This workshop will cover the latest advances in the Adobe Flash Media family for creating and delivering innovating interactive media applications. Topics will include how to deploy the highest-quality on-demand and live video to a browser, device, and desktop experience; protecting and managing content; and developing an enhanced video streaming experience in Flash. Attendees will also discover how to leverage the Adobe Media Player to deliver video to the desktop with new ways to monetize and protect content. This seminar is targeted at streaming media professionals with some Flash Media Server development knowledge who want to learn advanced development concepts from an Adobe expert.
 

Producing top-quality Web video involves multiple skills, including setting the scene (choosing your backgrounds, clothing, and positioning); lighting; shooting the video; scaling and preprocessing the video to the target resolution; and finally, encoding. This workshop illustrates each step with real-world examples and checklists for encoding into Flash, Windows Media. and QuickTime (iPod) formats. It will outline procedures for beginners and for those experienced in other media and will describe how producing for the Web differs from producing for broadcast, DVD, and other more traditional distribution outlets.

This workshop teaches you how to use Expression Media Encoder to publish live and on-demand content to Microsoft Silverlight. You’ll also learn techniques for getting the most out of the VC-1 codec over the Web and get expert advice on how to update your existing Windows Media site to a Silverlight experience.

This hands-on workshop walks you through the details of starting an audio podcast, from concept to delivery: RSS, blogs, hardware, software, etc. You’ll learn how to use some of Apple's tools and other devices as we create our own podcast within the workshop. How do I syndicate my show? What hardware/software do I need? How can I get listeners? All these questions will be answered by Jose Castillo, who was podcasting long before it had a cool name.
 

With the growth of high-speed broadband access, digital content owners are facing a surge in demand for Internet content. At the same time, consumer expectations are rising for reliable access to high-bandwidth movies, music, games, and software. This flood of new traffic is straining traditional content delivery platforms designed for a different era and, as a result, is taxing content owners with dramatically increasing content delivery costs. Content owners are now under pressure to find new content delivery solutions and are increasingly looking to peer-assisted networking technology. It’s arguably the only way to successfully deliver video on the Net.

A new breed of user-friendly video centric sites and video software has helped to make video as much a part of our online experience as music and photos. More and more, we're seeing enterprise companies invest in equipment that provides their employees with new ways to communicate using video, or even to create their own content. Whether companies are leveraging web video to conduct employee trainings, bring together geographically disparate employees, or enhance corporate communications, the technology fosters easy and effective collaboration that is critical to achieving and maintaining a competitive edge. Come hear how this shift is spurring a new model of business communication across the enterprise, both internally and externally.

When buying a streaming media encoding product, you want to make sure that it offers competitive speed, quality, and automation features. This session discusses the limitations of Adobe Media Encoder and Final Cut Pro's Compressor, then compares Grass Valley ProCoder/Rhozet Carbon Coder, KulaByte's Flash Encoder, Sorenson Squeeze, and Telestream Episode Pro, identifying respective quality and performance when outputting H.264, Windows Media, and Flash files for streaming and progressive download. Those new to the products will get a good overview and short demonstration, while those familiar with them will see a thorough quality/performance analysis.
 

This session delves into the intricacies and best practices of live broadcasting over the Internet. From signal acquisition to encoding and server distribution, the session will detail the best practices for delivering a live Internet Webcast. Discover how to deconstruct a complex and rich live event down to its elemental parts, from hardware and software to the workflow and signal flow of the production. Industry experts and end-users will share experiences and guidelines to help you produce successful, high-quality Internet broadcasts.

With the arrival of "video everywhere" and increasing online video viewership, what role does search need to play to make it easier for consumers to find what they want to watch? Indexing and chapterizing video to make it easily searchable can make the content much more valuable and effective, but that alone won't increase consumption. With the recent upgrades of searchable video services by major portals and the deals made with big media properties to index streaming and downloadable entertainment, video searching is quickly becoming crucial to today's content economy. Learn how some of today's search services work and what's being developed to make them even better.

P2P is making headlines these days for all the right reasons. Once the bane of the media world, P2P is emerging as a critical enabling technology of a video-centric Internet. Companies are increasingly looking at Peer-Assisted content delivery to leverage the inherent cost and scaling efficiencies, but what about the traditional CDNs? What role does P2P play in their future? Akamai and Verisign have led a consolidation trend with P2P acquisitions and others plan to bring hybrid offerings to market as well. We'll ask a panel of leading CDNs for their take on where they think P2P is headed and what it will mean for content owners.

The tools for making video are becoming increasingly accessible and easy to use. But when it comes to providing quality education, simply making video is not enough. To be truly useful, video must not detract from the content, and ideally should enhance it. In this panel experts in the field will discuss methods and tips for producing programs that make the most of online video's advantages in order to create a better learning experience.
 

