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.

Posted by anastasia at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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!

Posted by anastasia at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

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

Posted by anastasia at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"Tweens are discerning consumers. They think a lot about what they are going to wear, whether their outfit matches their peach-sparkle nail polish, how clothes sit with a teal-colored cellphone ('Can you believe Mom didn't know what color teal is?'), what kind of sushi they are going to eat, and what to read after books like '30 Guys in 30 Days.'" - from Roger Cohen's New York Times OpEd "Twixt 8 and 12, the Tween"

Hot on the heels of next week's big event, the Ypulse 2007 Mashup, we've teamed up with Ziff Davis to co-locate a smaller event focusing on tweens and technology. The Ypulse Tween Mashup will be held September 28 at the Javits Center in New York City in conjunction with Digital Life, a massive consumer electronics show. We put out a press release today and are in the process of talking to potential speakers and sponsors. Here are a few highlights we've confirmed so far:

- A tween panel (hear directly from tween girls and boys themselves)
- A lunchtime keynote from Renee Hobbs, one of the founders of MyPopStudio.com, on the importance of media literacy

We are planning "old school/new school" panels again, similar to what we did with the bigger Mashup, looking at how traditional print and linear media is adapting to reach tech savvy tweens as well as getting to know the new digital players in the space. We hope to have mobile and gaming case studies as well.

There are "sponsored case studies" available -- if your company directly serves the tween market and would like to give a 15-minute sponsored case study focused on technology, please contact Charles Pelton from Modern Media.

So save the date, earmark your budget and plan on being there!

Posted by anastasia at 02:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)