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Tomorrow’s Cyberposium 17: Sky’s The Limit in High Tech and New Media

For the past 16 years, Harvard Business School has hosted the Cyberposium, the world’s largest MBA technology conference. Organized entirely by current MBA students and the TechMedia Club, the conference is designed to unite past, present and future business leaders, all while facilitating conversation centered around technology and its impact on business and society.

From CEOs, to analysts, to budding entrepreneurs, the conference draws nearly 1,000 attendees from a variety of backgrounds every year. This year’s theme is “Sky’s The Limit,” encompassing the rapid rate of tech innovation, the growth in cloud computing and the increased valuation of startups. With three keynote speakers, including Brad Smith, president and CEO of Intuit, Katie Mitic, director of platform and mobile marketing for Facebook, and Jack Tretton, the president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, there is a lot of be learned on high tech and new media at tomorrow’s event.

On top of the three keynote speakers, there will also be twelve panel discussions focused on four different topics: consumer web, digital media, enterprise and mobile. Panelists include representatives from up-and-coming start-ups like Birchbox, as well as market leaders like Google, and they’ll be touching upon various ideas from the future of online advertising to the evolution of social.

We are specifically looking forward to these panels:

Evolution of Social

Social networking continues to change as user engagement increases and the number of friendships and ancillary web applications explodes. New models such as micro-networks and enterprise-networks are already gaining traction. How will we interact differently with social networks going forward? Which players are best positioned to benefit?

Companies: GroupMe, Highland Capital Partners, Google, Sonar

The Future of Online Advertising

New and powerful online advertising models are opening up. Social advertising is competing with search, web video ads are competing for TV spend and browser tracking is becoming the norm for enhanced targeting. How are advertiser’s mindsets changing and what are the largest near-term opportunities in this ecosystem? What threats will slow future growth?

Companies: Lightbank, Greystripe, Google, Digitas, AOL

Online Video

Web video is becoming mainstream and the trend of cord-cutting has already started. How will traditional studios and cable networks survive the shift without sacrificing revenue? Will cable operators or emerging digital content aggregators ultimately dominate web video distribution? How will web-enabled televisions impact the ecosystem?

Companies: Boxee, Ustream Inc., Sony Network Entertainment, Entreprenuers Roundtable Accelerator, NBC Universal

Mobile Payments

Mobile payments are making the leap from E-Commerce into physical retail. Services like virtual wallets, shopping assistants, mobile self-checkout and dynamic couponing are gaining traction. Which competitors are moving toward critical mass and which aren’t? How will partnerships contribute to a platform’s success and who will extract the most value?

Companies: Intuit Inc., LevelUp, AisleBuyer, Where, MoreMagic

Breakfast and registration kicks off tomorrow at 7:30 a.m., with the first scheduled keynote speaker, Brad Smith, beginning his talk at 8:30. For a full schedule of events, you can click here, or, if you have a question you’d like to ask one of the speakers or panelists before the event, you can do so by visiting the Cyberposium’s Pigeonhole.

BostInno’s own Sliggity will be there for a part of the conference tomorrow conducting interviews, making friends and just being Sliggity. So go say hi, tell him what you’ve learned and give him something to write about.

from BostInnovation.com http://bostinnovation.com/2011/11/04/tomorrow%e2%80%99s-cyberposium-17-sky%e2...