Happy Weekend, Digital LA peeps!
We are honored Digital LA is #1 in this Forbes list of Professional Organizations in LA. Thank you Forbes and all of you! 
______
6 Weekend Ideas
'cuz u may get an idea for a startup, script, or game

LA Auto Show starts today Nov 30 - Dec 9 featuring the latest cars, eco-friendly cars, and concept cars at the LA Convention Center. The Automobility LA conference earlier this week focused on transportation tech earlier this week. See our article highlights of the cool concept cars, red cars, and some LA transportation startups like the Pasadena-baed Urb-E portable e-scooter.
Capitol Royale music conference and hakcathon. Capitol Music teams up with gener8tor to host Capitol  Royale - A two-day music innovation and creativity marathon Dec 1-2 bringing together creators, coders, designers, and startups to re-imagine the future state of music consumption. The event will be held at the historic Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood featuring a 24-hour hackathon, panel discussions, product demos, a Twitch game jam, and performances by JAMESDAVIS and NJOMZA. Register today and receive a special 50% discount on GA tickets with code DIGLA when you register.

The Reality Mixer. Join High Fidelity & Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, creators + entrepreneurs from Two Bit Circus, TheWaveVR, Noctvrnal, Occidental College and more at  The Reality Mixer on Dec 1. 20% discount with code DIGITALLA  https://buff.ly/2E1S26a

LA Animation Festival
begins with opening benefit party tonight in NoHo!

MOVIES
- Ralph Breaks the Internet was #1 its opening weekend with $53M. Dozens of Internet companies are featured in the film, including LA-based Snapchat. The film also features YouTuber influencers like GloZell and more. Plus the all-Princess scene is hilarious, and yes the causal Princess T-shirts like Elsa's Let It Go are on sale at Disney Stores.
- Possession of Hannah Grace

SHOWS
- Jingle Ball w Shawn Mendes, Cardi B, Calvin Harris and more, Fri @ Forum
- Wicked starts @ Pantages
- Nutcracker @ Dorothy Chandler
- Influencers David Dobrik & Jason Nash, Sun at the Soraya
- Marc Anthony, Sun @ Forum
- So You Think You Can Dance Tour, Mon @ Dolby

 ______

Thursday Dec 13, 8-10p
Two Bit Circus in DTLA


Join us for our annual Digital LA - Holiday Party where we're headed to the circus this year: Two Bit Circus mini-amusement park that recently opened in Downtown LA! Two Bit Circus has received local and national press as a unique digital tech entertainment concept. Two Bit Circus is mini-amusement park, packed with top VR games like Beat Saber and Birdly, escape rooms, classic arcade games, midway games, and air hockey, with a whimsical inverted big top bar, robot bartender, and red box car restaurant.  See our  article  on Two Bit Circus grand opening this past fall. 
Wear your holiday / carnival cheer and join us for our holiday party, where we will be in the upstaris VIP Roustabout Lounge. Check-in on our guest list at the bottom of the stairs, and head up for digital networking, with some complimentary appetizers for early arrivals.

VIP tickets additionally get the VIP package including 2 Drink Tickets, a $15 Play Card valid on any attraction in the park, and 10 Game plays on any midway or arcade game.

REGISTER to attend by December 6 when RSVP list closes!

___________

CONFERNCES AND DISCOUNTS

TECHmunch LA conference for food bloggers and social media foodies is on Fri Dec 7 at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica. Our Digital LA founder Kevin Winston speaks on the "Real Time Advice" panel with other industry experts giving real time advice to bloggers sites and social media. Save 1/3 on early-bird passes

CES is Jan 8-11. Get ready! Details on our CES party soon. 

NAB Show in Vegas in April. Use code PR08 to register for a free show floor pass. 

___________

LA TECH NEWS

Several LA games companies are launching games just in time for holiday gift giving and movies. 

- Survios Creed: Rise to Glory VR boxing game lets you jump into the ring with virtual boxing. This week, Survios launched a free update that lets you relive the iconic scenes in Creed 2 vs. Viktor Drago and Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler. Our founder Kevin Winston played Creed 2 at GDC this past spring (photo right).

- Scopely: Star Trek Fleet Command
released this week. In the mobile game on iOS and Android, you assemble your crew, build your fleet, and engage in high action space ship battles in the first per son spaceship shooter.

