Month: January 2015

This is a special, unique, opportunity open to Digital Kids Conference and Toy Fair attendees. Ask the expert! Dona Fraser, Vice President, ESRB Privacy Certified will be available during the Digital Kids Conference for free, private consultations to evaluate your website and/or mobile app.  Sign-up for free COPPA / privacy consultation here. Pre-registration is open until February 13. Limited time slots available. Digital Kids Conference and/or Toy Fair badge required. All meetings will take place Javits Center, Hall 1 E, just outside Room 1E15-16.

Websites, apps and other online services change over time, as do global privacy laws and best practices. As a result, it is essential for companies to keep a watchful eye on their privacy practices.  Is your company COPPA compliant?  What is your privacy risk?  Do you collect personally identifiable information? Where are you most vulnerable?  How can compliance lead to stronger customer engagement?

Ask the expert! Dona is available for private consultations to evaluate your website and/or mobile app for:

–    COPPA compliance
–    Consumer friendly privacy policy disclosure
–    Global compliance including U.S. and EU Safe Harbor certification
–    FTC-approved verifiable parental consent
–    Best practices for privacy and data collection

ESRB Privacy Certified is a full-service online and mobile privacy program that helps member companies protect their brand reputation and enhance consumer trust.

Sign-up now.

Digital Kids Media, the owner and operator of Digital Kids Conference, announced today that Andrew Sugerman, Executive Vice President, Disney Publishing Worldwide will deliver a keynote address at Digital Kids Conference on Tuesday, February 17, 2015 in New York City.  Digital Kids takes place February 15-17, 2015 and is colocated with the 112^th North American International Toy Fair.  This is the fifth year the shows have colocated. Attendees from Digital Kids have free access to the Toy Fair Expo Hall.

Sugerman is one of 50 expert speakers addressing how connect with kids on digital devices. Using the powerful combination of connected mobile devices (tablets, smartphones and more) and new and innovative physical toys, digital kids today have new possibilities in reading, play and learning. Disney approaches the children’s digital space in a uniquely Disney way to bring fresh, entertaining experiences that feature characters families know and love.

As the world’s largest publisher of children’s books and apps, the company creates engaging digital experiences through the development of personalized and expansive storytelling, as well as increased shared experiences. The company is also now trailblazing early digital learning to meet the interest of today’s children – a generation of technology-savvy, mobile-first consumers. Disney Imagicademy, the company’s new learning initiative, combines research-driven curriculum developed in conjunction with top academic and education experts with the Disney characters and stories families love. By combining these elements, Imagicademy aims to deliver a best-in-class integrated program that inspires a lifelong love of learning and makes learning a family experience.

Is this a taste of what’s to come for toys, learning and entertainment?  Sugerman takes the stage to talk about this new category of learning and where he sees children’s digital experiences going.

Digital Kids is currently offering a special Online Registration rate of $695 until February 6th, saving you $200 off the onsite price. Your Digital Kids Conference ticket includes:
– Access to all Digital Kids Conference sessions (2 days)
– Access to Toy Fair Expo show floor (4 days)
– Access to Exclusive networking and parties
– Plus, your Toy Fair access is free with your registration

We hope to see you at the show.

Sponsors

We are pleased to announce our Emcees for this year’s Digital Kids Conference @ Toy Fair taking place Feb. 15-16-17, 2015 in New York City.  Each individual brings their own unique perspective and personality to to the show and we are delighted to have them each take on such an illustrious role.

David Grandison Jr., Executive Producer, BrainPOP will emcee Toys, Learning and Play on Feb. 15th, presented by NCFL.
BrainPOP is an award winning educational animation and game development studio. In his role as Executive Producer, David has worked to standardize production processes and communication between studios in the UK, Mexico, France, China and Israel. Additional recent accomplishments include piloting the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) microdata taxonomies and implementation of strategic initiatives to improve discovery of BrainPOP’s content through the use of LRMI microdata taxonomies, alignment to CCSS and SEO.

Emily Kirkpatrick, Vice President, National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) will emcee the first day of Digital Kids Conference on Feb. 16th, presented by ESRB.
In her current role as Vice President, Emily passionately leads new initiatives and signature efforts and shepherds the organization’s continuous growth to address the learning needs of the 21st century family. She also establishes and develops NCFL’s strategic and long-term partnerships with individuals, corporations and foundations. Ms. Kirkpatrick is frequently interviewed by national media and is a close collaborator with notable journalists, education and nonprofit thought leaders, and philanthropists.

