Hey, Digital LA peeps!
What VCs Want.  Three VCs gave awesome advice for startups at our Digital LA - What VCs Want panel at the new Capital One Cafe in Santa Monica. Thanks speakers including  Dustin Rosen of Wonder Ventures, Erin Shipley of The Helm Fund for women, and Vaughn Blake of Telescopic Ventures and Autochrome blockchain. They are new VC funds in the growing Silicon Beach - LA Tech scene. Speaker advice included : Tell your story: why are you the one to do this startup? Why are you interested? Don't just list your resume/bio. Your pitch deck should be no more 10-15 pages. VCs look for startups from other VCs and friends of founders they work with. Watch the video  for their tips! Article soon.
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TODAY!

Thursday October 26, 7p-12a
CTRL Collective Playa Vista

You can still RSVP for tonight's CTRL Collective - VR Haunted Carnival with more than 20 VR demos, DJ, and open bar. It's a huge party! We are teaming up wth CTRL, VRScout for the fun! Come! 



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Monday, October 30, 7p
CTRL Collective DTLA


You're invited to our panel with real estate and architecture startups, apps, and more discussing how they are using digital tools for residential and commerical real estate.

SPEAKERS
- Howard Tagar, Ylopo, Founder CEO. Ylopo brings big data and performance marketing to real estate.  

- Peter Khoury, Cross Street, CEO/Founder.

- Ignacio Rodriguez, AVR, Founder of VR architectural pre-vis company


CALL FOR SPEAKERS: If you have a real estate or architecture app, site or service that's digital, email info@digitalla.net with REAL as subject. 

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Silicon Beach Fest 2017 is Nov 28 - Dec 2
 
This Silicon Beach Fest year-end edition will feature panels, keynotes, networking mixers and more with a Top / Best of Year theme: Top Startups, Investors, Trends, and Predictions for 2018. 

CALL FOR PANELS: Looking for speaker submissions of complete panels of moderator and 4-6 speakers whom people would want to hear, who get complimentary admission to the fest. Submit your panel ideas by October 31 via the  SBF Panel Submission Form.

AGENDA
- Tue Nov 28: Pasadena Day at CTRL Collective Pasadena
- Wed Nov 29: Downtown Day at CTRL Collective Downtown LA
- Thu Nov 30: Preview Day with events in Playa Vista, Santa Monica
- Fri Dec 1: Main Panel Day with more than 15 panels and workshops, and closing party at CTRL Collective Playa Vista
- Sat Dec 2: Beach Games

SPONSORS:  Sponsorship starts at $500 and up. In-Kind food, beverage and restaurants can give in-kind. Please email info@digitalla.net with SPONSOR as subject to see the pitch deck and discuss sponsor opportunities. 

VOLUNTEERS: Call for Volunteers launches in early November.

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LA Tech News 

TwitchCon live creators talk sponsors and positivity. The third annual TwitchCon live social video conference featured dozens of panels with live creators and Twitch staffers giving advice on everything from working with sponsors to creating an online positive community. TwitchCon is unique in that it's the biggest platform with live creators who live in real time with thousands of followers. The three-day conference was held at the Long Beach Convention Center October 20-22.  For panel highlights, visit  http://digitalla.net/twitchcon17panels
For Twitch CEO Emmet Shear keynote, visit http://digitalla.net/twitchcon17
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  TechMunch: Facebook and Instagram tips. Just posting photos on Facebook and Instagram isn't going to work as well, was the bottom line advice at the "All About Facebook...with Facebook panel" at the TechMunch conference held October 21 in Costa Mesa on October 21.You should be also be posting videos (native videos, not just links to YouTube videos), using Facebook Live, and Instagram video and stories, which are all being rewarded by the Facebook and Instagram algorithms.Sara Wilson, Facebook, Strategic Partnerships Manager, Fashion, Food & Lifestyle Facebook gave tips on how to grow your Facebook and Instagram on the panel, moderated by Digital LA founder Kevin Winston. Get summary tips in our article http://digitalla.net/techmunch17

Disney Accelerator demo day featured 11 companies of its fourth class at the Disney lot in Burbank. Disney CEO Bob Iger introduced the event. Several companies announced partnerships with Disney departments from film to ABC to theme parks.  Article.  Meet the 11 companies

The VOID immerses guests in virtual experiences, combining VR, interactive sets, and real-time effects, such as Ghostbusters VR. Earlier that day, the VOID announced ticket sales opened for its new Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire game that will launch at Downtown Disney in Anaheim on January 5. In the game, you join a group of four rebels disguised as Stormtroopers to infiltrate the Empire. Tickets $30 available at http://thevoid.com

Meet the rest of the startups in our article. 

