Hot conference topics and themes for 2011: content

Thanks to many of the innovations we’ve already covered, content and the way we access, monetise and distribute it has also become increasingly important beyond traditional broadcasters, developers and publishers.

While many of these topics have been key fixtures on agendas for a number of years now, increasing awareness and rapid industry change is making this issue more important. Social media as a driver of user generated content, HD content, viral videos, IPTV and so on have caused a huge shift in the way we access content and businesses are keen to catch up. There are events like the Content Delivery Summit devoted to each of these areas and many broad media events such as the Media 360 covering technical issues of distribution alongside the more creative challenge of creating engaging content in the form of videos, games, websites and so forth.

Where highly technical questions of how to stream content at higher quality and faster than your competitors has been a staple for a long time, questions of how to build communities around your content and ensure that your content has appeal beyond just the TV screen are now becoming a greater focus of many conferences.

Be prepared for content to really be king in 2011.

Hot conference topics and themes for 2011: cloud computing

Cloud computing has continued to grow and gain mainstream acceptance and this is likely to accelerate through 2011; the maturation of services and new models and applications should cement cloud computing at the forefront of many conference agendas.

Whereas cloud computing has thus far largely been the subject of specialist events like the Business Cloud Summit and those targeted squarely at the CTO, we are likely to see coverage at a wider range of events going forward. The majority of this will probably take place via end-user testimony as more companies in a wider range of industries adopt cloud technologies and models for a wider range of processes. For example, we’ve already seen cloud models for RFID (the infrastructure is loaned and managed via a cloud portal, reducing initial outlay and overheads) and every day new applications are being dreamt up.

Alongside the conferences discussing the advantages of cloud computing for business and enterprise will be those discussing the consumerisation of cloud technology, through video, gaming and content delivery like the CDN World Forum. As the cloud begins to play a larger role in our lives both at work and at play it can’t help but seep onto more and more agendas across the board.

Hot conference topics and themes for 2011: social media

Social Media will continue to be important in the conference landscape as our lives become more connected; TVs now even let you tell your friends what you’re watching. Communities are continuing to grow around all aspects of our connected lives and monetising and engaging with these audiences is becoming increasingly important to marketers and advertisers alike.

While there are a lot of established pure play social media events, it is likely that more will surface and that more and more traditional business focused events will incorporate social media streams looking at how to leverage social media beyond the marketing department. Gamification, crowd sourcing, merging and blurring work and social lives and collaboration as a driver of innovation, business and efficiency will all find their way onto more conference agendas.

Further to this, although many events already utilise social tools (such as a Facebook page or a LinkedIn events page, live Twitter walls and blogs), their use should increase as delegates and speakers look to extend their influence beyond the stage and the networking breaks. Some conferences already have great communities built around their content (think TED) and many more are starting to follow in their footsteps.

Hot conference topics and themes for 2011: mobile devices

This is an expansion of the mobile theme; with markets continuing to mature and mobile devices growing in affect across markets we expect them to feature more heavily on conference agendas. This will be particularly buoyed by the maturation of the tablet market, which is likely to feature more heavily on mobile event agendas and perhaps spawn tablet specific events.

Events in the telecoms sector such as the Mobile World Congress and Open Mobile Summit alongside the consumer electronic shows like IFA and CES will continue to be the main arena for mobile device discussions. However, mobile devices will also become an increasing focus at media and advertising events, with delegates wanting to know how to advertise on these platforms, reach new audiences and stay ahead of the curve. The proliferation of devices is also likely to inspire design and interface debate around how to keep user experience the same across devices and allow consumers to move freely between screens and across platforms.

Looking ahead to 2011’s hot conference topics and themes

Having looked back at 2010, it’s the perfect opportunity to reignite our tradition of outlining our thoughts on the hot topics and themes in this year’s conference landscape. They are below in no particular order:

• Mobile Devices
• Apps (cross devices)
• Social Media
• Cloud Computing
• Content
• Healthcare

As you can see there are a few old favourites on here but also some new arrivals. We’d love to get your thoughts in the comments on whether we’ve missed any or even got some wrong.