Recent numbers showing that TV viewership might actually be on the decline continues to motivate traditional media companies to move their content into the online world. This brave new world of instant access and ultra-niche content has frustrated some companies but also given unexpected new areas of growth to others. Find out how traditional media is using the power of online video to access new audiences and engage with current users. Hear from our panelists about specific tactics and strategies they are using to leverage the power of new media. What does the future of online interaction look like as TV takes its last breath?

Whether you’re in an organization that needs to deliver lots of video or a smaller company that needs to deliver only a few videos, the going rate for these services can still be hard to figure out. What variables determine the final price? What is the going rate when you outsource delivery and storage to a third party? This presentation will offer real pricing numbers from large, globally focused content delivery networks as well as smaller regional service providers. Hear what the going rate is today for video delivery and learn what you should really be paying for these services.

Today, with the influx of new entertainment devices, consumers no longer rely on just the PC for their online video consumption. Between iPhones and iPods, their XBOXes and TiVos, consumers now have many ways to get their video fix. So what are the new business models that will be created from these new devices? What current hurdles need to be solved so that content can be monetized for multiple platforms? Explore with this panel the role of current consumer entertainment devices in this new convergent world and how these devices will play together to offer a superior video experience.

How can content companies and ad agencies create the most compelling video ads? What is the best way to leverage the brand awareness and interactivity that online video advertising has to offer? This sessions will focus on the creative side of online video advertising and will teach you some best-practices for creating the right content that's best suited for online viewing. Come see firsthand examples of some of the most creative and successful online video campaigns running today, hear how they were made, and learn what makes them successful.

Online video is experiencing explosive growth as it moves from a distribution platform to an entertainment experience. The next generation of online video will be based on quality programming and compelling content as it breaks out of the early-adopter phase to become a mass-market medium. While a small fraction of consumers watch online videos regularly, the imbalance between online video and traditional video is shifting. Video creators are key to changing the way people view videos as content improves, but distributors and producers also have an important role to play as they find opportunities in key challenges such as building business models, protecting intellectual property, securing infrastructure, and managing content.

Whether creating new programming or repurposing archival content, what are the most effective methods to impact consumers and develop a lasting brand identity for your company? Consumers aren't the only ones faced with myriad distribution options. From video to podcasts, content providers and creators encounter enormous challenges as they attempt to effectively identify and create meaningful connections with target audiences. Betsy Scolnik, president of National Geographic Digital Media, will discuss the challenges of intelligently creating or syndicating short- and long-form programming as well as address how a company can evaluate new distribution opportunities that resonate with consumers. National Geographic Digital Media is actively addressing these issues through content distribution on new and emerging platforms from YouTube to MySpace and by producing award-winning broadband programming and podcasts.

Today, companies' uses of enterprise video deployments are typically justified with the ROI metric of cost savings. While there is no doubt that this is part of the value proposition, some data suggests that revenue generation-rather than cost savings-is the true “killer app” for the enterprise. This panel of corporate users will discuss the implications of using video in the enterprise with an eye towards revenue generation, and they'll explain how streaming video can accelerate a product launch or bring new sales people up to speed, resulting in revenue growth.

Session attendees will learn about Adobe Media Player, a lightweight download that delivers innovation for both viewers and content owners. For viewers, Adobe Media Player enables higher-quality Flash format playback, the ability to download and view videos offline, ways to discover interesting new shows, full-screen playback, one-click viewer ratings, and a powerful Favorites feature that automatically downloads new episodes of favorite TV shows or video podcasts.

Over the past twelve months, user generated video has become one of the hottest topics and terms in the industry. With nearly a hundred video portals or service offerings all based on user-generated video, and more launching each day, can any of them survive? What business models need to be put in place for these companies to make it in the long run? Will advertising ever provide the revenue they need or even help them cover their bandwidth bills? With so many sites that seemingly do all the same thing, how will these sites distinguish themselves from one another? Come hear directly from some of these UGC sites and learn what they are doing to try and lead the charge to profitability.

With all the various means of distribution and protocols available for video today-CDN, P2P, streaming, progressive download-there is still no single solution that will meet all customers' needs perfectly across all platforms and devices. Learn the various methodologies for content distribution, as well as the pros and cons of each type. Speakers will also discuss which methodologies apply best to which platforms and geographic locations based on type of content, length and format of video, and target audiences. Panelists will also provide you with guidelines and formulas for determining the best single and/or hybrid solution for your online video distribution needs.

This session will examine the problems that must be overcome in order to allow Internet operators to stream video directly to the TV. We will examine the major barriers to delivering a television experience over broadband, including how to achieve a standard for authoring a 10-foot interface, how to navigate an endless ocean of content with a television remote, and the meaning of channels in the Internet world. TV is not (yet) an interactive medium but are there signs viewers will interact; this session explores some of the ways that interaction might occur.