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Techstars LA Demo Day. Techstars LA accelerator showcased its first class of 10 startups at its demo day at the El Rey Theatre.  Techstars invests $120,000 in each startup, and provides access to its international network of advisors and mentors for the three-month program.  Meet the 10 Techstars LA startups!

Blue Fever is a digital content network with web series, music videos, shows for millennial women. Blue Fever sends text messages of 3 short videos a week with 60% watch rate. Co-Founder Lauren spoke on our Women In Entertainment  panel
Heartbeat is a community of 130,000 micro influencer women, who partner with brands on campaigns that have more engagement than big pricey influencers. Presenter Kate Edwards was a Top 5 finalist at Silicon Beach Fest last year.
Meet the rest in our article.
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JOBS
Get or post a job on our job board  http://digitalla.net/jobs

-  NEW!  Dermalogica: Global Digital Manager: Manage development and adoption of web-based beauty tools 

-  NEW!  Dermalogica: CRM Manager. Run customer relationship and retention program including email, subscription, loyalty 

-  AdvertiseMent is looking for a  Digital Marketing Manger in SaMo

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CONFERENCES and EVENTS

GetGlobal 2017. Get 25% off GetGlobal   international summit with speakers from l eaders from Dropbox, LinkedIn, Sony Pictures Television, Boeing, Pinkberry, Monster Inc, 500 Startups, General Atomics, Julian's Hard Cider, and more. Government leaders from key growth markets  in Downtown LA.
Use the code DIGITALLA for 25% off at http://getglobal.co


Haunted Hollywood Party, Fri Oct 27. The Ivy Plus Society invites Digital LA to its Haunted Halloween party this Saturday. Haunted Hollywood is coming and you won't want to miss it. Grab your tickets today to get into the most terrifying and tantalizing Halloween Party with The  Ivy Plus Society as we condemn the gothic Cinematic Pictures Gallery.Ticket price includes a premium open bar, live DJ, small bites, and scandalous costume contest with awesome prizes. Register here includes $10 off code. 


HET Festival, 11/10. Talk US - China entertaiment tech at the Hollywood Entertainment Technology Festival (HETF) on Nov 10 at W Hollywood via panel discussions and expert speakers exploring trends in entertainment technology, cross-border opportunities, and investments within the Sino-US landscape. This year's theme, Innovating in a Global Landscape, looks to inspire collaborations and market growth by serving as a platform for visionaries, content creators, entrepreneurs, and investors. Get 20% off of the "General Admission - Session Only" with code "DigitalLa" at checkout.  Hetfest.com
 
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OUR RECENT EVENTS

Fashion Influencers Panel  We celebrated Fashion Week LA with our Digital LA - Fashion Influencers panel on Wed night. Speakers Isamar Batista of ShoeDazzle, Ivka Adam CEO of Iconery, Javon Frazier of Studio71 and Paul Menes of Adli Law Group shared tips on how fashion brands can work with influencers - and how influencers can build their own fashion brands. Speakers shared tips on how to find influencers, how micro influencers can give you more engagement at less cost, how to effectively roll out campaigns and how to measure engagement, sales, and ROI. Iconery and Studio71 discussed how they are working with influencers to launch their own custom jewelry pieces or T-shirts, caps and other apparel. See our  article  and  video  highlights.
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Development to Distribution panel.  Write stories that move you, in your voice, and spark interest when you quick-pitch to others, said writers and creators with shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and TV at our Development to Distribution panel at CTRL Collective Playa Vista. Speakers Ari Berkowitz (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Brett Konner (Deadbeat on Hulu), Kate Mines (Dropping the Soap on Amazon) and Ruby Rae Spiegel (The OA on Netflix) shared advice on writing to researching distribution platforms for your content. Our article.
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Meet the Streamys Winners panel featured winners Mari Takahashi of Smosh Games (Gaming), Paul Ferry of Mr. Student Body President (Ensemble, Directing) and Brandon Rogers of Magic Funhouse (Costume Design). Speakers shared stories how they create content, cast their projects, engage fans, and use social media. Article soon!