- Jam City,  based in Culver City announced its expansion to Toronto with the acquisition of mobile bingo game Bingo Pop based there. Jam City does branded mobile games,  including the Harry Potter and   

- Comic Blitz acquired by Cinedigm. Congrats to Comic Blitz, which just announced sale to Cinedigm this week. LA based Comic Blitz is a "Netflix for comics" where you get access to thousands of titles for $8 per month. Comic Blitz founder Jordan Plosky has spoken on our Digital Comics panel (photo right) and Silicon Beach Fest events. See Variety article. 
 ____________

JOBS
Get or place a job on our Job Board

Upper Diamond - Marketing & Project Coordinator (LA). Project / Marketing Coordinator with a 'can do' attitude, who wants to make an impact and has a keen interest in learning, marketing and storytelling. If that sounds like you then you will thrive in this 12 year old company still run like a small startup.
Weissman-Markowitz Communications - PR Account Coordinator (Burbank) - PR coordinator needed to work with top PR firm that runs PR campaigns for awards ceremonies, film festivals, streaming services and more. Clients include Art Directors Guild (photo right: ADG Awards), the International Cinematographers Guild, Make-Up Artists and Hairstylists Guild, Prime Video, cable and streaming networks as well as many foreign and independent films.

____________
 
OUR RECENT EVENTS

8 Startup Tips

Startup Founders and investors gave startup tips at our Startup Founders panel with Yale Tech, hosted at Techstars LA offices in Los Angeles on Nov 1.
Speakers included: Techstars LA Managing Director Anna Barber, and three startup founders Athan Slotkin of Hotsauce restaurant discovery app, Aly Moore of Spott.AI click content to buy merchandise platform, and Cristina Poindexter of Maslo voice-AI empthy tool, currently at Headspace. See their 8 startup tips in our article   and video. 

LA's cannabis tech startups are growing in discovery, operations, and delivery, said speakers at our Digital LA - High Tech panel at Phase Two coworking space in Culver City. Experts from Weedmaps, WebJoint, Baker, White Buffalo and more shared their insights. Speakers discussed how digital tools help with customer relationship management, direct marketing, operations,  and measuring ROI. White Buffalo presented a handy checklist of guidelines for cannabis marketing, which is very different from other subject. See  article.

6 Cryptocurrency Innovations and trends to watch include increase ease of use, access, mobile, and education, said expert speakers at our Digital LA - Crypto Innovators panel at the EOS Lynx / WorkCoin offices. Speakers included Michael Terpin of Transform Group, which has helped more than 150 cryptocurrency companies with their launch campaigns; Ann Greenberg of Entertainment AI; Ira Herman, product manager of host company EOS Lynx / WorkCoin mobile EOS wallet app; and Mark Jeffrey of Guardian Circle app. See our  article.  Our all-star speakers describe the top innovations and trends they are watching in our Facebook live  video.

Digital LA - Emmys Viewing Party on Monday, we cheered on digital and other winners and nominees. Attendees included filmmakers, writers, actors, models, digital brand managers, and our friends from IVY Entertainment. See  article.


Digital LA - VR Venue panel: Experts from LA's top location-baed VR companies including Survios, Two Bit Circus, Beat Saber and more said that  weneed more VR content that is diverse, social, and branded at our  Digital LA - VR Venues panel at Phase Two cowork space in Culver City. They also discussed success factors for VR Venues. See  article.
When the recent VR excitement started about four years ago, VR venues were the mythical holy grail that would help increase access and awareness of VR to the mainstream audiences. Now, there are more than a dozen VR venues that have opened around malls and tourist destinations in LA.

Immersive Activations  create amazing experiences with tech that makes it easy to share , said creators of award-winning experiential marketing at San Diego Comic-Con, VidCon, SXSW, Coachella, and more at our panel on Wednesday at Phase Two cowork space in Culver City.  Immersive Activations that transport you to another world are being increasingly used by Hollywood movie studios, brand marketers and advertisers to generate excitement and create social media opportunities. And LA is home to several of these agencies including Giant Spoon, Mirrored Media, Media Monks, and VNTANA. At our panel, CEOs and founders shared how they work with studios and advertisers to create never-been-done-before out-of-the-box experiences that fit the movie, show, or brand perfectly, and make it easy for fans and influencers to experience it and share on their social media.  Article.   Watch speakers share their insights on the biggest trends in experiential marketing in our Facebook live  video. 