Despite all the talk of how well online video advertising works and the projections of it being a billion-dollar business by next year, whether or not content owners and portals are actually making any money is still open to debate. How has the shift in ad budgets from TV to the Internet affected the online video advertising industry? Which type of advertising works best online: pre-roll, post-roll, in-stream, sponsorship, or all of the above? Does revenue come with the audience, or will a sudden spike in popularity sink your production under a mountain of bandwidth costs before you ever get a chance to swim? Come hear the factors that are affecting the current business models for online video advertising and the hurdles that need to be overcome to truly allow content to be monetized on the Web.

As the acceptance and appreciation of streaming has grown within the enterprise, so have the expectations of the user base. Today it takes much more than just a few strategically placed capture boxes to meet those expectations—it takes a streaming ecosystem that makes it easy and convenient to create, manage, and distribute content to a globally dispersed user community. This panel of end-user and industry vendor experts will discuss the elements of a streaming ecosystem and provide tips on selecting the proper solutions and integrating them effectively. For organizations seeking to deploy or fix an already deployed enterprise-wide streaming solution, this session is not to be missed.

Within the past year, a host of new content delivery companies based on P2P and other delivery solutions are stepping up to challenge the traditional way of delivering video. But confusion still reigns as to exactly how their technology works, what their value propositions are, and how they differ from other solutions in the market. This special demo session will give four new companies in the space the chance to showcase their technology and answer questions about their solutions. Come see first-hand what Move Networks, Grid Networks, Solid State Networks and BitGravity have to offer. Bring any questions you may have, as these companies will join Dan Rayburn for a Q&A session after their demos.
 

This session will show you how you can encode video and audio assets to be published to the web using Microsoft Expression Encoder. This session will cover Expression Encoder's tools for encoding, enhancing and publishing both file-based and live sources to Microsoft Silverlight. Come see first hand how Microsoft’s new Expression Encoder software works and what some of the key benefits are that can be achieved with the platform.
 

This panel is focused on the investment side of the online video space. As industry participants, we already know who our customers are, what they want, and how we are going to deliver it, but how many of us really know how much an online video company is worth? The experts on this panel will tell you what you need to know, from seed funding to going public to one day being sold. Panelists will discuss how Wall Street looks at the online video sector, how it values our companies, where it thinks the industry is heading, and what it is most excited about. This is a panel you don't want to miss!

Hear how Limelight Networks and its forward-thinking customers and partners are tackling “the monetization mandate,” one of the largest challenges content providers face today. How can companies monetize their content and traffic at rates that can cover operations costs and generate some level of profitability? Only companies that solve the monetization problem will have valuable businesses over the long term. Included will be discussions on how global CDNs can help high-growth customers drive unit cost low enough to break even and the role of analytics in helping publishers more clearly understand and characterize their inventory to achieve superior CPM rates. Successful customer business models and suggested areas of focus for efficiency efforts will also be discussed.
 

Online video has been well adopted by the corporate world. The ROI is getting better, and the toolsets are leading to rapid development of media assets. But while corporations are using web video as a targeted marketing tool to drive customers to their businesses, academia has yet to embrace this opportunity to drive student enrollment. Learn how and why several of the major institutional areas can benefit from online video and explore why educational institutions should be using online media as a marketing and institutional growth tool.

With the explosion in online media content, new audiences are interacting with new kinds of content in new ways. Industry standard values have become disrupted and traditional content creators are adapting. What are some of the underlying threads in media content productions that are enduring and what new qualities are taking hold? What changes have new web structures brought about? What kinds of expectations must content creators have when the audience is in control? How is the audience different? Who is contributing, who is filtering and who is consuming? These are some of the questions we will address while looking into this exploding arena of information and entertainment for the web.

With the promise of expanded distribution outlets for Independent, content creators there are significant challenges. What are the steps you need to know in order to achieve success selling your content on-line, or within closed IPTV platform? Which aggregators and super aggregators are active in their search for niche market content? Can indie producers make a living on-line? Which small too medium size producers have found success and how have they achieved success? What specific case studies exist? These are some of the questions we will address while looking into this exploding arena of information and entertainment for the web.

This session will bring together four frontline streaming media professionals to discuss their favorite toolsets and techniques for producing enterprise communications and training content. The emphasis will be on in-house production with "off-the-shelf" tools and apps, rather than turnkey or outsourced solutions. Premiere or Final Cut Pro? Camtasia or Captivate? Flash or Silverlight? Or all of the above? What works and what should be avoided? All this and more will be covered in this enterprise-focused session.

This wrap up session will be an open discussion with some of the leading analysts who cover the infrastructure, advertising and content markets within the online video industry. Come hear what analysts at IDC, Wainhouse, Forrester and others think about where the market is going, where the real opportunities are and what the disruptors will be in the ecosystem for online video. Learn about new business and revenue models these analysts are tracking and find out what technologies they are most excited about. Attendees are encouraged to bring their questions for the analysts for some lively Q&A interaction.