About

International Investment analysts looking to fund local digital media ideas. 
 
Investors and Business Analysts from the US, UK, China, India, and New Zealand are attending the XMediaLab Auckland "Commercialising Ideas" event looking for the best local ideas to help bring to market.
 
XMediaLab is the internationally acclaimed digital media event, a meeting place uniquely designed to assist companies and people get their own digital media ideas successfully to market, through creative development, business matching, and direct access to world-class networks of digital media professionals.
 
XMediaLab Auckland “Commercialising Ideas” brings together some of the world’s best informed experts, VC's, and business analysts, as well as some of New Zealand's creative, business, and technology wizards to assist you succeed amids these turbulent times.
 
Never before has it been so important for digital media companies to have an acute understanding of the changes occurring in the priorities of investors, the behavior patterns of consumers; emerging business models; and how best to “commercialise” creative ideas locally, and across international marketplaces.

If you are developing digital media ideas across platforms, attend the Keynote Conference Day to hear how the experts are thinking and planning; and you can also apply to attend the Lab itself, where you can work with the International Mentors one-on-one to bring your own digital project ideas to market.
 
International Mentors include:

• Dale Herigstad - Four times Emmy Award Winner, and Winner of the inaugural Interactive Emmy Award; CCO, Schematic (Los Angeles)
• Adrian Sexton - Co-founder, New Medici, and formerly Digital Head of Lionsgate and Participant Media (Los Angeles)
• Tim Chang - Principal, Norwest Venture Partners (Silicon Valley)
• Susan Bonds - President and CEO, 42 Entertainment (Pasadena)
• Richard Cardran - Multi Emmy Award Winning Media Strategist & Technologist (Los Angeles)
• Juliette Powell - Media Entrepreneur, Author of "33 Million People In The Room" (New York)
• Vishal Gondal - Founder and CEO, India Games; one of India's top 40 Entrepreneurs (Mumbai)
• Rajat Paharia - Founder and Chief Product Officer, Bunchball (San Francisco)
• Doug Whatley - Founder and CEO, BreakAway Games (Hunt Valley)
• Hugh Mason -  Partner, Pembridge Partners LLP (London, Singapore)
• Parmesh Shahani -  New Media, Venture Capital and Innovation, Mahindra & Mahindra, one of India's largest conglomerates  (Mumbai)
• Andrew Hamilton - CEO, The ICEHOUSE (Auckland)
• Mike McGraw - Digital Media Pioneer, Managing Partner, Big Fuel (New York)
• Zhan Ye - President, GameVision; Strategic Investment Consultant for Giant Interactive, China's leading online game developers (Beijing, Chicago)
• Nathan Torkington - Open Source Evangelist and Founder of Kiwi Foo Camp and NZ 2.0 (Auckland)
• Greg Suess & Trent J Blacket - ROAR (Los Angeles)
• Helen Baxter - Managing Directrix, Mohawk Media (Auckland)
• Vincent Heeringa - Director, HB Media Ltd (Auckland)

The Keynote Conference Day will showcase the perspectives of each of the 16 International and Local Mentors and is available for General Admission.
 
If you are a digital media professional, media executive, producer, creator, analyst or strategist of any kind, this is the one day you need to attend - with utterly exceptional value pricing, thanks to our partners and supporters. Conferences costing more than ten times as much don't have anywhere near the clarity of focus, the richness of practical information, or the variety of international perspectives.
 
XMediaLab Auckland is seeking outstanding digital media business ideas to participate in the Lab.  As always, it’s cross-platform, cross-disciplinary, and cross-cultural.
 
The Lab is restricted to selected participants and their nominated project team and ideas.  The participants present their projects, and then work directly with the Mentors they choose, one-on-one on their own ideas!
 
XMediaLab Auckland “Commercialising Ideas” is supported by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as part of its work to help grow New Zealand’s digital content industry and build its international competitiveness.

The Mentors

XMediaLab has access to a superb roster of the some of the world’s leading digital media practitioners, innovators, and power-brokers. International Mentors and Speakers at XMediaLab Auckland "Commercialising Ideas" include: (click image for full bio)

Dale Herigstad

Four times Emmy Award Winner, and Winner of the inaugural Interactive Emmy Award (London, Los Angeles)

With twenty-five years in graphic design for television and film, and over a dozen years experience working with interactive user interface design, Dale brings a unique perspective to his role as Schematic's Creative Director and co-founder.

Adrian Sexton

CEO, New Medici (Former Digital Head, Lionsgate and Participant Media)

Adrian Sexton is Co-Founder & CEO of New Medici LLC, a media strategy + lifestyle innovation network.

Susan Bonds

President and CEO, 42 Entertainment (Pasadena)

Susan Bonds is a pioneer of transmedia storytelling and driving force behind 42 Entertainment’s critically acclaimed interactive experiences: genre-defining participatory and cross-platform entertainment often described as “alternative reality” games (ARGs). 

Richard Cardran

Media Strategist and Technologist, Multiple Emmy Award Winner, and one of Hollywood’s Reporters “Digital 50” (Los Angeles)

Richard Cardran is a media strategist and technologist who was recognised in the October 2006 Hollywood Reporter/Producers Guild of America's year end "Digital 50" as well as Streaming Magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People in Streaming."

Juliette Powell

Media Entrepreneur and Author of “33 Million People in the Room” (New York)

Juliette Powell is a media entrepreneur, a community catalyst and the author of 33 Million People in the Room : How to create, Influence and Run a Successful Business with Social Networking, (January 2009, Financial Times Press).

