Austin-based Engage Digital creates and produces technology-focused industry conferences and trade expositions. Since our founding in 2003, we have created and produced dozens of events in Austin, New York, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, and London. Industries and topics have included software development, mobile technologies, games, social media, youth, virtual learning and more.
Next up:
Tech Career Expo and Developer Jam – June 28-29, San Francisco, CA
The unprecedented convergence of the physical and digital worlds and their profound impact on the entertainment landscape is redefining what makes a brand a kid “must have” and a parent “I’ll pay for that”. Our Market Research Track taking place on April 26 at the 6th annual Digital Kids Conference in Los Angeles on April 25-26 will offer an in-depth look at the exploding connected youth market and help you identify trends and strategies to position your business for success.
Our Market Research Experts:
- Yuanzhe (Michael) Cai, VP of Research, Games and Technology, Interpret LLC
- Kathleen Cella, Director, KIDS, The NPD Group
- Jorian (Jori) Clarke, CEO, Circle 1 Network
- Donna Friedman Meir, Owner and Founder, LEMONADE Creative Consulting
- Wanda Meloni, Founder/Senior Analyst, M2 Research
- Nic Mitham, Founder and CEO, KZero Worldswide SA
- Renee Weber, VP, Consumer Strategy and Research, The Marketing Store
While the growth of digital play has companies partnering across business sectors with new-found ingenuity to keep pace, Nic Mitham, Founder and CEO, KZero Worldswide SA advises companies on the digital forefront expand their thinking to incorporate the physical world. “It’s no longer sufficient just to have a virtual world. From launch, companies need to consider the integration of additional channels such as mobile and licensing,” says Mitham. “The virtual worlds growing the fastest are the ones with offline presence.”
Market Research Track Sessions:
Recruiters looked to Engage Digital’s first Tech Career Expo @ SXSW as a powerful source for talent on March 9-10 at the Austin Music Hall, as 71 employers ranging from well-funded, early-stage startups to late-stage startups, established firms and public companies engaged 2,300 candidates seeking careers in development, design, engineering, management, marketing, sales and more.
Not your normal job fair, Tech Career Expo provided an unmatched opportunity for employers and talented professionals from across the nation and around the world to meet and network in one central location at SXSW. The hardest-to-find skills, according to recruiters, ranged from software development in Python, PHP, Linux, Apache and MySQLWeb development frameworks, to those involving UI Architecture, JavaScript OO Design and JavaScript frameworks/libraries in Sencha, MooTools, JQuery, etc. Companies are also searching for CSS expertise and professionals versed in Selenium, Chef/Puppet, Openstack, Ruby on Rails, Matlab, Pro/E, SaaS, and virtualization. Storage area network experience and information security skills and are also highly sought after, as are skills in Django, PostGIS, Sitecore, SharePoint, UX, Java and Drupal.
71 companies showcased more than 2,000 fantastic career opportunities.
Download the program (5.4mb pdf)
The 6th annual Digital Kids Conference is pleased to announce Bart Decrem, SVP and General Manager of Disney Mobile, as our day-two keynote speaker. Decrem, who leads the business unit behind the wildly successful ‘Where’s My Water?’ mobile gaming phenomenon, takes the floor of the Expo Hall at the Pasadena Convention Center in Los Angeles at 9:30 a.m., April 26 to discuss Growing Up Mobile – Developing a Global Franchise for the Mobile Generation.
Decrem will address how content producers are changing their ways to reach a generation growing up with mobile and tablet devices as their screens of choice. He will also delve into how entertainment companies like Disney are changing their character development and consumer experiences to serve their next generation of guests.
Decrem rounds out two days of exciting keynotes. Our day-one keynote features Todd Coleman and Josef Hall, co-creators of KingsIsle Entertainment’s popular online game Wizard101, discussing From Hardcore Gaming to the Kids Market – how they moved from hardcore gaming in the world of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) and achieved runaway critical and commercial success with the #1 AAA family-friendly online social game in North America.
Photos from this month’s Tech Career Expo @ SXSW.