VFX, Marketing and Writing. Speakers from Marvel Studios and Fox discussed the impact of digital on their craft at our Digital LA - Superheroes Go Digital panel at CTRL Collective Playa Vista on Monday in LA before San Diego Comic-Con.  Speakers included two-time Oscar nominee Marvel VFX Supervisor Stephane Ceretti, Noah Young, VP Digital Marketing at Fox Studios, Joelle Sellner, writer of DC Superhero Girls digital series and the Overwatch digital series, and Joe Matsushima, co-foudner of Denizen marketing agency. Speakers described how digital innovation impacts their work. See our  article  and  Facebook  Live video.

Superheroes and Stormtroopers flew into our tenth annual Digital LA - Comic Cocktails mixer at Origin Code Academy in downtown San Diego. Attendees including entertainment companies, actors, illustrators, writers, startups, and Comic-Con fans enjoyed amazing sunset views of Petco Park, downtown San Diego, and the Coronado Bridge.  We traded notes on favorite panels and parties at San Diego Comlc-Con. Thanks to our venue host Origin Code Academy. Origin Code Academy offers developer coding classes in Javascript, HTML, CSS and more at its new offices in downtown San Diego overlooking Petco Park. More pics in our  article
 
First film releases via blockchain . The often talked-about ability for filmmakers to release their content on the blockchain to control both distribution and direct payment is now a reality.  The feature No Postage Necessary released on the blockchain yesterday, and is available for purchase using cryptocurrency.  We hosted our Digital LA Blockchain for Filmmakers event featuring the filmmakers and Vevue token platform founder at a pop-up event on Monday at Del Frisco's Grille in Santa Monica. The filmmakers described how they wanted to create a comedy involving cryptocurrency a few years ago, and then release it on the blockchain whenever that technology became available. That happened when they met LA-bsed  Thomas Olson, founder of Vevue,  a P2P incentivized video network based on the Qtum blockchain which incentives content creators to upload and post videos, and earn tokens anywhere in the world. Read more in our  article 
 
VFX of Ant-Man and the Wasp Q&A. Two-time Oscar-nominated Marvel Studios VFX Supervisor Stephane Ceretti described inspiration for the visuals for Ant-Man and the Wasp at our Digital LA - VFX Q&A on Opening Friday at the Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood.  Stephane Ceretti has been Oscar-nominatd for his work on Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy. In addition, he has done effects for Thor: The Dark World, the first Captain America, X-Men: First Class, and more. Ant-Man and the Wasp is Marvel Studios' 20th film to rank #1 at the box office its opening weekend, an unprecedented success rate in the history of Hollywood. The film opened with $76M this past weekend. Critics and fans love the visual effects from the eerie Quantum Realm, to growing and shrinking characters, to Anton the ant playing the drums. Our founder Kevin Winston moderated the Q&A, with the attendees who had just seen the film. Stephane described inspiration for the VFX and other highlights in our  article . 
 
Digital LA - Anime PokeParty attracts anime, digital fans. Sailor Moon, Neophyte Red Glare, anime and digital fans attended our third annual Digital LA - Anime PokeParty, held at the Continental Club in downtown LA. Our Anime PokeParty connects fans of anime, Pokemon Go, and digital during the Anime Expo held in LA. We teamed up with Pokemon Go Club of LA and Southern California, which provided tasty pokeball appetizers, and a networking game. Attendees discussed anticipated improvements in the popular Pokemon Go game, including the new ability to trade your Pokemon with other trainers when you enter in their ID code. Our partner SPBH Animation demoed its VR web comic. More details and pics in our  article. 

Digital LA - Berlin Pool Party. We discussed digital agencies and game influencers in LA and Germany while lounging pool side at our Digital LA - Berlin Pool Party at Haubentaucher pool in Berlin. We watched World Cup games on the big screen set up by the pool. The event is our mixer to connect LA tech and Berlin tech before the TOA tech art festival in Berlin. LA and Berlin are known as sister cities for tech. TOA Berlin brought two dozen startups to LA last year to connect with our entertainment  and creative community. We also organized a Digital LA - Berlin Tech meets LA tech panel in Berlin two years ago featuring VCs, startups and consulting firms bridging the two communities. See  article. 

