KidScreen Summit is celebrating its 10th anniversary as the leading annual event for the kids entertainment industry, and its extensive conference program is packed with can't-miss sessions and networking opportunities designed to inform, inspire and invigorate new business.
Jocelyn Christie, KidScreen's Director of Events, said: "In the current economic climate, kids entertainment executives are working harder than ever to get the most out of their investments. With that in mind, we are working harder than ever this year to put together a program that will help connect producers, broadcasters, marketers and licensors and facilitate the growth of international kids brands across TV, digital media platforms and consumer products channels."
Solid strategic planning starts with knowing your audience, so the Summit is again devoting an entire day to exclusive research presentations that get to the heart of how kids want to be entertained. Kicking off this Kid Insight track is a brand-new study from Nickelodeon's industry-leading research team, which moved in with families from seven different countries to observe the co-entertainment dynamic first-hand.
Plus Gene DelVecchio, author of CREATING EVERCOOL: A MARKETER'S GUIDE TO A KID'S HEART, will define the key principles and executional nuances of attracting and keeping a kids audience in his Creating Blockbuster Entertainment presentation. And the trendspotters at The Zandl Group will once again mine their highly acclaimed Hot Sheet report data to present a snapshot of emerging youth trends in Hot on the Trail of Cool.
New to the event this year, the Animation Services Market is a speed-dating format for connecting producers with 10 highly skilled animation service shops from around the world, offering one-stop partner shopping at its finest. Our brand-new Development Challenge session will look at what happens when four different network development execs apply their expertise and unique channel mandates to the same project.
If digital media expansion is your goal this year, New Platform Powerplay should help you ID new opportunities for kids content in the non-linear space, and Keeping it Real in the Virtual World Space will task leading interactive experts with weighing the brand-building potential of this hot online model against the realities of market demand and investment costs.
In addition to a Consumer Products Counselling check-in with leading licensing execs in toys, apparel, publishing and video games on market challenges and new property needs, top kids IP managers will share their tips on mapping out and executing a cohesive five-year planogram for an entertainment property in Best Laid Brand Plans.
Some staple Summit features are getting an upgrade to provide better value to delegates. We've got three ice-breaker Speed Networking sessions lined up on day one, themed by business interest -- co-productions, consumer products and interactive -- for the first time ever to trigger targeted and productive connections.
And producers will have more opportunity to hear about the future plans and priorities of top kids TV investors in our hugely popular "30 Minutes With..." sessions. This year, in-demand broadcast acquisitions and development execs including Adina Pitt (VP of content acquisitions and co-productions, Cartoon Network), Jules Borkent (SVP of global acquisitions and international programming, Nickelodeon), David Levine (SVP of worldwide programming strategy and windowing, Disney Channel and Jetix), Linda Simensky (senior director of children's programming, PBS) and Kay Benbow (head of CBeebies production, animation and acquisitions, BBC) have agreed to do two sessions apiece. And we've also brought investing distributors such as DECODE Ent., TV-Loonland, Cake Ent. and BBC Worldwide into the mix.
The KidScreen Summit offers an unparalleled opportunity to keep abreast of important issues and trends in the fast-moving international kids entertainment industry, generate business and revenue opportunities, and network with the leading decision-makers.
In 2008, the event attracted its largest-ever crowd of more than 1,500 kids entertainment professionals from 43 different countries.
Registration information for KidScreen Summit 2009 can be found at www.kidscreensummit.com, and a full agenda will be available on Monday, December 1, 2008.
