Program

Peter Shankman, a visionary in the world of PR and social media, talks about
growing his company (HARO), from a Facebook group to a $1 million dollar business in just one year, the power of networking, and why user generated systems work.

PETER SHANKMAN Founder HARO (Help a Reporter Out) Tw:@skydiver

Businesses are amping up their social media sites to engage directly with their customers. Ben Huh, CEO of I Can Has Cheezburger will share the innovative ways has turned users into customers through social media, and ended up with over one million Twitter followers.

BEN HUH CEO I Can Has Cheezburger? Tw:@benhuh

By finding the right audience and developing a unique platform targeted to and created by women, Kate Thorp, CEO of Real Girls Media, has built an engaged community of over 5.3 million users. She joins us at UGCX to talk about combining editorial, user-generated content, and advertising to build robust communities.

KATE THORP Founder and CEO Real Girls Media Tw:@KateThorp

Learn from a few unexpected places how marketing campaigns that engage customers drive powerful results, reposition brands, and provide valuable customer insight data.

JESSICA AMASON Viral Media Editor, BuzzFeed.com	KEN DAVENPORT Renowned Broadway Producer, changing theater marketing through social media	DAN LACIVITA SVP/Executive Director at Firstborn Multimedia, and creator of the new Ford Mustang campaign

Tom Himpe and David Bausola, of London based creative marketing agency Ag8, join us to talk about their groundbreaking model for branded entertainment. They recently partnered with Ridley and Tony Scott to create “Purefold”, a Blade Runner-inspired web series that demonstrates a new era of branded entertainment – brands develop plot lines and distribute them online, and social networking site FriendFeed picks up user conversations and adds them to the mix. Ridley Scott’s company, RSA films, picks it up from there to blend the user-generated ideas into short, web segments. It’s a project you will definitely want to learn more about!

MANOUSH ZOMORODI Reporter, anchor, and host Reuters Television	DAVID BAUSOLA Co-founder Ag8	TOM HIMPE Co-founder Ag8 Tw:@tomhimpe

Breaking news stories make their way to the public through social media sites, user generated news sites, mobile, and more. It’s a new kind of newsroom, and in this UGCX session, you’ll hear from some of the business leaders who are changing the way we get our news and information.

ROME HARTMAN (Moderator) Executive Producer BBC World News America	SCOTT KARP Co-founder and CEO Publish2 Tw:@scottkarp	MICHAEL MEYERS Co-founder and CTO NowPublic Tw:@NowPublic	RACHEL STERNE CEO & Editor-in-Chief Ground Report Tw:@RachelSterne

As the print newspaper industry continues to shift, you might ask: where will I find the local news and information if my news source shuts down? The web, of course. Media organziations are increasingly aggregating content and links from bloggers, reporters, and local sources, to develop niche content and reach a targeted audience. It is a trend that focuses on the neighborhood, on the city, on the region; and builds community by providing a forum for conversation about the issues that matter most. Find out from leaders in the local news and information space why this makes sense, and is a trend you should keep your eye on.

CARMEN SCHEIDEL Director, Education, Events, Multimedia mediabistro.com Tw:@scheidel	BEN IFELD Co-founder Sacramento Press	MARK JOSEPHSON CEO Outside.in Tw:@markjosephson

CHRIS TOLLES CEO Topix Tw:@tolles	MIRIAM WARREN Director of Marketing Yelp.com Tw:@MiriamWarren

Break

KEYNOTE: Behind the Reporter's Notebook: The Power of the Crowd

JEFF HOWE Contributing editor, Wired Author, Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future of Business Tw:@crowdsourcing Jeff joins us while on leave at Harvard,  where he is a Neiman Fellow. During his time in Cambridge, Jeff will focus on the impact  of social media and the use of crowdsourcing for the development of sustainable journalism models, and he’ll bring some of his research findings to UGCX. Jeff will talk about the socio-economic implications of crowdsourcing, especially as many media companies continue to build niche products and go hyper-local; why the crowd needs to be educated (how do you engage an audience that is out of your demographic, and not on the internet?), and how you can encourage good user-generated content from your audience.

Break

Building community, allowing your users to create and dsitribute content, all in the interest of a robust bottom line. Hear why the new social initiative is working, and how you can wrap it into your strategy.

EMILY RILEY Senior Analyst Forrester Research

I Can Has Cheezburger? was a runaway internet sensation -- a business almost completely created by its users. Find out how it happened, and what you can learn from the way this online entertainment company was built.

SCOTT PORAD Cheezburger Technology Officer I Can Has Cheezburger? Tw:@scottporad

Break

Like the music business, the film and television industry is changing at a rapid pace. No longer does one need the backing of a major studio to produce a film, television or web series. blip.tv and newly found partners are leading the charge, helping content creators and producers to get their programming to the masses.

SARA BENINCASA Comedian and Writer	JUSTIN DAY Co-founder Blip.tv	ERIC MORTENSEN Director of Content Development Blip.tv

Building a hyperlocal presence, forging key partnerships, and overseeing funding for a non profit media company in the current economy - these are just some of the challenges Vivian Schiller faced when she became President and CEO of NPR in 2008. In this closing keynote, we'll hear about the initiatives she's leading to bring this traditional media powerhouse into the new media world.

VIVIAN SCHILLER President and CEO, NPR