With just over 30 days until our Digital Kids Conference takes over the Pasadena Convention Center (early registration ends this Friday, March 23rd) we are pleased to share word of new speakers added to the line up. Attendees will benefit from the insight of experts like Daniel Witenberg with Rovio (new Angry Birds Space game launches tomorrow), Kathleen Cella who manages NPD’s Group’s KIDS business, Stuart Drexler who’s experience spans Barbie, Elmo, LEGO and to Dan Klitsner who will discuss taking Bop it! From a Toy to Social Game. In all, Digital Kids Conference is the largest gathering of professionals engaged in building online and mobile products and services for kids: now fortified with more than 70 speakers. Recent adds include:
Daniel Witenberg – Lead Concept Designer, Web & Social , Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
Kathleen Cella – Director, KIDS, The NPD Group
Stuart Drexler, Chief Creative Officer, Mister Game
Dan Klitsner – Co-founder, KID Group LLC
Clark Stacey – President and CEO, Smart Bomb Interactive
Björn Jeffery – CEO and Founder, Toca Boca
Nancy McIntrye – CEO, Fingerprint Play
Holly M. Hawkins – Director of Global Consumer Policy & Child Safety, AOL
Nate Sawatzky – Director of Player Relations, Sleepy Giant Entertainment
Katharine Wang – Policy Analyst, Google
Marian Merritt – Norton Internet Safety Advocate, Symantec
Matt Palmer – Chief Strategy Officer, Sweety High
Dave Rogers – Managing Editor, Yahoo! Kids
With regulatory scrutiny heating up following the “dis-app-ointing” findings in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Mobile Apps for Kids Report (pdf), we are pleased to welcome FTC Staff Attorney Kenneth H. Abbe and State of California Special Assistant Attorney General Travis LeBlanc to the 6th annual Digital Kids Conference in Los Angeles on April 25 – 26, 2012. Both will be speaking in the Safety and Privacy in Mobile Apps session during the Digital Kids Safety Track.
In light of their recent commitments to step up enforcement in this area, Abbe and LeBalanc will address the unique set of safety and privacy concerns the mobile space presents for children and how new Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requirements could affect compliance. They’ll help the operators of social networks, online games, mobile apps, virtual worlds, and related products and services spot risks and advise what companies need to know to develop kid-friendly apps on multiple platforms.
We are pleased to announce our first keynote speakers for our upcoming Digital Kids Conference taking place April 25-26, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA! Todd Coleman and Josef Hall, co-creators of KingsIsle Entertainment’s popular online game Wizard101, will deliver the 6th annual Digital Kids Conference opening keynote address at 9:30 a.m., on April 25, 2012 in Los Angeles at the new Pasadena Convention Center.
Coleman, VP and Creative Director at KingsIsle and Hall, VP of Development at KingsIsle, will discuss how they moved from hardcore gaming in the world of massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) and achieved runaway critical and commercial success with Wizard101, the #1 AAA family-friendly online social game in North America.From Hardcore Gaming to Kids.
Wizard101 recently topped 25 million players and 13 million monthly visitors to Wizard101.com. The game launched in 2008 and is becoming increasingly popular with children 8 – 12 years of age and adults. Wizard101 currently operates in six European countries including the U.K., Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy, and moves into China later this year for a potentially huge pool of customers.
Thanks to the more than 2,000 people that braved the rain and joined us at this year’s Tech Career Expo @ SXSW in Austin. For those of you who missed it view the 1st floor and 2nd floor walkthroughs below:
The recent release of the FTC’s highly publicized Kids App Report suggest wide ranging implications to companies providing products and services to digitally connected kids and youth. With this in mind, Engage Digital’s Digital Kids Conference is offering an all-day workshop providing detailed strategies on how to create secure online and mobile experiences for child-aged users. The event brings together the brightest minds in the field today.
Press release with the details below:
Engage Digital today announced it is partnering with the kidSAFE® Seal Program to make children’s online and mobile safety a major focus at the 6th annual Digital Kids Conference – http://DigitalKidsCon.com – scheduled for April 25-26, 2012 at the new Pasadena Convention Center in Los Angeles. Digital Kids provides companies the critical information they need to reach digital kids and connected youth through online and mobile technologies.
kidSAFE and Engage Digital are co-producing the Digital Kids Safety Track, a day-long forum at Digital Kids Conference taking place April 25, 2012. The Digital Kids Safety Track addresses issues challenging the operators of social networks, online games, mobile apps, virtual worlds, and related products and services for kids and youth. Experts will provide practical advice and techniques for creating secure online and mobile experiences for child-aged users.
The Digital Kids Safety Track is one of five dedicated conference tracks. Subjects include: Operations, Content, Business, Safety, and Market Research. The Digital Kids Conference of panels, presentations, and interviews provides unparalleled exposure to best practices, current trends, and effective strategies behind the most successful techniques to develop and market to digital kids and youth.
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11 days until our Tech Career Expo @ SXSW takes place at the Austin Music Hall on March 9-10th. SXSW Interactive takes place at 14 difference campuses but a good majority of it is at the Convention Center. It is an easy walk from the convention center to the music hall but you can also rest your feet and take our luxury, Tech Career Expo SXSW Shuttle bus. The Tech Career Expo SXSW Shuttle stop is at the corner of San Jacinto Blvd and 4th Street (one block west of the Convention Center – near the Residence Inn by Marriott). The bus runs continuously, picking up every 30 minutes, starting at 11am on Friday and 12pm on Saturday. The shuttle runs from 11am to 5pm on Friday and 12pm to 5pm on Saturday.
Tech Career Expo SF Bay
" @AnatHovavEsq please follow us at @DigitalKidsCon. Formerly Engage! Expo, we've re-branded to Digital Kids Conference, April 25-26 in L.A. " — engageexpo