Vishal Gondal

Founder and CEO, Indiagames Ltd (Mumbai)

While most kids were grappling with the realities of growing up, Vishal took a head start and started his first company – FACT, soon after finishing school at the ripe young age of 16.

Rajat Paharia

Founder & Chief Product Officer, Bunchball (San Francisco)

Rajat Paharia is the founder and Chief Product Officer of Bunchball.  Bunchball's Nitro platform incents and motivates user behavior online.

Doug Whately

Founder and CEO, BreakAway Games (Hunt Valley)

Doug Whatley is CEO and Founder of BreakAway, one of the world’s leading developers of entertainment games and game-based technology products.
 

Hugh Mason

Partner, Pembridge Partners LLP (London, Singapore)

Following training as a documentary TV producer-director with the BBC, Hugh Mason founded and grew a multiple-award-winning broadcast TV production company.

Parmesh Shahani

Head, Vision & Opportunities, Incubation Laboratory, Mahindra & Mahindra; Editor, Verve Magazine (Mumbai)

Parmesh Shahani is one of India’s leading social and interactive media experts.

Andrew Hamilton

CEO, The ICEHOUSE (Auckland)
 
Andrew Hamilton was the founding CEO of The ICEHOUSE in 2001.

The ICEHOUSE is a business growth centre that creates learning environments for entrepreneurial firms to enable them to significantly grow their companies.

Mike McGraw

Digital Media Pioneer, and now Managing Partner, Big Fuel (New York)
 
Mike McGraw has been at the forefront of emerging content development for most of his career and has always maintained a priority to deliver content to the most relevant audiences through the most relevant channels.

Zhan Ye

President, GameVision; Strategic Investment Consultant, Giant Interactive Group (Beijing, Chicago)
 
Zhan Ye is President, GameVision, and a Strategic Investment Consultant for Giant Interactive Group, China’s leading online game developers and operators in terms of revenues. 

Nathan Torkington

Open Source Evangelist and Founder of Kiwi Foo Camp and NZ 2.0 (Auckland)

Nathan Torkington ran the first web server in New Zealand, chaired the O'Reilly Open Source Convention and other O'Reilly conferences for over a decade. He runs Kiwi Foo Camp, co-wrote the best-selling Perl Cookbook, and lives in Leigh where he consults in the Asia-Pacific region on web and open source technology.
 

Greg Suess

Co-founder, ROAR (Los Angeles)

Greg Suess is a founding partner of ROAR, a Beverly Hills-based management consulting company.  He also practices corporate and entertainment law with Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard & Shapiro, LLP. 

Trent Blacket

Head of ROAR Asia Pacific (Los Angeles)

Trent J Blacket is the head of ROAR Asia Pacific.

ROAR is a management and production company based in Beverly Hills, California with offices in Nashville, Atlanta, and New York.

Helen Baxter

Managing Directrix, Mohawk Media (Auckland)

Helen Baxter runs Mohawk Media, an animation & video production company in West Auckland. She produces the g33k show, a science & technology series, writes the MsBehaviour Files for The Big Idea, appears regularly on Virtual World, Radio New Zealand, and the Radio Wammo show on Kiwi FM.

Vincent Heeringa

Director, HB Media Ltd (Auckland)

Vincent Heeringa is a director of HB Media Ltd and one of New Zealand’s leading business commentators.

The Lab

XMediaLab is a uniquely exciting creative event for digital media professionals.

XMediaLab consists of a one-day Professional Conference Day that showcases all the Mentors as Speakers. The Lab itself is an intensive two-day creative ideas and business matching environment for the selected participants who get to work directly on their own project ideas with a range of the world's best digital media experts, and build business opportunities with other Lab participants.

The XMediaLab experience increases the chances of getting your project idea to market and achieving commercial success. You also enter into an impeccable international network of digital media stars with their superb expertise and high-value international contacts.

The environment of the Lab allows participating companies and teams to schedule their own unique Lab experience by selecting for themselves which Mentors they choose to spend their one-on-one time with.

It's a form of elite personal consultation with a range of the world's outstanding digital media people about your own project ideas. And you make friends with the international stars.

Previous project teams have ranged from independent start-ups which have gone on to win awards at MIPCOM in Cannes, UNESCO in New York, AIMIA in Australia; to Lonely Planet; ABC’s Rage and The Chaser; Disney Internet Group from Tokyo; Zuji.com; India’s biggest games and animation company; and world leading Virtual Worlds platform. Project teams have come from the UK, Hong Kong, China, Australia, Japan, Germany, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and New Zealand.

The "X" in XMediaLab stands for: Cross Platform, Cross Disciplinary, and Cross Cultural.

The 2009 Auckland Lab is looking for 16 great projects along the general theme of "Commercialising Ideas"... social media, computer games, animation, mobile applications, video, interactive entertainment and content and web applications. 

Projects may have an entertainment, cultural, educational, or an informational basis.

The cost of participation and joining this elite network is just NZD $350 per project team member, this includes registration for the Keynote Conference Day.

Previous Lab participants have been laudatory in their praise for this unique experience. Typical comments include:

Getting There

XMediaLab Auckland will be held at the Hilton Auckland - Auckland's waterfront premium 5 star hotel and events venue.

Princes Wharf, 147 Quay Street, Auckland, New Zealand 1010

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