Today is the launch of Futures of Entertainment 2. It's the wee hours of the morning now, and we're trying to get everything prepared for what we hope is a stimulating conference for academics and industry execs alike. We have a variety of folks coming in from around the country, and internationally, and from what looks to be about an even split of academic and industry registrants. We're hoping that it will lead to some stimulating conversation, on par with the energy developed around last year's event.
One thing I wanted to note before the conference begins is that we have had a couple of late additions to the program. Francesco Cara from Nokia will no longer be able to make it here for the mobile media panel this morning, so we will be joined by Anmol Madan of the Media Lab here at MIT.
Also, Jim Nail from Cymfony has been added to the list of speakers for the metrics and measurement panel this afternoon.
Anmol Madan is a Ph.D candidate at the MIT Media Lab, in the Human Dynamics Group with Dr. Alex "Sandy" Pentland. Anmol's research is around building perceptual, "socially-aware" mobile phones and wearables. By mining patterns of activity, proximity and media consumption, he's trying to create the next generation of mobile media applications that comprehend the user's social behavior. Anmol's past work has received attention from several hundred media sources worldwide, including CNN, BBC, Wired, Slashdot, NPR etc. He has published academic papers, received awards from the MIT 50k Entrepreneurship Competition and MIT Enterprise Forum and has been involved with two startups in the mobile space.
Jim Nail works as Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony. He is a thought leader and frequent speaker on how companies can tap social media like blogs and social networks to gain consumer insight and develop stronger bonds with influencers. He has an extensive background in integrated marketing through his 22-year career that spans online marketing, market research, brand advertising and direct marketing. Jim was an analyst at Forrester for eight years, focusing on how marketing strategies and tactics must adapt to technology-driven changes in consumer media consumption habits. Prior to joining Forrester, he helped launch Web advertising network AdSmart, where he served as director of marketing. He spent 15 years planning and managing integrated marketing campaigns at leading advertising agencies including Ogilvy & Mather Direct, Draft Worldwide, Bates USA and Hill Holliday. Jim is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.
