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 Streaming Media Magazine, a publication devoted to the technology and business of streaming media, which will be launched in February 2006, is must-have resource for anyone involved with formulating digital media strategies. Watch this presentation for details. |
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 Applications for using portable media will continue to increase as new technologies ramp up and more platforms and wireless bridges are added. Growth in content distribution is also driving research to develop multi-use devices that will receive all media and communication streams, a development that will, in turn, lead to even more explosive growth in the industry. Experts in the new and exciting digital world discuss how their companies are building a business around satisfying consumer demands for communication and media broadcasts on the go. |
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 Whether podcasting represents a paradigm shift or not, it is changing the way people are consuming content and giving consumers the ability to get the content they want, when they want it. Expert panelists discuss how the new mobile technology is affecting media distribution. |
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 Rich media advertising using multiple elements online is one way to monetize internet content but it should deliver the client’s marketing message without triggering the consumer’s annoyance. The web offers the ability to engage the consumer through interaction and a higher level of involvement with the advertising to increase brand exposure but doing that requires a high degree of creativity. As the industry matures, we are seeing more use of compelling internet advertising as part of a total marketing campaign integrated with other media. |
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 This presentation covers the business aspects of internet radio – monetizing internet radio, competing with traditional radio, business models, leveraging content, operating compliant with copyright law, subscription vs. advertising income, the issues and obstacles facing internet radio. |
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 In a unique session to help people choose providers, content delivery vendor reps give back-to-back presentations on their services, features and prices then answer audience questions. Learn what you need to know in order to make an intelligent decision about vendors and services. |
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 Kevin Forman, General Manager of Helix Platform at Real Networks, gives a brief history of computing and mobile communications / entertainment devices, then comments on the pace of innovation and where the industry is headed. Examples are given of the various ways corporations, government and organizations are currently using mobile devices to communicate with employees and other stakeholders -- quarterly earnings reports, broadcasts of civic meetings, press conferences, emergency alerts, university lectures and distance learning. Kevin said, “Today, hopefully, your telecommunication solutions involve webcasting, podcasting and phonecasting. And if they don’t you might not be as effective as you want to be.” |
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 Panelists describe how their organizations use webcasting for internal communications, training and marketing purposes. They present their lessons learned and best practices for planning, promoting and producing effective live and/or archived webcasts that meet their communication requirements. They discuss equipment and technical aspects, getting management cooperation, and other considerations of executing effective webcasts. |
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 To assist advertisers gain knowledge about what is available from online advertising service providers, this presentation brings several vendors in the advertising space together to give side by side presentations. Vendors demonstrate their services on an actual client’s site, describe how their services are sold, and give the cost of their services. |
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 State Farm Insurance, which handles its own media from print to video, brought different departments together in a cooperative effort – IT, technical and creative video personnel, graphic artists, and programmers – to produce synchronized blended media products and ensure that content works technically. Team members from State Farm’s production team discuss their aspects of the company’s media productions. |
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 The speaker shares useful tips for streaming applications for enterprises such as triggering slides numerically from within the captions file, pulling wordpad up to the desktop to enable dragging and dropping items on top of the wordpad file, and using absolute positioning within cascading style sheets. He shares these and other useful shortcuts, tips, lessons learned and best practices. |
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 Dr. Steven Haimowitz, President and CEO of Healthology, describes how he uses information technology and streaming media to deliver health content. Dr. Haimowitz created a streaming video library of health information to provide physicians an education platform to reach out to the audience of health care consumers and patients. He also discussed the operational challenges, the business strategies and the business model of Healthology. |
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 Streaming media has become a recognized business tool. Panelists from media Companies, a research facility and an investment company discuss the real costs of using streaming media on a corporate network as well as the Return on Investment including how streaming can save money or generate profits. The decision to utilize streaming is being driven both by cost savings and effectiveness of communications. Advantages of using streaming video is the ability for management to track the number of viewers and rapid dissemination of mission critical information. In many ways, streaming media is changing the way business is being conducted. |
