Save The Dates: The Ypulse College Mashup & The 2008 Mashup

Posted by anastasia

Hot on the heels of the Ypulse Tween Mashup, which was co-located with Digital Life in NYC and attracted over 150 youth media and marketing professionals, we are planning our next event, the Ypulse College Mashup for February 1 at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, CA. The event will kick off with an evening program and reception on January 31st. The College Mashup is the second of our smaller one-day events focusing in a specific demographic or topic. Like all of our events, technology is also a major theme. These smaller events in different cities all lead up to our flagship event -- the big 2008 Ypulse Mashup, which will happen July 14-15, 2008 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco.

The focus of the Ypulse College Mashup will be on reaching today's college students with technology. We will use the same framework of hearing from both "old school" media companies and how they are adapting and leveraging technology as well as from some of the most buzzed about start-ups in the space. We're also planning panels on college activism 2.0, how technology is transforming the admissions process and about what kind of employees these students make once they enter the work world. We'll end the day with a panel of college students who will tell us about the role technology plays in their lives on campus. Just as with our past events, we will have a "user generated" lunch session where attendees can suggest topics and lead discussions.

We are reaching out to speakers and sponsors right now. We have all kinds of sponsorships available for this event -- including four slots for 20 minute sponsored case studies that focus on reaching college students with technology. Our keynotes and panelists for Ypulse Mashup events are all chosen by me based on editorial criteria. The sponsored case studies are the only paid speaking opportunity we offer. If you're interested in exhibiting or sponsoring, please get in touch with Charles Pelton.

We will be launching the registration site for the Ypulse College Mashup in the next week -- in the meantime, I want to introduce our small advisory board (which may expand a little bit) for this event.

Stephen E. Loflin, Executive Director, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars
Steve Loflin is the founder and Executive Director of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). Steve has held professional positions at the University of North Florida, The George Washington University, Georgetown University and the Semester at Sea Program. In 1994, Steve founded NSCS to recognize students who had done well academically during their first years in college and to provide members with an opportunity to be honored and involved in an organization devoted to scholarship, integrity and service. NSCS currently has more than 225 chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The membership consists of 160,000 current undergraduate students and 400,000 alumni lifetime members.Steve was recently elected president of the Association of College Honor Societies which is the only certifying organization for collegiate honor societies. In September 2007, in collaboration with Kaplan, Steve published Adventures Abroad: the Student’s Guide to Studying Overseas which is a compilation of study abroad stories, experiences and advice collected from members of NSCS. Originally from South Carolina, Steve attended the University of South Carolina, receiving a B.S. in Business Administration Marketing. Upon graduation, Steve attended Florida State University where he received an M.S. in Higher Education Administration with an emphasis on College Student Development.

Rajiv Mody, Senior Director of Franchise Development, MTV Networks Music/Logo Group
As the producer behind MTV Networks' Emmy-nominated seven virtual worlds, Mody manages day-to-day internal operations and works with all external partners to continuously develop and program the virtual worlds. Previously, Mody served as director of integrated marketing for MTV, manager of strategic partnerships and public affairs for MTV, and researcher and writer in MTV's News & Documentaries department. During this time, Mody helped establish MTV's integrated marketing west coast division, and coordinated presidential candidate appearances for MTV's voter registration campaign Choose or Lose 2000. Before MTV, Mody served as a research analyst in the Clinton White House. Mody earned a certificate in general management from the University of California Los Angeles Anderson School of Management and a bachelor of arts in political science and economics from Brown University . He has also completed the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications Executive Leadership Development Program.

Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success
Penelope Trunk writes career advice for young people. She explains why old advice - like pay your dues, climb the ladder, and don't have gaps in your resume - is outdated and irrelevant in today's workplace. She has a reputation for giving advice that is counterintuitive but effective, like take long lunches, ignore people who steal your ideas, and stop vying for a promotion. She is the author of Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. She writes a career column for Yahoo Finance, and a column in the Boston Globe that is syndicated in more than 200 newspapers. Trunk's blog has been featured in Business Week and the Wall St. Journal as essential reading for young people trying to steer their careers. Trunk has been a guest columnist for Time magazine writing about trends surrounding Generation Y at work, and she speaks widely on the topic of how to recruit and retain young employees.

