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The
2013 Webfest
Global conference
(the 7th annual show staged by Oversee.net's
DomainSponsor
unit) closed last night (Thursday, Feb. 7)
after a three-day run at the Fairmont
Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica,
California. The final day of the event
that drew |
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over
500 registrants from around the world
opened with a 9:30am presentation on Landing
Page Optimization delivered by Tim
Ash, who may be the world's foremost
expert on the topic. Tim, who is also an
exceptionally entertaining and
energetic speaker, literally wrote the
book on this subject - Landing
Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to
Testing and Tuning for Conversions.
(For
myself and two other domain industry
writers - there was one earlier event
Thursday - an 8am press breakfast
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Tim
Ash |
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Oversee.net
CEO Debra Domeyer. I will have
highlights from that session for you in
our upcoming Cover Story review of the
entire conference).
After
Tim Ash's talk, the next three business
sessions Thursday were all about mobile
starting with an 11am panel discussion on Engaging
and Converting Mobile Users. |
The
Engaging and Converting Mobile Users
panel featured (left to right): Moderator Min
Chan (Oversee.net), Greg Sterling, Will
Hsu and Bardia Dejban.
The
12:15pm lunch break followed under the fabulous
123-year-old fig tree that graces the
courtyard at the Fairmont Miramar. Outdoor
luncheons were held under the 80-foot tree - the
second largest of its kind in the state of
California - on each of the three conference
days.
Lunch
under the spectacular 123-year-old fig tree at
the Fairmont Miramar Hotel.
At 2pm
it was back to business with Henry Tam, Jr. on
stage for a solo presentation on Mobile
Advertising Trends.
Henry
Tam, Jr., Vice President, mMedia
Advertsing, Millenial Media, kicked off the
Thursday afternoon schedule with information on
the latest mobile advertising trends.
Next
up at 3:30pm was a panel of experts who offered
advce on Acquiring Mobile Users on a
Restricted Budget.
This
panel featured (left to right): Moderator Gene
Chuang (Oversee.net), Cindy Crum
(MobileMoxie, LLC), Gary Rudolph (Lolay)
and Bryson Meunier (Resolution
Media).
The
final order of business at 2013 Webfest Global
was the popular annual Pitchfest Contest
in which a series of entrepreneurs takes the
stage to deliver 3-minute presentations
aimed at securing venture capital funding
for their enterprises. Two awards for the Best
Pitch are then awarded - one from the
audience (who voted through text messaging) and
one from the distinguised panel of judges that
included John Morris, Scott Jarus,
Allen Morgan, Will Hsu and Ben
Kuo - all of whom are veteran venture
capitalists.
Seven
entrepreneurs competed and were judged based on
creativity, viability, originality and revenue
potential...and the winners were:
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People's
Choice Award Winner - Jeremie Godreche
(in the left photo above) of Freedom
Registry (operator of the .tk
top level domain) and Judge's Choice
Award Winner - Darren Marble of Filmbreak.com
(in the right photo above). Both received
their awards from Oversee.net VP Aaron
Kvitek (seen at right in each photo),
who moderated the contest.
Webfest
Global concluded with one last major
social event Thursday nght (running from
8pm - 1am) - a visit to Hollywood's
famed Magic Castle, a private club
that features many of the world's best
magicians. |
Some
of the Webfest Global attendees waiting
to be admitted to the Magic Castle Thursday
night (Feb. 7, 2013). Photography is not
permitted inside the Castle so we can only tell
you we saw some astonishing performances
with Jeff McBride on the main stage and Jon
Armstrong in the Museum especially mind
blowing for us. Many other performers showed
their incredible stuff in other rooms or the
labyrinthine Castle and guests were free to
wander from one show to the next as they
pleased. All
in all it was a wonderful week on the West
Coast - one we are looking forward to
telling you more about in our February Cover
Story.
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