TODAY: Intro to Silicon Beach. 7 wknd ideas: AK Fest, Next BevHills. 7 startup tips from Women in Entertainment.

7 Startup Tips You Need to Know

from our Women in Entertainment panel

Startups CEOs, founders, and digital content filmmakers gave 7 tips on how to start and build your company or digital content studio at our Digital Women in Entertainment panel on Tuesday. Speakers from Blue Fever (Netflix for Women), REVRY (Netflix for LGBTQ), Scriptd (script database), EmoJam (animated emojis with music), Castifi (app for actor sourcing and payroll), Blaze VR/AR, and Adaptive Studios (makes underused Hollywood IP digital)

See their 7 tips in our article or watch the video.

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7 Weekend Ideas

Abbot Kinney Festival

- free street fair with bands, beer gardens, food trucks, vendor booths in Abbot Kinney, Sunday 9/23 10a-6p. Any startups got booths? #AKF2017

Beverly Hills Next Night Block Party. Block party in the street with food trucks, vendors, local restaurant deals, and music performances, in Beverly Hills. This only happens once a year! Don't miss it! FREE RSVP! Sat 9/23, 6-11p.

Academy Panel: How do Latinas Experience Hollywood? A Public Symposium. The Motion Picture Academy free panel with speakers discussing portrayal of Latinas in Hollywood film at the Academy HQ in Beverly Hills. FREE to attend. Get a photo with the Oscar statues!

Streamys Nominees Reception. Several nominees announced before the live show on Tuesday. Invite only. Follow @Streamys. Watch the Streamys on Tuesday live on Twitter hosted by Jon Cozart (photo right)

MOVIES: Kingsman Golden Circle

SHOWS:

- Tom Petty, Fri @ Hollywood Bowl

- Hamilton @ Pantages

- Kasabian, Sat @ Wiltern

- Chicago, Sat @ LA Fair Pomona

- Air Supply, Sat @ Grove of Anaheim

- Janet Jackson, Sat @ Anaheim Honda

- WWE @ Staples Center

- Ben Folds, Sun @ Ace DTLA

TODAY: Digital LA - Intro to Silicon Beach. 9/22, 2-4:30p Learn about the Silicon Beach ecosystem in this free overview presented by Digital LA founder Kevin Winston at CTRL Collective Playa Vista. We will discuss the major accelerators, investors, VCs, and angels in LA tech, and how co-working spaces, services, LA city, and events help support and build the Silicon Beach community.. FREE RSVP: http://introbeach.eventbrite.com

CALL FOR SPEAKERS: Looking for some startup founders for a 30-minute panel describing what they do in Silicon Beach for today 3:45-4:15p. Email info@digitalla.net with PANEL as subject and a brief background.

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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

- Universal Music Group looking for a Director of Interactive Media

Digital LA Association Launches

Powered by Venice-based startup Purple Squirrel, the Digital LA Association is a unique networking and employee referral platform that helps job seekers hack the job search by connecting with insiders (instead of recruiters) at top companies.

If you already have a job, join and earn $ by meeting with job seekers, or donate to charity or meet for free:
https://digitalla.purplesquirrel.io/why

If you are looking for a job, you can sign up to schedule meetings with advocates who work at LA tech companies, Silicon Beach startups and Hollywood studios and agencies
https://digitalla.purplesquirrel.io/signup

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LA TECH NEWS

Techstars Cedars-Sinai announces Third Class. Techstars Cedars-Sinai health ccelerator announced its third class of startups in its release. Welcome Avia (voice AI patient assistant), CancerAid (app for patient cancer care), ChoiceMap (treatment planning), Gyant (AI triage), Invio SourceDrive (cloud clinical trial data), Lumeon (tracks patient care protocols), Narrative DX (NLP ML analysis of patient experience), CareScriptions (app to manage care remotely), Sway Health (doctor counseling aid), Tasso (lets patient easily self-administer blood samples). Startups are housed at a building across from Cedars-Sinai, with access to Cedars advisors, mentors, and staff to help develop their products. Past class startups have announced partnerships with Cedars on Demo Day.