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College Mashup

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Mashing It Up In NYC

Posted by anastasia

I'm still recovering from the Ypulse Tween Mashup last week in New York. I learned from our feedback forms that one attendee thought because we call Ypulse conferences Mashups, she thought the event would focus on music. I call them Mashups because I am attempting to reinvent youth marketing conferences by inviting unlikely people to attend and speak at the same event. For example, having Renee Hobbs keynote on media literacy provoked strong reactions (both positive and along the lines of this blog post). I think that's a good thing.

Just a few highlights for me:

1. The tween panel inventing "the double mic." We had two microphones for the tweens to pass back and forth, and they somehow decided that each tween using two at one time was better.

2. Watching the Kidzbop video and realizing that if I were a tween today I totally would have uploaded videos of myself doing handstands and walkovers to Duran Duran.

3. Hearing that attendees wanted to keep the discussion going on COPPA and how to create a uniform way for kids to register on their sites (more on this soon including a way for all of you who work at kid/tween sites to connect about this). As a sidenote, I want to give Ypulse advertiser and Mixer sponsor MyYearbook props for taking the lead on making 13 and up social networks safer.

4. Lunch! Once again the lunch discussions were buzzing, especially Peter Grunwald's research discussion, which drew so many people, he had to pull four tables together.

5. Yummy lobster rolls and Sakipolitans at Bongo

I also loved the video interviews with tweens Snippies produced for the event. You can watch them all online here. Our friends at Gorilla Soapbox recorded the entire day and we will be posting it (except for the tween panel) after we get through the July Mashup videos.

A big thanks to our sponsors:

Swivel
Kiki
Privo

And our exhibitors:

Whateverlife (did anyone see Ashley on "The View"?)
Beacon Street Girls
Pay Jr.
Snippies
Gorilla Soapbox

And the Ypulse Mixer sponsors:

MyYearbook
Fleishman Hillard's NGT

Thanks to everyone who attended! Our next event will be focused on reaching college students and will take place in early February in the Los Angeles area...Stay tuned.

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Details. Details.

Posted by anastasia

Just a quick post to let attendees know about some last minute details regarding the Ypulse Tween Mashup.

First, some logistical info:

- Location, registration and events
- Our lunch roundtables
- Transportation to the Javits Center (our venue) and weather
- What to wear
- Other stuff (like you can buy copies of Totally Wired on site!)

Location, Registration and Events

The conference begins on Friday, September 28, at 8.30 a.m. at the Javits Center, 655 West 34th Street. The Jacob Javits Center is located between 38th and 34th Streets from 11th to 12th Avenues on Manhattan's far West Side, best to enter from 11th Avenue.

Registration is in the Javits Center's Concourse E. There you will pick up your badge and will be directed to the Conference itself, which is in Room 1E 15/16. All other conference materials will be in Room 1E 15/16. (Millennials badges will not be valid for the Ypulse Tween Mashup.)

(For those of you who also registered on the Ypulse Mashup site for the Millennials Conference the day before, on Thursday, September 27, on-site registration is different. You'll pick up a different badge at The Millennials conference.

Remember, your pass to the Ypulse Tween Mashup also entitles you to visit the entire Digital Life show floor.

For the Ypulse reception at Bongo on Friday at 5:00 p.m., please email me to sign up. Spaces are limited.

Lunch Roundtables

Our "user generated" roundtables (led by attendees who volunteered to moderate discussions around specific topics) will be held at lunch. (We’ll provide the food, of course.) You need to sign up for the roundtable of your choice in the Exhibit area in the conference room. Don't forget to do this when you arrive because some of these discussions may fill up quickly!

The topics are:

- Future of tween magazines - Nancy Gruver, New Moon
- What's developmentally appropriate for girls 8-13 online - Joi Podgorny, Ludorum
- Tweens and video games - Jen Brown, Allykatzz
- Research on tweens and social media - Peter Grunwald, Grunwald Associates
- Why tweens love avatars - Maura Welch, Wee World
- Mom and the tween media experience - Dr. Mary Manz Simon
- Casual Games vs. Immersive Envionments - Bobbie Carlton, Beacon Street Girls
- Tweens and Payments - Jessica Stroud, Pay Jr.
- The Do's and Don'ts of COPPA - Denise Tayloe, Privo

Transportation and Weather

We encourage you to use public transportation to get to the Javits Center. Several bus lines pass by the convention center and there are subway stops a few blocks away. You can get driving and walking directions from the Javits Center site.

