MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT EXPLODING: CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & ENTERTAINMENT 2003 PREVIEW
By Michelle Riley
In it’s 3rd year CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & ENTERTAINMENT 2003, October 21-23, 2003, at the Sands Expo & Convention Center Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, is set to deliver the perfect platform for networking with all the necessary players in the wireless industry. Starting this year’s show is the Mobile Tech Forum on October 20, 2003. This is a must-attend event with keynotes from Andre Dahan, President, AT&T Wireless Mobile Multimedia Services and Peggy Johnson, President QUALCOMM Internet Services.
No time is wasted at the Mobile Tech Forum with panels that dive right into the topics facing the industry. Kicking off with “What’s Hot, What’s Not”, a look at the industry today with top executives from Sony Pictures Digital Networks, Fox, Nokia, Texas Instruments, Kyocera Wireless Corp., and Motorola’s iDEN Subscriber Group, sharing their experience and forecasting the direction devices and offerings, such as push-to-talk and multimedia messaging, are heading in the coming seasons. With the increasing popularity of file sharing services, one has to wonder if this will prove to be a hot topic on the panel in how it will relate to the wireless entertainment industry in the future.
The NHL will present a case study on how they have been working with wireless technologies followed by a panel looking at the probability of wide spread use of the same wireless offerings in other sports leagues. Many have wondered how major league sports will tap into wireless technologies and if the current wireless offerings are generating enough revenue to cover licensing costs and still be profitable.
Ted Cohen, EMI Recorded Music, Senior VP Digital Delivery and Distribution and Jeremy Welt, Maverick Records, Head of New Media, two well known early adopters of technology in the recording industry world share their views on digital rights management and the role it will play in the wireless phenomenon. Joining them are Thomas Gewecke, Sony Music Digital Services, Senior VP Business Development, David Ring, Universal Music, eLabs Group, VP Business Development and Business Affairs and Dan Olschwang, Comverse Fun Division, General Manager. Richard Conlon of BMI, another early adopter of new technologies, is moderating the panel.
As if that wasn’t enough information, the Forum then splits off into 3 separate tracks each hosting two panels to dive deeper into the issues specific to each market segment.
Track one is focused on Games and Mobile Community, starting off with a look at how the booming gaming and messaging industries have infused marketing into their offerings and reviews of the successes the European wireless market has experienced. The second panel looks at the secrets behind creating a hit game from attracting the consumers to handling the licensing issues.
The second track covers the Business and Technology of the Mobile Tech Forum with “Attracting Capital and Investment Outlook” covering topics including what investors are looking for, the current funding outlook and how to create strategic partnerships to secure funding. The next panel addresses how to monetize your mobile assets, looking at the reality that great apps with no revenue are a recipe for disaster.
Most of us have seen the commercials where consumers are sending digital photos to each other for various reasons including deciding where to have dinner. The third and final track simply titled, Multimedia, starts off with a look into the probability of consumers sending digital photos and eCards through their cell phones and the network needs if that is a reality of the future. Following is what may be one of the most interesting panels of the day, “Building on Ringtones” with a glimpse into what industry experts believe will be the future of ringtone offerings.
While it may feel that you have finished once the Mobile Tech Forum has concluded, it is merely an appetizer to the main event starting on October 21, with additional panels delving into more entertainment and IT topics including tutorials.
Amazingly enough with all of the information that is covered in the Mobile Entertainment Summit, no mention of filesharing and how it will gel with the wireless industry is made. To ignore the likely match in the future is like ignoring the sounds of a stampeding herd in Spain.
CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment will be the conduit that pushes the gaming and mobile entertainment industries into the next phase, forming strategic alliances and synergistically propelling both into the mainstream.
To register for this event: http://www.wirelessit.com