Game industry speakers discussed game trends including AR, VR, esports, mobile, social influencers and Fortnite at our ninth annual pre-E3 Games event at CTRL Collective in Downtown LA. Our panel featured speakers from indie games and startups including WITHIN VR, Telltale Games, 562 Interative (Snailiens), with the Sports Academy, a physical sport facility that added esports classes, including games, physical trainers and psychosocial coaches available. Speaker discussed VR, AR, esports, influencers and more. Highlights summarized in our   article. Speakers also shared their top favorite game trends in our Facebook live video. After the panel, two artists performed in our Band Jam. Cody Jay (who works at Blizzard) sang his pop boy band tunes, and space diva Polartropica dazzled with lasers that brought us soaring among planets. See video links in our article.
 
Where are the Blockchain Developers? Blockchain is predicted to change multiple industries, but where are the developers to program the change? At our panel, our expert speakers discussed how to find, recruit, pay, manage, and become blockchain developers. Highlights: Blockchain is relatively new, so like the early days of HTML, you have to find developers who are teaching themselves related languages and platforms, including Solidity, Vyper, Go, etc. You can find blockchain developers online, at university programs, training courses, meetups, conferences, and other events. See highlights in our  article.  Speakers included Zak Cole, Whiteblock, CTO;  Gregorio Rojas, Sabio, Co-Founder, CTO;  Stephanie Mountain, Bixly, Business Development, and  Josh Smith, API Miner, CEO. Thanks to sponsor Sabio, which builds MVP products and recently added blockchain  courses  to its developer bootcamp classes. See our article.
 
 
5 AR Predictions. Our AR experts discussed lasted trends in AR at our "AR: What's Next?" panel at Phase Two in Culver City. Highlights: AR includes two types. First is consumer / entertainment AR with games like Pokemon Go that can be easily played on your phone. Jurassic World will release an AR game with its movie this summer. Second, industrial / enterprise AR uses headsets for business uses, from designing a car in AR, to making repairs on equipment. In LA, Mira Labs has low cost headsets that you can insert a phone into. DAQRI offers more expensive VR headsets. Other speakers included Rene of ARwall, which makes AR without need of a mobile device, and AR for pre-viz for filmmakers to block a scene. AfterNow does mixed reality AR. See  5 AR Predictions in our article recap, and our   video where expert discuss future trends in AR.  
 
 
 
Inclusion Summit  included inspiring speakers from Hulu, YouTube, Google, Disney ABC TV, Universal Pictures, Sony, Grey's Anatomy, OWN, Nickelodeon shows, and more on Saturday at CTRL Collective in Playa Vista.  The summit featured panels, mentoring roundtables, and keynote all focusing on how to increase diversity and inclusion from your  content  to startups and  companies . Digital LA co-hosted the event, spearheaded by Yale in Hollywood in partnership with the Television Academy Interactive Media Peer Group and the Producers Guild of America.  Thanks to speakers, organizers, sponsors, volunteers  and community partners including Harvardwood, Women in Media, CAPE, NALIP and more.  Article with  highlights. 
 
Digital LA - Crypto Cannabis . Happy 4/20! Crypto cannabis is a high growth market in its early seed stages, said experts at our Crypto Cannabis panel last night on 4/20 eve. The legalization of cannabis in California plus the rise of blockchain technology have resulted in an increase in crypto cannabis interest. Avoid the cannabis coins; a lot of them are marketing without product, said Timothy Lewis of DNA Fund. Growth areas include branding and distribution, said Ford Smith, advisor at Cannabis Blockchain. See more HIGHlights in our  article  and Facebook live  video. 


panel featured influencers with niche
passionate audiences and influencer platforms sharing how to work with brands at WeWork Pacific Design Center. Influencers said it was key to be authentic, and treat followers as part of a community, not fans. Micro influencer platforms Hearbeat, Tinysponsor, and Buttrfly described how their influencers with 500 to 500,000 followers can provide more engagement than big influencers with millions of followers. Highlights in our  article and Facebook live  video. 
   