According to weather.com, the weather will be pleasant, but with isolated showers on Friday. (Need to check on Tuesday before finalizing final copy.)

Dress

Casual. Jeans are fine. But if you insist, you can wear business casual, too.

Other stuff

I'll have copies of my book, Totally Wired: What Teens And Tweens Are Really Doing Online, available for purchase for $15 (we can only take cash, sorry!) in the conference area. See you Friday!

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Kiki & Privo Sponsor The Tween Mashup

Posted by anastasia

The "early adopter" rate may have passed, but there are still good reasons to register for the Ypulse Tween Mashup. We just added two more sponsored case studies to the agenda. The first is from KiKi magazine, a start up magazine geared towards tween girls. I think it will be fascinating to hear about an independent upstart choosing to launch a print publication, and how they plan to leverage technology to make sure they stay in business. We will also have a case study from Privo, a company that helps brands market to tweens in ways that are safe and COPPA compliant. I first heard about them from work they did for the Schwab Foundation's site for tweens called Sparktop and met them in person at another conference this past spring. They will dispel the perception that you can't market anything to tweens under 13 online and talk about how to do it right.

Keep the lunch roundtable topics coming. Right now we have:

Future of tween magazines - Nancy Gruver, New Moon
What's developmentally appropriate for girls 8-13 online - Joi Podgorny, Ludorum
Tweens and video games - Jen Brown, Allykatzz
Research on tweens and social media - Peter Grunwald, Grunwald Associates
Why tweens love avatars - Maura Welch, Wee World
Mom and the tween media experience - Dr. Mary Manz Simon

Sponsor Roundtable
Tweens and Payments - Jessica Stroud, Pay Jr.

If you're attending and would like to suggest and topic and volunteer to moderate a lunch discussion, email me!

And finally, this event is not just about tweens, it has been powered by them as well. I wanted post a shout out to the tweens (featured in the photo: my business partner's daughter and her friends) who helped us mail out Mashup post cards last weekend!

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P&G's Beinggirl.com Will Be Kickin' It Old School

Posted by anastasia

I'm excited to announce that Tina So, the Interactive Marketing Leader for P&G North America's Health and Well-Being business (which includes Beinggirl.com) will be joining the Old School to New School panel at the Ypulse Tween Mashup. (Full disclosure: Beinggirl.com is sponsoring the Totally Wired Parent/Educator Tour.) I've actually been really fascinated by Beinggirl.com's blending of health information, community and entertainment as a way to build its feminine care brands with tween girls, and I think Tina will bring an interesting perspective to the online branded community discussion.

In other Tween Mashup speaker news, check out this interview with Joi Podgorny all about kids, tweens and online communities. Joi will be leading a session with Zoey's Room founder Erin Reilly called "Marketing to Tweens with Parental Consent Plus Age Verification that Works."

Finally, I want to thank all of our friends who are helping to get the word out, especially our newest friend, Cynopsis Kids, which is pretty much THE newsletter to get if you work in the kids/licensing/tv space. I also want to thank:

Ziff Davis/Digital Life
Digital Media Wired/The Millennials
The Experiential Marketing Forum
Youth Markets Alert
New Moon

The "early adopter" rate ends Saturday, so register now. Plus RSVP for the Ypulse Mixer sponsored by MyYearbook and NGT at Bongo if you haven't already (this is open to all Ypulse readers, not just Tween Mashup attendees).

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Pokemon To Join The 'Old School To New School' Panel

Posted by anastasia

It's funny to think about Pokemon being an "old school" brand, but the game has been around for over 10 years! Since its early days on the Game Boy, Pokemon has become a full blown media franchise with anime, manga, trading cards, toys, books, movies and more. I'm excited to announce that Lawrence Neves, the editorial director for Pokemon.com will be joining the Old School To New School Panel at the Ypulse Tween Mashup. Just one more reason to take advantage of the "early adopter" rate and register today.