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 Techniques such as polling and interactive questioning can enhance the viewer experience and help attract, engage and keep the audience. Panelists from diverse organizations share their expertise on adding interactivity to webcasts for both internal and external communications, advertising the webcasts, cost and ROI of producing content, creation of new material versus repurposing existing content, how to be truly interactive and create a dialogue with the audience, judging effectiveness, best advice for client satisfaction, and more. |
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 Akamai’s forecasts for the industry include delivery of a significant percentage, 25-30 percent, of media assets delivered via IP. Some key trends that will drive this change include: enough bandwidth available to deliver rich media assets to consumers, security, monetization, syndication, the proliferation of IP-enabled consumer devices, and on the business side a desire to monetize a full spectrum of content. Akamai provides an end-to-end value chain that includes storage, management and delivery mechanisms that bring media assets to the end user in a way that is simple and intuitive to the consumer. For example, Akamai stores and delivers all the iTunes for Apple. |
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 Streaming Media (www.streamingmedia.com)
Joel Unikow, Associate Publisher, handles the business end of Streaming Media, for print, online and the trade show. |
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 Interview with Kris Alexander, Media & Entertainment Solutions, Sr. Solution Manager (www.akamai.com)
According to Kris Alexander, “If you look at everything that’s been happening we have only been touching on the amount of media and entertainment assets that are delivered over IP and if you look at what’s happening in the next 18 months it’s going to be very exciting”. |
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 Consultant, Shell Services International
Gerald Tyler gives his perspective on the industry – pod-casting is real big right now as well as sending a signal to cell phones, PDAs to desk tops – sending one signal to many different formats is the big thing right now. |
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 RTI International
Cliff Hack, RTI International, a company that does applied research, says that “streaming media is going to be a mainstream technology, a mainstream media, and so it is going to be an important part of media distribution. |
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 IWA (www.webcasters.org)
Intervox Communications (www.intervox.com)
Peggy Miles, Intervox President, comments on a maturing streaming industry with established companies that have a product to sell and corporate clients who recognize the value of using streaming media to disseminate their message. |
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 Abacast (www.abacast.com)
Abacast is a company that provides peer to peer streaming technology that creates higher quality stream and produced the bandwidth broadcasters require at reduced cost. In layman’s terms – saving money, higher quality streaming. |
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 Live Square markets a product that combats the most serious threat to growth of the streaming industry – piracy. Bret Scott, CTO, says his company tries to break its own systems because “you have to constantly monitor yourself because there are many great talents out there that are very good at liberating media. |
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 Chris Hock, VP of Product Management at Macromedia and Mike Sawyer, VP of Marketing at Limelight Networks announced that Limelight is a Flash video streaming service partner with Macromedia. According to Mike Sawyer, Macromedia’s capability to do Flash streaming and Edge Origin Architecture is a perfect fit with Limelight’s scalable delivery of music, video, games and downloads across all formats. Chris Hock also discussed Macromedia’s release of new Flash Media Server 2, which combines traditional streaming capabilities with a development environment that allows creation of rich interactive multimedia applications, working across browsers and platforms with full creative control and can now be used in conjunction with the server to power large scale delivery of applications. |
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 Lou Grekko, VP of Sales for Limelight Networks and Duane Kuroda, CEO of Bitpass discuss a strategic alliance in which Limelight, which has an extraordinarily scalable network to deliver large scale streams cost effectively, uses Bitpass’s innovative technology and slick front end to enable e-commerce. Bitpass, which also partners with Microsoft, Disney and other global companies to help them monetize their media streams, has recently introduced a new pod-casting solution. |
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 Following the first day of Streaming Media West, TV Worldwide CEO Dave Gardy and InterVox President Peggy Miles discuss the past, present and future of streaming media, especially the impact of streaming video to mobile phones. Peggy Miles summed up the predicted growth in streaming media, “Once people know they can get the content whether or not they port it to their phone, whether or not they port it to their television set, whether or not they port it to a digital projection wall, we are going to get that content.” |
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 Dave Gardy, CEO of TV Worldwide, announced a teaming effort with Golf Marketing International and the Washington Golf Centers in Washington DC to introduce an internet golf channel, golfcenter.tv. The website provides golf merchandisers a showcase to explain their technology and gives training tips and videos suitable for the novice as well as the committed golfer. On the web, the novice can become educated on the game anonymously and learn to select appropriate equipment. The site has specific segments for men, women and youth because each demographic has unique needs for equipment. Programming includes equipment technology demos, golfing techniques, coaching youth golfers, live events, webcasting, tournaments, behind the scenes content, the opportunity to interact and ask questions, and more. |
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