Tabula Rasa NYC – April 29, 2010

The Coverage

“Just a scant four weeks after the launch of the iPad, WeMedia had the
wisdom to gather some folks to spend a day exploring the future of the
iPad economy.” – Steve Rosenbaum, Fast Co. Company Expert Blog

“Wow. You … hit the ball out of the park, gathering so many
influential people in one room at such a pivotal moment … ” –
Joe Zeff, Joe Zeff Design

“Why iPad mags cost $4.99:” The Jarvis-Quittner cat fight. –
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, CNNMoney/Fortune

“At Tabula Rasa NYC, WeMedia’s iPad conference this week, there were
plenty of new apps and interesting specs on display. But pricing is
still a thorn in the side of many developers – especially publishers.”
– Meghan Keane,Econsultancy

“Tabula Rasa: A Tablet Computing Throwdown,” … is one of the first
and provided an impressive lineup of digital professionals offering
very early reactions about what the iPad might mean to business,
popular culture, and social interaction in general.” – Publisher’s
Weekly

Follow the Twitter stream from the conference at #wemedia

The Movie

The Pitch

The iPad game is on. First-movers have bought their machines and built their apps. While Apple isn’t the only tablet in town, many media-makers think the iPad era will open up a vast new frontier for paid content, sustainable digital businesses and happy days.

We see something much bigger, and grander – a new playground for mobile media experiences, the return of pleasure, some technical hurdles and annoyances, boys with toys, yet another battle for control and world domination – and, still, fresh fields for disruptors and innovators.

We see a blank slate – Tabula Rasa.

Join the We Media innovation group in New York on April 29 for a creative THROWDOWN on tablet computing. We’ll provide a fresh look at what to make of tablets – and what to make with them.

Our fire-starters include a sizzling-smart group of developers, designers and business strategists, including: Roger Fidler, the godfather of tablet computing; BuzzMachine’s Jeff Jarviss; Upendra Shardanard, CEO, Daylife; Greg Yardley, Co-Founder, Flurry; Roger Black, Roger Black Studios; Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science; Merrill Brown, Principal, MMB Media; Alisa Bowen, SVP & Head of Consumer Publishing, Thomson Reuters;Tom Limongello, Sr. Director of Business Development, Crispwireless; Paulo Lopez, Product Designer, NPR Digital;Matt Mansfield, Medill/Northwestern University;Rick Robinson, Founder, SonicGleek Productions;Rachel Sterne, Founder/CEO, Ground Report; Robert Spier, Director, NPR Mobile; Tom Tancredi, Founder, Tom & Dom; Chrys Wu, Matchstrike

Creating content or businesses on the tablet? Designing interfaces or apps? Planning to publish a newspaper, magazine or book on a tablet or eReader? Making movies, music or games for mobile devices? Love the iPad? Hate the iPad? You gotta be there.

Bring your ideas, designs, business plans and creativity. We’ll provide fodder for creative collaboration, bring talented people together and put the rest on you.

It all happens at the Digital Sandbox Event Center, 55 Broad Street, New York City from 10 am to 4 pm on Thurs., April 29.

Who should attend?: The day is designed for a diverse mix of publishers and broadcasters; device-makers; designer-developers; techies, marketers, investors, NGOs, as well as mobilecom, telecom, social media and entertainment transformers.

The Program

9:30 CHECK IN, MEET & GREET

10a TABULA RASA / Does this change everything?
Shiny New Things and the Device Decade / Design-driven innovation / Publishing imperatives / Social & mobile apptitude / Cool-seeking experiences / Future of context / Channels & Controls / The App Economy
Firestarters: Dale Peskin and Andrew Nachison, We Media; Rachel Sterne, CEO, Ground Report; and Upendra Sharanand, CEO, Daylife.

10:30 MEDIA-MAKERS THROWDOWN / Demos of the most creative new interfaces, apps and concepts from media brands, magazines, newspapers, books, telecoms, independent developers and designers.
ESPN
NPR
Popular Science
Zagat’s
Thomson Reuters
Newsy
New York Times
Curator’s choice: Time, Alice in Wonderland

12 FEEDBAG / Food, Feedback & Foresight Forum with media visionaries
New media pioneer and visionary Roger Fidler, Director for Digital Publishing of the Reynolds Journalism Institute; Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine; Roger Black, Roger Black Studios; user engagement strategist Chrys Wu, Matchstrike; Rick Robinson, Founder, SonicGleek Productions.

1:15 GOOD APPLE, BAD APPLE / GOOD BUSINESS, BAD BUSINESS
Decoding the business of tablet computing. Live symposium.
Firestarters: Alisa Bowen, SVP, Head of Consumer Publishing, Thomson Retuers; Merrill Brown, Principal, MBB Media; Tom Limongello, Sr. Director of Business Development, Crispwireless; Greg Yardley, Co-Founder and VP, Products – Ad Optimization, Flurry; Robert Spier, director, NPR.org Mobile.

2:00 APP-TI-TUDE / Demystifying product and application development of everywhere devices.
Firestarter: Tom Tancredi, Dom & Tom; and Frank O’Brien, Founder, Conversation
Ghost in the Machine
The Children’s Place

2:30 BREAK

2:45-4 THROWDOWN CHALLENGE / Design, show or share your idea, win a tablet
Firestarter: Matt Mansfield, Medill at Northwestern University

The Coverage

The Movie

The Pitch

The Program

Co-sponsors