For Ypulse readers already registered or planning to register, we will be reprising our hugely successful "user generated" lunch discussions. This means you can suggest a topic related to tweens and technology and moderate a roundtable discussion at lunch. Sample topics could be:

The future of tween magazines
What is developmentally appropriate for 8-13 year olds online?
How to reach moms and tweens
How to leverage different platforms for your tween oriented characters
Tweens and video games - which games are popular and why

Feel free to grab one of these and offer to moderate! Just email me.

We also added a new sponsor! Yes, my conference is being sponsored by a 17-year-old superstar -- Whateverlife will be joining us as an exhibitor at the Tween Mashup.

Finally, don't forget to RSVP for the Ypulse Mixer at Bongo (sponsored by MyYearbook and Fleishman Hillard's NGT). It will be full soon!

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Speaker Interview: Evan Bailyn, CEO, Cartoon Doll Emporium

Posted by anastasia

Tween girls love avatars. It's paper dolls gone virtual, and in the past year or so this space has exploded. While many of these sites cater to 13 and up (Meez, Zwinktopia, IMVU, Gaia), there are a handful that are kid-friendly and COPPA compliant, and Cartoon Doll Emporium is one of the larger sites (as is Stardoll, who will also be at the Tween Mashup). I did a quick interview with Evan Bailyn, the founder and CEO of Cartoon Doll Emporium, to find out more about their site and why they went the kid-friendly route.

Ypulse: What was the inspiration behind Cartoon Doll Emporium -- is this part of your "Peter Pan" complex ;-)?

Evan Bailyn Indeed, it is. Peter Pan Syndrome, to me, means living in your own world, apart from the societal mores that adults like to impose. I believe everyone has their own reality, and CDE is a reflection of that. Our site is going to be more and more a place where kids have control of their experience - a safe make-believe world.

YP: Why did you decide to make it tween friendly/COPPA compliant vs. going the 13 and up route?

EB: I wanted to include kids under 13 because kids imaginations are very fertile at younger ages and I think it is a super demographic to work with. Kids ages 6 - 14 are sophisticated in knowing what they like and don't like but when they find something that appeal to them, they can really fall in love with it. I've found that out from CDE's fan base.

YP: What's the most popular feature or game on your site? Why do you think it's so popular?

EB: Our superdolls are the most popular games on our site because they give kids hundreds of different clothing and accessory options. Kids come to CDE primarily because they love dress up games and we create more of them than any other site on the internet.

YP: Do you moderate your forums? How do you handle community management?

EB: We have six full-time moderators that cover the site 24/7. We also have over a dozen "junior police" - older kids that have earned moderating positions - that sweep the site on a granular level. We strive to be a leader in safety.

YP: What's new or coming soon on Cartoon Doll Emporium that you think Ypulse readers should know about?

EB: A ton of things are coming in the next two months. We are referring to this upcoming fall as the CDE Renaissance due to all of the new features debuting. I don't want to reveal too much, but our fans can definitely expect brand-new profiles where they can display all kinds of personal creations and make-believe items. We are also coming out with artificially intelligent pets that learn from their past experiences and play uniquely with other pets. There are at least ten more new features, but again, I have to keep hush-hush about them for now.

The "early adopter discount" ends September 15th, so register today! And RSVP for the evening event at Bongo (it's an "intimate" venue so the list will be full soon).

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Kidz Bop To Keynote The Ypulse Tween Mashup

Posted by anastasia

I'm really excited to announce that our afternoon keynote interview at the Ypulse Tween Mashup will be with Edith Bellinghausen, Vice President of New Media at Kidz Bop. In many ways, Kidz Bop is the little compilation CD that could...and could and could. They're right behind Disney in tween music domination and have launched a kid-friendly video site to support the franchise. Just like the big Mashup in July, our very good friends at Gorilla Soapbox will be recording these sessions for our virtual attendees to watch later. Since I'll be interviewing Edith, if you have questions you think I should ask, send them my way. We may have one or two more speakers to announce, but the agenda is set. Register today and take and advantage of the "early adopter" rates.

And just like at the July Mashup, we plan to have "user-generated" lunch roundtable discussions. So if you're planning on attending and would like to lead one, email me! We'll be pinging registered attendees on this soon...