__
 
SILICON BEACH FEST 2017 Recap
Silicon Beach Fest Best of 2017 edition celebrated top Silicon Beach investors, startups, Hollywood executives and more with a week of panels, workshops and mixers focusing on Bitcoin, blockchain, VCs, accelerators, influencers and more at CTRL Collective locations from Pasadena to Playa Vista. See  article. 
 
Tag yourself in the pics posted in our SBF17 album:  http://tinyurl.com/sbf17 
 
 
 
The Video Content panel featured speakers including the CEO of Jukin Media, Fullscreen, Studio71, Twitch, Machinima and other leading content companies, moderated by David Bloom. See summary in David Bloom's Tubefilter  article.
 
Brock Pierce, Chair of the National Bitcoin Foundation, gave an inspiring keynote. He described his founding role in Bitcoin and blockchain startups and local LA incubator. He also encouraged startup founders to aspire to a higher purpose, mission, and making a difference.
DASH Systems won the Silicon Beach Fest - Startup Showcase 2017 title. DASH uses drones to fly packages from cargo planes the last air mile to people's front yards and doorsteps. DASH is an alum of the Make in LA hardware accelerator based in Chatsworth. DASH also won $500 in AmbassadHer credit. AmbassadHer helps marketers create campaigns via its network of millennial brand evangelists who get rewarded to post on Instagram and other social platforms. AmbassadHer evangelists helped promote #SBF17.
Blue Fever won the judges second place, and Audience Choice first place titles. Blue Fever is a "Netflix for women" which distributes video content for millennial women via both its web site and short snckable text messages.
Several panels features investors, accelerator heads and more giving advice to startup founders and entrepreneurs.
THANK YOU!
Thanks speakers for sharing your experience, insights, and giving informative and inspiring talks. Thanks panel organizers for putting together an array of diverse speakers and topics including blockchain, investing, content, Influencers, AR/VR and more. Thanks moderators for ensuring lively conversations where everyone is heard.
Thanks to gold sponsor TeleSign, whose co-founder Stacy Stubblefield (photo right) spoke on our Women Founders panel on Womens Day Thursday. Stacy discussed how she helped grow TeleSign from an idea to a company with more than 300 worldwide employees. TeleSign helps companies with their security, and is the leader in two-factor authentification. TeleSign was recently acquired by BICS. TeleSign also presented the closing party. The Closing Party featured demos by VRScout, and performances by Polartropica and Elijah, arranged by Planet LA.
 
Thanks Greenberg Glusker, our lanyard sponsor. Greenberg Glusker also featured speaker Jesse Saivar, who spoke on the Video Content and Monetization panel with executives from Jukin Media, Twitch, Machinima, and more.
Thanks to panel sponsors: HIRED presented the Hiring Secrets for Startups panel. ProVisors presented the How to Hire a Local Professional panel.
Thanks to CTRL Collective for hosting at your three gorgeous LA locations in Playa Vista, Downtown LA and Pasadena, with your amazing friendly and logistics-wizards events team.
Thanks Kluge for your amazing branding and graphics for our SBF banners, posters, website and SBF VR experience.
Thanks Etech Solution which is our name badge - registration angel, with a super efficient registration system and on-the-spot name badge printing for walk-ups, eliminating registration bottlenecks and lines.
 
Thanks to our volunteers for your energy and can do enthusiasm helping attendees.
Thanks inkind sponsors for sharing your tasty treats and beverages with us, including High Brew Coffee, KIND snacks, Burt's Bees, SnackNation, Country Archer, and more. 
And thanks to attendees for great questions and helping each other out. We hope you continue follow up with awesome people you met over the next few weeks, to help your projects, businesses, and our tech community grow!
See you at Silicon Beach Fest 2018!

HODL = Hold On For Dear Life! Buy and hold Bitcoin rather than daytrade said speakers at our Digital LA - Bitcoin Blockchain panel. Speakers included Steve Beauregard of Bloq, Michael Terpin of BitAngels, and ICO marketing and PR consultant, Mark Jeffrey of Guardian Circle, on his ICO road show; and Jason Robert of HelloSugoi, which uses blockchain for tickets and events. See article and video. We discussed how to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, how blockchain is poised to disrupt multiple industries beyond currency, and how to launch and market an ICO without getting into trouble. See articleand video. 
 
 
 
Digital LA | info@digitalla.net | Los Angeles http://digitalla.net
GET SOCIAL!