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Startup founders, CEOs, and digital content creators gave advice on how to start and grow your entertainment startup or company at our Digital LA - Digital Women in Entertainment panel. The panel features Silicon Beach startups and entertainment companies that work with Hollywood Studios, filmmakers and brands to create digital and VR content.  See video  with their advice!
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Our Digital LA - Pool Party: We had a blast at our Labor Day Summer Pool party at a Hollywood Hills mansion infinity pool. Attendees included Hollywood studio execs, music biz execs and composers, filmmakers, video game writers, startup CEOs, cryptocurrency experts, and more. Thanks Maggie and Ted for hosting! See  pics


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Our VR Games panel: 12 Things You Need to Know

VR Games are uniquely different from both games and VR experiences, said expert speakers at our first Digital LA - VR Games panel at CTRL Collective Playa Vista on Monday. Our pre-PAX panel is the first in the LA area to focus on VR and Games. Tips: Brainstorm gameplay that fits your game and VR movement, said Daniel Zeligman, Survios lead engineer on category-establishing Raw Data robot shooter VR game. Emmy-winning Secret Location is switching into games owning its own IP, with today's launch of the Blasters of the Universe sci-fi shooter game, said Eric Shamlin of Secret Location. Franchise game titles like Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, and Hitman are experimenting with VR mini-games (not full game), said Adam Sullivan of Square Enix. Music is important to help your players achieve the right actions and feelings in your VR game, said Sally of Ossic, 3D sound in San Diego. Composer must play the game, said award-winning composer Penka Kouneva, who played the Mummy VR game before composing the first note You can play Mummy VR now at Star VR's first VR arcade at Hollywood and Highland, by the Hot Topic. Sound is your best ROI, said Viktor Phoenix, audio expert with Technicolor.  See our 12 Things You Need to Know about VR Games article, our video with speakers trends for VR games, and tag yourself / friends in the FB photo album.
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SteelHouse Summer Cocktails. Digital LA and SteelHouse teamed up for a relaxing Summer Sunset Cocktails at 41 Ocean in Santa Monica last Thurs. Our guest list of attendees included: SteelHouse, The Trade Desk, GumGum, Jukin Media, Taboola, Retention Science, FastPay, Media Temple, eHarmony, Beachbody, Me Undies, Iconery, Sugarfina, Thrillist, and more. The event celebrated SteelHouse's Innovation Hub, which gives brands and agencies access to new video, mobile, and social ad formats and digital distribution channels. SteelHouse Innovation Hub partners include Facebook, Instagram, The Trade Desk, Factual, GumGum, Taboola, and TripleLift. The cocktails kicks off a series of adtech panels that SteelHouse is planning for the fall. See our  articleand FB photo  album. 

6 Secrets to Successful Subscription Services

Successful Subscription box services go beyond selling boxes, to creating community, content marketing, branded boxes, partnering with influences, and more said CEO founders and executives from Loot Crate, FabFitFun, SnackNation, and Watch Gang at our Digital LA - Subscription Services panel held at CTRL Collective Playa Vista on Monday. Speakers said LA is a home for subscription services because LA understands connecting e-commerce and fulfillment with fan passions, influencers, content creation, storytelling, and brands. See our  article with 6 Secrets to Successful Box Services. 
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Esports: LA is epicenter for publishers, teams, events

Esports athletes can make $50K - $300K a year, with more including brand deals, and winning championship prize money, like the $24M at the recent Doda 2 tournament, said esports experts at our first Digital LA - Esports panel at CTRL Collective in Playa Vista. Speaker included Noah Whinston, CEO of The Immortals, a top LA-based team, Brian Kim of Damage agency which helps traditional sports companies and brands work with esports athletes, and Darren Yan of Everyday Influencers which helps place Twitch streamers, YouTubers and esports players in games and mainstream publications like Rolling Stone. Esports is rapidly growing, with increased prize money, sponsorship dollars and attendees at tournaments. Panel highlights, photos, and video of top esports trends in our  article.
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Hollywood Movie Marketing: VR, AR, VFX, Superheroes