Finally, don't forget to RSVP for the Ypulse Mixer Friday evening from 5-7 p.m. at Bongo sponsored by MyYearbook and Fleishman Hillard's NGT. Space is filling up very fast. This event is open to Ypulse readers with Tween Mashup attendees getting first dibs.

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Speaker Interview: Daniel Neal, CEO, kajeet

Posted by anastasia

There has been so much buzz about how kids are getting their first cell phones younger and younger inspiring the need for "parental controls." In fact AT&T just announced it is launching "Smart Limits," with options like limiting talk time, text messages, instant messages, and Web content and downloads. Of course, well before AT&T's announcement, kajeet was offering all of this to parents (plus tween friendly content). Daniel Neal will be presenting a case study (sponsored by Swivel) about kajeet at the Ypulse Tween Mashup on September 28th in NYC. Register now (for the "early adopter" discount) and learn more about what kajeet is doing in the tween mobile space.

Ypulse: Playing devil's advocate: Do tweens really need their own cell phones?

Daniel Neal: There's no denying that almost every tween wants a cell phone, but no, not all tweens need one. We don't advocate that. In our society, many factors make cell phones a useful and powerful tool for kids and families, one that can enhance convenience, connectedness and safety. Every family will decide for itself whether cell phones work for their kids. At kajeet, we've put a lot of thought and effort into making sure families and kids can customize their kajeet cell phone service to meet their particular needs, and to ensure that the content available on kajeet cell phones is appropriate for kids.

YP: How did you guys come up with your little alien-like characters?

DN: kajeet's six little dudes represent six different personalities in which almost all kids can see themselves. They are featured throughout our marketing campaigns and in our service itself, an ever-present reminder of who our company serves.

YP: How do you position kajeet against competitors like Disney Mobile?

DN: kajeet is different because it is a pay-as-you-go service with no long-term contracts, no need for mom or dad to switch their plan, and no activation or cancellation or other hidden fees. Our service plan and Wallet Manager enable families to help kids budget responsibly and for parents to always get through to their children. kajeet is the only cell phone service truly made from a kid's point of view. Our services, handsets and content are all about putting kids' needs and interests first, while always being thoughtful from a parent's perspective.

YP: What are the top three features parents say they want in a phone/plan? What about tweens?

DN: Parents - affordability, ease-of-use/simplicity, reliability

Tweens - cool-looking (and not babyish) handsets, lots of features (text messaging, IM, relevant games and ringtones, a camera, alarm clock), the ability to personalize their handset and service

YP: Tell me about your venture into Whyville (another Mashup speaker)...

DN: We partnered with Whyville because together we empower kids to communicate with each other in new and exciting ways. We consider our partnership, which is fairly new, a success -- within the first four weeks of opening, tens of thousands of Whyville citizens had visited the "kajeet Chat Factory" and discovered the fun and useful things they can do there.

YP: Anything else you think Ypulse readers should know?

DN: kajeet is much more than "just a cell phone company." We are all about providing kids and their families with mobile computing platforms that are always networked, and we do this in a way that always puts kids first and thoughtfully addresses the issue of children and technology.

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Party With Ypulse @ Bongo NYC

Posted by anastasia

The post-Tween Mashup cocktail party is ON. MyYearbook and Fleishman Hillard's Next Great Thing (NGT) are sponsoring drinks and light "finger foods" after the Ypulse Tween Mashup on Friday, September 28th in NYC. Bongo is funky and intimate, so space is very limited. RSVPs are mandatory. No plus 1s or 2s or 3s without names and emails for each additional person. We are reserving spots for Tween Mashup attendees so even if you RSVP (if you're not mashing it up with us at the Javits Center), we can't guarantee you'll get in (we'll email you beforehand and let you know).

If you would like to get on "the list" please email me (if you are attending or planning on registering for the Tween Mashup, say that in your email). The party is free and open to Tween Mashup attendees and Ypulse readers. If you're in town for Advertising Week, this is the perfect small event with like-minded folks to end on.

Here are the details:

Ypulse Mixer
Friday, September 28th, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Bongo
299 10th Avenue
New York, NY, 10001

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