products and services, and then utilize
market directed communication tools to open doors and close sales.
Through this process, Limor helps clients set the foundation for their
success and then works with them to achieve it. Limor began her marketing
business career in 1994 in the sector of digital media and
entertainment technology in Los Angeles, working in the production of
two full motion video games for the publishers Capcom and Groliers, and
then joining the executive team of a theme-park design/build company as
Director of Marketing and Business Development of Spectra
Entertainment, Inc. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, BA
and Boston University School of Law, JD, she is a member of the
California, New York, and Massachusetts state bars. She is also an
alumna of the Anderson School, UCLA Executive Program for Business
Management.
Dale Peskin/Managing Director & Co-Founder, iFOCOS
Dale is a widely engaged expert advisor on media and communications business and creative strategies, information design and innovation. He was the executive director of New Directions for News, a media futures think tank that merged with The Media Center in September 2003. Prior to joining NDN, he was a vice president of Belo, the Dallas-based media company, where he launched the company's initiatives in new media and media convergence. At Belo, Dale served as editor of Dallasnews.com and as an assistant managing editor of The Dallas Morning News. He was a founding officer of Belo Interactive, Belo's network of news Web sites.
Dale has served as deputy managing editor of The Detroit News and The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and managing editor of the Tribune Chronicle. Dale's awards include NAA's Digital Edge Award for Pioneering Online Journalism, the Sigma Delta Chi Award, and four Gold Medals from the Society for News Design. He was part of the team at The Detroit News that won the Pulitzer Prize.
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WHAT WOULD A HOLIDAY BREAKFAST BE WITHOUT A RAFFLE?
First...My buddy Stew Jr., and our good friends at Stew Leonard's have, once again, generously agreed to provide two of their fantastic fruit baskets for us to raffle off at the event. If you've never been to "Stew's" or received one of the baskets as a gift, you don't know what you're missing...they are awesome.
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From our friends Jason Krikorian and Jason Hirschhorn at SlingMedia, we will be raffling off a couple of SlingCatchers. The SlingCatcher is a universal media player for your TV. SlingCatcher's on-screen interface and remote control provide easy access to TV from your Slingbox, Internet video from your PC, or personal media from your USB hard drive. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the digital age on your TV screen.
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And back again are our friends at Pure Digital Technologies and Commstrat, who have agreed
to provide another Flip Video Camcorder...but not just any camcorder...
The Flip Video MinoHD Camcorder
The world's smallest high definition camcorder at just over 3 oz., this remarkably slim camcorder makes capturing and sharing HD video easy and affordable. The stylish Flip MinoHD from Pure Digital Technologies, priced at $229.99 (MSRP), records up to 60 minutes of HD video and features Flip Video's new FlipShare™ software.
for more info: http://www.theflip.com/index.shtml
NOTE: DUE TO CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS, WE WILL NOT BE RAFFLING OFF THE FLIP AT THE EVENT. IF YOU ATTEND THE EVENT WE WILL PULL THE WINNING CARD AFTER THE BREAKFAST AND THE WINNER WILL BE CONTACTED DIRECTLY. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
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Plus...
a Free Pass to "Future TV Show 2009" Jan 21-22 at the New York Hilton
(an almost $3000 value!)
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and books by our friends...all of whom are FOBS and either past panelists or moderators of
our fantastic events!
John Havens new book "Tactical Transparency"
Liz Lynch's new book "Smart Networking"
Shelly Palmer's "Television Disrupted" 2nd Edition
Brian Reich's book "Media Rules!"
And that's just the beginning...Santa Claus Sobel (or is it Chanukah Man Sobel?) is
keeping busy...so stay tuned for more great stuff!
*****
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Today more than two centuries later, Graham Windham cares for more than 8,000 of New York City's most vulnerable children and their families each year, providing over 50 educational and social-service programs from 18 community-based sites located in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Manhattan, as well as, The Graham School, a residential treatment center and a Special Act School (K-12) at Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.
New toys, gloves, mittens, scarves and books are welcome. Used items cannot be accepted.
Please do NOT wrap them..
Special Thanks to our corporate sponsor Samsung for use of their facilities and audio/video equipment
