Should the Buyer Beware? Not at Streaming Media
“Can’t Buy Me Love,” sang The Beatles. Steely Dan named their first album Can’t Buy a Thrill. And you can’t buy editorial coverage in Streaming Media or speaking slots at Streaming Media shows.
There was a time that went without saying, but in today's native advertising-heavy world it’s worth making the point. Unlike other media properties and conferences, Streaming Media (the website, the magazine, and the conferences) will always clearly label sponsored content. It’s our responsibility to our readers, especially in an industry that’s still littered with unverifiable claims and hype.
That doesn’t mean we don’t find vendor-generated content valuable. Technology companies have insights from the front lines and work every day with end users to deliver the best streaming experiences possible. On the website, we publish vendor-contributed articles based solely on their value to our readers, and we label them with exactly that disclaimer. We’re not looking for vendors to write about their own products and services, but we welcome both big-picture and highly technical articles that give our readers insights into the challenges and opportunities they face every day. If you’re a vendor with an idea for an article, please send an abstract to senior editor Troy Dreier.
As for our conferences, we have an open call for speakers that runs for 4 to 6 weeks (typically starting about six months before the event), and we accept proposals from vendors as well as broadcasters, vMVPDs, content creators, and brands. We ask that vendors also supply a customer who can speak at the conference, either alongside the vendor or on a different panel. That helps us present the best mix of vendors and end users to our attendees. The submission period for Streaming Media East 2019 has passed, and we posted the provisional program earlier this week. We’ll be adding speakers in the coming weeks; some sessions are already filled, but others still have openings. If you’re interested in speaking, please email me.
We also feature several sponsored sessions at each of our events. At Streaming Media East and West, platinum sponsors deliver a 15-minute presentation to the entire audience after each morning’s keynote, while Gold Sponsors get a 20-minute presentation in our Discovery Track. In addition, each of our summits—the Live Streaming Summit, Video Engineering Summit, and OTT Leadership Summit—include “Spotlights,” where sponsors can make presentations or put together their own panels. The Content Delivery Summit is our only event where some sponsorships include speaking slots on panels.
As with articles on the website, that content will be clearly labeled as sponsored, but vendors can work with us to make sure they are presenting the best possible experience for attendees—something that goes beyond a sales pitch by providing real value and establishing thought leadership. Contact our publisher Joel Unickow for more information about sponsorship opportunities. (You can also download the invitations to sponsor for all the events).
Streaming Media will always actively welcome vendor contributions. We owe it to our readers to be up front about what’s paid for and what’s not.
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