Dan Tynan, “Modern Family” columnist, Yahoo will emcee the second day of Digital Kids Conference on Feb. 17th.
Dan Tynan has been writing about technology since Mark Zuckerberg was in diapers. A former Contributing Editor for Family Circle magazine, Tynan’s work has appeared in more than 75 publications, including Parade, Popular Science, Consumers Digest, Men’s Health, and Playboy.com. He maintains that he is not really a geek, despite what his wife and children may tell you. You can read his recent post on CES here: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/6-awesome-family-friendly-finds-from-ces-107745108994.html

We told you in the last post earlier today that the news was going to come at you fast and furious. Digital Kids Conference @ Toy Fair takes place Feb. 15-16-17, 2014 in New York and by the look of it this will be our best show yet (naturally, we think so). Earlybird registration ends next week. We have three full days scheduled: Toys, Learning and Play presented by NCFL, plus Digital Kids Con Entertainement Day 1 and Digital Kids Con Entertainment Day 2. Let’s bring you up to speed on new speakers and sessions of interest >>>

The lines between entertainment and learning are blurring and names that might not be top of mind when you think learning are looking to change that with expanded product offerings.  And of course entertainment play and toys as we know them continue to evolve around this digital generation at an astounding pace.

In this post we are pleased to welcome the following new speakers:

– Jordana Drell, Vice President of Preschool Games, Nickelodeon Group joined the panel New Media Mash Up: Learning As Entertainment

– Carrie Feigel Bischke, Director of Brand Integrations, Brand Marketing, Ubisoft join talk about Building Strategic Partnerships with Schools

Alice Brooks, Co-Founder, Roominate has just been added to Forbes 30 Under 30 List and she is also speaking at Digital Kids.  She is joined by Jocelyn Leavitt, CEO and Co-founder, Hopscotch, Raul Gutierrez, Founder and CEO, Tinybop, Jeremy Scheinberg, Co-Founder and CEO, TROBO the Storytelling Robot and David Grandison, Jr., Executive Producer, BrainPop on the session Blending the Pink and Blue Gender Barriers: Innovative Entrepreneurs Analyze the Development of S.T.E.M. Toys, Apps and Online Games

Joost van Dreunen, Co-founder and CEO, SuperData Research will bring you key market research on Mobile Games for the Next Generation.  As a recent Gamasutra article put it: “almost perfect gender equality is observed in the US gaming industry on the whole (source – ESA: male – 52%, female – 48%), but in mobile gaming segment alone female players dominate the male ones: it’s 57% vs. 43% (according to SuperData research).” Come find out more about the top trends in the mobile market.

In a session that talks about digital tech outside of the home we have the fantastic Jennifer Contrucci, Director of Digital Production, Scholastic Media, the wonderful Miles Kingston, Marketing Director, PC Client Group, Intel Corporation, the great Jesse Schell, CEO, Schell Games and the outstanding Keith Ostfeld, Director of Digital Learning, Children’s Museum of Houston (CMH) hosting a session entitled Taking Digital Family Fun Out of the Home and into the Museum. They will provide insight in how traditional institutions like the Houston Children’s Museum are making exhibits more interactive, thanks to partnerships with game developers, app developers and national organizations.

Launching, Marketing and Distributing Toys to Today’s Parents and Kids is on everyone’s mind at Toy Fair, and it should be. More toy products exist in both physical and digital forms and savvy companies are using advanced marketing methods to stay ahead of the curve.  As the toy space evolves, more products exist in both physical and digital forms and savvy companies are using advanced marketing methods to stay ahead of the curve. Digital experts Ryan Rebello, Digital Marketing Manager, Spin Master, Brad Powers, CEO, Cupcake Digital, Alice Taylor, CEO, MakieLab and  Jim Silver, Editor-in-Chief, TTPM will discuss how to leverage new technology as well as digital and social media marketing channels.

There is much more to talk about.  We’ll be back with another post soon.  In the mean time check out the schedule pages: Toys, Learning and Play presented by NCFL, plus Digital Kids Con Entertainement Day 1 and Digital Kids Con Entertainment Day 2.   Check out the speaker roster. And don’t forget to register. Earlybird registration ends next week, Friday, January 16, 2015.

Happy New Year everyone!  Now with less than 40 days to go until Digital Kids Conference we’ll be sharing a lot of information with you very quickly.  First off, we announce today that Dan White, Founding Partner and Chief Product Officer, Filament Games will keynote Toys, Learning and Play Summit taking place on February 15th. These days, learning and play are intertwined and companies must step into a child’s comfort zone in order to make a connection and engage with them. The Toys, Learning and Play Summit, sponsored by the the National Center for Families Learning, gives you the insight you to engage children wisely.

Filament Games has developed over seventy learning games and as a result has developed an acute awareness of the challenges involved in producing and commercializing high quality Game-Based Learning (GBL) products. Join Dan White, Chief Product Officer at Filament, for a heartfelt discussion of the learning games movement, wherein he will advocate for a critical aspirational goal and subsequently confront the challenges of commercializing learning games (and cry “uncle”). A side note about Filament: they were the first winners of President Obama’s Video Game STEM initiative. We are extremely excited to have them join us.

Dan’s keynote kicks off an intense half day program where attendees will also hear from experts from Ubisoft, Nickelodeon Group, Roominate, Hopscotch, Tinybop, TROBO the Storytelling Robot, Common Sense Media, Meredith Parents Network, National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) and more.  Check out the full schedule at https://digitalkidscon.com/learning/