Personally I’m really excited by the mobile and apps space at the moment, there’s so much innovative stuff going on – dual core phones, connected everything and new device formats. However, there’s increasing crossover between these topics, apps are, of course, available in your mobile, but now apple has launched the Mac app store, Google launched the Chrome Web Store and Amazon has hinted heavily that there’s an Amazon Appstore on the way too. I can also access Dropbox on my phone, edit my Google Docs and use other cloud services on the move; there’s going to be a real challenge around the ‘liquid experience’ whereby my apps look familiar and interact with each other across platforms.

These game changing advances and disruptors like the iPad will continue to drive conference agendas as senior management is put under increasing pressure to keep up in the social media age. This should see attendance rates remaining high at industry leading events and a great deal of press and media interest in conference content as the consumerisation of IT marches on.

However, we’re also likely to see some conference producers attempting to cash in on these trends, launching new, low quality events pandering to the latest trends. Knowing how to spot, and avoid these events is key. A specialist agency can help you plan for the year ahead, identify your key targets and evaluate any invitations you might receive to speak at (or even attend) new conferences and ensure that your speaking programme really takes off in 2011.

2010 conference themes recap: mobile

It’s been a stellar year for mobile! Mobile has gone from strength to strength; the fruition of new technologies like the iPad and 4G has driven huge growth and rapid change in the way we use data and mobile devices. This in turn has translated into more mobile events and increased focus and awareness of mobile on more traditional business and leadership conference agendas.

The exciting developments in the mobile world mean interest is going to continue to grow, particularly with devices becoming more connected and new ways of working, accessing data and consuming content. This has, and will, translate into more mobile events and a great awareness and coverage of mobile on event agendas.

2010 conference themes recap: cloud computing

Is growing and growing, and growing. Cloud services of all varieties are becoming more ubiquitous and fears about security are being decreasing, replaced by interest in cost benefits, efficiencies and improving services (and indeed, improving security). Google has even demonstrated Chrome based laptops running solely in the cloud and with more and more data now being cloud based it’s easy to envision a future where nothing is stored locally but is available everywhere.

We’re also beginning to see cloud services penetrating further into consumers’ private lives, from Logitech’s collaboration with Google – the Revue, to Onlive’s cloud based gaming service. It’s no wonder cloud computing remains one of our hottest topics moving into 2011.

2010 conference themes recap: healthcare

Healthcare remained a huge topic throughout 2010, particularly in light of the healthcare reform in the US and budget cuts in the UK. This was pushed by the continuing uptake of telehealth and healthcare IT which was driven not only by cost and efficiency, but also new models of healthcare as a game (think Wii Fit and Microsoft Kinect) and cell phones becoming smart connected objects used to monitor our health.

Because of this, we also saw healthcare sneaking on to agendas at leading mobile and telecoms events and featuring at some high-level cloud conferences. But there was also a flutter of new healthcare IT events in various emerging markets taking advantage of these advances and the benefits of telehealth.

2010 conference themes recap: social media

Was, as we predicted, huge in 2010 and continues to be a key topic for the business world (you know it’s important when they make an award – winning film about it!). Everyone wanted to hear from those who were doing it well, the horror stories from Twitter and new models for engaging customers.

We also saw social starting to creep further into nearly every aspect of life, with social invading our televisions and our music (think Google TV and Ping). While there were already some social TV events and their kin, we saw these topics take the stage at more and more conferences as the year advanced. We wouldn’t be surprised if social starts to feature in some shape or form on just about every agenda out there.

2010 conference themes recap: green issues and sustainability

While we expected this topic to continue growing, as it has for the past few years, we actually saw a plateau in 2010. This is no bad thing and the proverbial wheat has been sorted from the chaff; low quality sustainability events have not returned leaving high-level platforms for debate.

Despite this, sustainability and green issues have remained a staple of high-level presentations and everyone is still to keen to exhibit their green credentials. Although this hasn’t often translated to green streams at the larger annual events it has created an underlying theme to many agendas across the board.