At our post-Comic-Con pre-SIGGRAPH panel on Wed, speakers from Fandango, VNTANA, 8i and Framestore,  discussed how Hollywood studios are increasingly partnering with digital companies to provide never-been-done-before content, AR, VR and VFX for superhero movies and other projects.  AR company VNTANA has even developed "Hologram Best Practices"! Yes what a time to be alive! See how these companies create AR holograms, VR, VFX, and other  digital  campaigns to promote superhero and other movies. Article. Video.
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Women VR CTO s discussed how they manage the ever-changing world of VR technology software and hardware, and more at our Digital LA - Women in VR: CTO panel at CTRL Collective Playa Vista. The panel is the first Women in VR: CTO panel ever held in LA and nationwide, featuring only women CTOs of VR companies. Speakers included:  Linda Gedemer of Source Sound VR, and Adriana Vecchioli of VRTIGINOUS, moderated by Espree Devora of Women In Tech podcast.  Gedemer and Vecchioli described their paths from their schooling to tech to VR. They also described issues VR CTOs face with ever changing camera hardware, stitching and producing software, increasing data needs and scalability.  They also shared advice for women developers to get into tech and VR. See our  article  including video.
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Our Digital LA - Anime PokeParty .  We  celebrated the one-year anniversary of Pokemon Go with our Anime PokeParty during Anime Expo.  We celebrated with Pokemon Go Club LA, Cuddli dating app, and Bionic Buzz at CTRL Collective DTLA. Attendees chose red, yellow or blue trainer candy, dressed up, played Jenga, and compared notes on Anime Expo. Pokemon Go  remains one of the most downloaded game apps ever, with hordes of Pokemon trainers packing parks and piers around the world. The app made AR mainstream, and has helped AR companies raise funding, because people are familiar with AR now. Companies are using AR in movie marketing, like the Spider-Man Homecoming app, where you can use the AR Suit Explorer to make Spider-Man appear next to you and your friends. 
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Content Creators experts talk Post-VidCon wrap-up. Experts from digital studios, agencies, and creators spoke about trends in content, creators, brands, social and m onetization at our post-VidCon panel discussion  at CTRL Collective Downtown LA. Speakers from Studio71, DEFY Media, Live.me, Portal A, and more discussed trends both at VidCon, and in the broader creator / influencer space. Top trends: More brands "get it" now on how to work with creators authentically and within the creators own voice, rather than advertisers asking for a bunch of product shots and mentions. C reators are branching into other revenue streams beyond YouTube including merchandising, Patreon, touring, paid appearances and more.  See our  article  and  pics.
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AR Panel: Augmented reality experts discussed AR applications, games, access and revenue models after Pokemon Go at our Digital LA - AR panel at IgnitedSpaces in Hollywood last night. Ben Conway of VNTANA discussed creating branded HOLLA-gram kiosks at events that fans can interact with to make videos sharable on social media. VNTANA has created hollo-grams with Marvel Disney to wear Doctor Strange's cape, and with Spongebob Squarepants to throw him a football at the Super Bowl. Drew Minock described how DAQRI's AR helmets help construction workers learn maintenance and repairs. Josephine Munis of Candy Labs AR creates location based AR games using GPS, or beacons when there's no wifi/service. She said that for her Texas Rope 'Em location based AR card game, she asked her engineer to create three card stops near our panel so people could play. Philippe Lewicki of AfterNow described AR as part of a mixed reality continuum, exemplified by his Microsoft Hololens egg hunt demoed at VRLA Expo. Allyson Cunha of Image Metrics described creating face-filter digital makeover apps, working with L'Oreal and other cosmetics brands. See our summary  article and what speakers are most excited about in the future of AR in this  FB video.
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- Digital LA - VR Music panel featured e xperts from Live Nation, the composer of Survios Raw Data VR game, and Silicon Beach startups.  Speakers shared insights on four areas of VR and music: spatial sound in VR, composing music in VR, music VR startups, and bands creating 360 music videos or livestreaming their concerts in VR. We also talked about the future of VR Music, including VR teleporting to multiple VR cameras at a concert, festival, or worldwide festival; composing music in VR, and social music VR attending concerts with friends in VR. Summary in our 10 Keys to Music VR article.
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Our Digital LA - EdTech panel featured Silicon Beach startups discussing tech sites and apps, and tech and entrepreneurship tools at schools and universities. Panelists described AI, AR, and VR applications for EdTech. Thanks speakers from CreatorUp, Flocabulary, Cue Career, GoGuardian, and LMU Leeds student group. See our  article and video including Flocabulary's Ike Ramos' history/geology  rap that got panelists standing up and audience clapping along (can we do music raps at all our panels?) in the last five minutes of this  video . 
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HR Tech Panel.   We hosted LA's first panel on HR Tech with speakers from Hired, ZipRecruiter, Comparably, Purple Squirrel and TriNet on how to create and develop tools, platforms, and apps for  recurring  and comparing salaries, and recruiting, as well as HR operations. 
We also discussed how to get a job and find talent in Silicon Beach. Thanks to Hired for sponsoring, and CTRL Collective for hosting.  Article.
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Silicon Beach Meets Silicon Valley.  We discussed how tech ecosystems in LA, SF and San Diego can increase communication at our panel at WeWork Golden Gate in San Francisco. Speakers included Cam Kashani of CoAccel, Matt Kosko of Service, Tim Ryan of Lab Fellows and Desirae of Rewardopoly discussed what they do, and increased communication of tech ecosystems in LA, San Francisco, and San Diego. Many LA and SD startups go to SF for investors or accelerator programs. Article

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