The Next Web Conference 2013 Day 2 Live Blog: Morning Presentations

Day 2 of The Next Web Conference will be kicking off in twenty minutes. Edelman VP Steve Rubel is set to start the festivities with his keynote on sponsored content followed by film producer Adam Leipzing and entrepreneur Marc Ecko. Stay tuned!

9:50 A.M. EDT: Edelman VP Steve Rubel is set to take the stage shortly to talk about sponsored content.

10:05 A.M. EDT: The Next Web staff seems to be waiting for the room to fill up before they start the show….

10:10 A.M. EDT: Boris VVZ has taken the stage.

10:15 A.M. EDT: Rubel has just walked on stage, one of the original bloggers when this fad started.

10:15 A.M. EDT: Edelman is one of the world’s largest PR firms in the world. Rubel has to focus on “disruptions” and following the future of the biz.

10:17 A.M. EDT: Rubel will focus on disruptions in media and how it can affect company communication.

10:17 A.M. EDT: Rubel’s team did a survey of media orgs and how online outlets are shifting.

10:18 A.M. EDT: Sponsored posts for blogs helps boost traffic for certain sites. Rubel feels that this type of content can strengthen relationships with media and PR.

10:20 A.M. EDT: Publishers want a new way of making money based on how the web has completely changed.

10:20 A.M. EDT: We no longer have a scarcity of information according to Rubel. “Every one now is a content creator.”

10:22 A.M. EDT: Paywalls have been successful for some news outlets.

10:22 A.M. EDT: Ad tech is starting to become a new fad for advertisers. Publishers hate it since it drives down CPM.

10:22 A.M. EDT: Marketers are really interested in printing their own content through different channels.

10:24 A.M. EDT: The Banner Ad was not a success.

10:24 A.M. EDT: Publishers wanted to take slideshows and sponsors to sit in streams right next to each other.

10:26 A.M. EDT: Three “new” models of creation all borrow from business models that have been out there for decades.

10:26 A.M. EDT: Advertorials are essentially paid syndication. All of it different quality but occasionally appears in big magazines.

10:29 A.M. EDT: Paid integration is like product placement for the web. A media company will come in and create a series of posts around an ideal. Buzzfeed can do this easily since theyre closer to lighter news content.

10:32 A.M. EDT: Paid Co-Creation is the last channel Rubel talks about. Its what you might see at Jets or Giants game. Sites are creating new sections of their websites so the sponsor can come in and fund the development of that section. 80% is owned by the actual website but its a viable approach to Steve Rubel. He hints that a few big sites will be launching this style of content shortly.

10:35 A.M. EDT: The FTC will be holding a hearing on advertising since the motivations for these creations could trick consumers.

10:37 A.M. EDT: Other issues raised by this how the government will interpret it and how it will be incorporated into Google. It may be considered spam so it could scare publishers.

10:37 A.M. EDT: The press has an issue with the quality. Its the format that drives reporters and media buyers nuts!

10:37 A.M. EDT: Content studios are being created to counteract some of these issues. PR is a viable industry according to Rubel. The challenge now is getting access to media budgets.

10:39 A.M. EDT: Rubel’s research will delve into the ethical framework for sponsored content.

10:39 A.M. EDT: The first step is to give full disclosure, providing readers as much participation as possible (make it interactive), quality is an issue and content from actual writers will be alot more trustworthy than basic ad writing. These ads need to be like journalism in terms of sources and updating in real time. The process involves not paying journalists for coverage.

10:43 A.M. EDT: Sponsored content is here to stay. Its an unavoidable trend that publishers are gravitating towards. It puts PR in a very strong position according to Rubel.

10:45 A.M. EDT: When does a blog stop becoming a blog as it continues to gain growth? Rubel says it doesn’t matter. Its all media. As a format, it could be labeled Hybrid media according to Rubel.

10:47 A.M. EDT: Former Disney executive Adam leipzing has taken the stage!

10:47 A.M. EDT: Leipzing starts his presentation about the relationship between tech and entertainment.

10:48 A.M. EDT: Leipzig mentions that Chaucer was an early “disruptor”

10:50 A.M. EDT: Books were a disruptive technology according to Leipzig.

10:53 A.M. EDT: Leipzing led a study on data between major movie studios to analyze profitability.

10:55 A.M. EDT: Thomas Edison patented the first movie projector despite how profits kept fluctuating.

10:55 A.M. EDT: Data and entertainment are another industry that has viability. A movie focused “Nate Silver” could arrive someday.

10:55 A.M. EDT: The history of profits for the film biz served as the foundation for how the movies kept evolving.

10:57 A.M. EDT: Cable and television along with more choices helped revive the industry as the 20th century crawled to a close. VHS and DVD continued to boost more profits.

10:59 A.M. EDT: Streaming has lifted the profits of the industry for the past 5-6 years.

10:59 A.M. EDT: Whats coming next for movies? Watch the profit score!

11:00 A.M. EDT: The movie industry will reboot in 2016. 2020 will see a brand new trend.

11:00 A.M. EDT: Leipzig will make some predictions about where movies could heading. The first prediction to alter movies will be a software that will enable a significant production to be made like Avatar from our mobile devices.

11:02 A.M. EDT: Could social media live up to its promise to get people in seats? If so, that would be a massive disruption according to Leipzig.

11:05 A.M. EDT: Unbundling and perfect curation would be the next changes. Unbundling so you can arrange your own personal tastes for TV instead of paying for 500 channels you won’t watch.

11:07 A.M. EDT: These changes will be part of your daily life. The stun of which it will hit combined with how quickly it arrives will simply be amazing according to Leipzig.

11:10 A.M. EDT: Marc Ecko, the fashion phenom will take the stage shortly.

11:10 A.M. EDT: Ecko warns the presentation wont be NSFW.

11:10 A.M. EDT: Ecko started as an artist before dropping out of Rutgers pharmacy school after starting his company.

11:10 A.M. EDT: Ecko’s Complex Media hit almost 9 million page views last month.

11:10 A.M. EDT: Lots of speakers are promoting their new books!

11:15 A.M. EDT: Ecko is a brand, not a label.

11:15 A.M. EDT: The spirit of his book is to inspire creativity for young people.

11:19 A.M. EDT: Guts To The Skin brand teaches you to nurture your brand from the start to the end. Visualize your brand inside out.

11:22 A.M. EDT: Ecko advises us to be a creator. Ask yourself what it means to be an “artist” he advises.

11:22 A.M. EDT: “The notion of the entrepeneur is the new black” according to Ecko. He hates that word.

11:22 A.M. EDT: “Social media is valuable but be careful about tracking how many followers you get.” Mark Ecko

11:26 A.M. EDT: There is no war between Art and commerce.

11:26 A.M. EDT: Establish a brand identity from early on and don’t change it. There is no such thing as a starving artist.

11:26 A.M. EDT: Ecko never wants creators to be “starving artists”. Its not worth it.

11:29 A.M. EDT: Don’t get caught up in counting. Seeking validation in a finite number will not work for you.

11:29 A.M. EDT: Sharing your creation with others will be more nourishing than getting caught up in these finite numbers.

11:32 A.M. EDT: Don’t let thought leaders define your compliance metric. Essentially, be a rebel.

11:36 A.M. EDT: Authenticity cannot be defined by a number according to Ecko.

11:39 A.M. EDT: Pursue your brand with authenticity is Ecko’s final words.

The morning session has ended! Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @R_Bushey