Mirrored Media celebrates founder's birthday

Mirrored Media, the experiential marketing agency that did more than a dozen VidCon activations including the Awesomeness TV ferris wheel (where each cab was a social media selfie booth) celebrated its founder and CEO Justin Lefkovitch's 30th birthday at Mack Sennett studios in Hollywood on Saturday. Justin previously spoke on our Digital LA - Creators Content panel. The party featured a number of the company's favorite and most popular activations, including the LED neon infinity photo booth that was at the Fullscreen booth at VidCon (photo). In addition, new custom pieces were made just for the event. See the Vimeo video.

Congrats Digital at Emmys

Congrats digital winners at the Emmys. Digital distributors dominated winners: After HBO (29 wins), Netflix won 20, NBC (15) and Hulu won 10, followed by ABC, FX, Fox, A&E, Amazon, etc. Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale won 8 (of Hulu's 10), Emmys including Drama, Writing, Directing, Actress Drama, and Supporting Actress Drama. Netflix's Stranger Things won five Emmys previously at the Creative Arts Emmys, including Title Design, Title Music, Drama Casting, and Sound Editing. In the Interactive categories awarded previously, Westworld won Interactive Scripted, and Google Spotlight's Pearl won Interactive Innovation, see our article.

Vainglory Live: Cloud9 beats Immortals. The Cloud9 esports team beat Immortals to win the North American European Championship at the Globe in downtown LA over the weekend. Vainglory is the world's largest mobile esports games, where players compete on their phones, iPads and tablets. Executives from Super Evil Megacorp, which makes the game, spoke about Vainglory's popularity and future enhancements (guilds are coming). New hero Churnwalker was announced, to debut in the game this fall. The Cloud9 team advances to the Vainglory World finals later this year. See our article.

Startup UCLA Demo Day graduated its 6th class with 11 startups, from biotech to VR. The Startup UCLA accelerator gives startups $5,000 each and access to its mentors and alumni network for 10 weeks. Startup UCLA takes no equity in the startups. See our article.

Meet the 11 Startups
- Acquaint app lets content creators easily share their social media profiles.

- Swift long distance carpool app that connects drivers with riders, especially for events like Coachella, or San Diego, Santa Barbara.

- Escality VR production studio makes VR games, trade show experiences like scavenger hunts, commercials, training programs and more.

- BellaNove helps expectant mothers rent fashionable Instagramable maternity clothing that adapts with their pregnancy.

- ClassCalc calculator app is usable in the classroom

- Tutorfly lets high school students find tutors for offline appointments.

- Wearable Labs creates a light MRI RF coil that provides better image quality

- Mechandontics specialized braces let dentists adjust each tooth

- PulseMed wireless stethoscope adaptor gives digital audio EKG

- SmartAg Technologies. Hardware and software tech to help honey bees.

- Rosen Skincare creates carbon-based skincare products to reduce acne and other skin blemishes

LA Coworking: We updated our LA Coworking map, adding new locations for CTRL Collective Pasadena, WeWork Century City and Vine, and new Regus' Fairfax Spaces. We eliminated ROC and NextSpace, which have closed. See our article on LA coworking spaces. http://digitalla.net/coworking

LA Accelerators: We updated our LA Accelerators grid, adding new fall demo days and application deadlines for Grid 100 (Aug 31) and Techstars Music (Oct). Plus we added Techstars LA and the new Starburst aerospace accelerator. Need money and mentors for your startup? Try these major LA accelerators, from Amplify to Starburst! See chart below or read description of accelerators here in our article http://digitalla.net/accelerators

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CONFERENCES

Hollywood in Pixels Silver Pixel Awards honors Doug Neil, Universal Pictures, EVP Digital Marketing at its third annual event, October 5 at the Facebook offices in Playa Vista. Get tix.

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

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.

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.

1. Build Community

Speakers unanimously said that building community is key to a successful box services. You must go beyond putting products in the box to create and engage community. Panelists' companies do that in different ways.

Loot Crate started being very active on social media to create a community. Loot Crate replied to its first subscribers on Twitter thanking them for tweeting. Since then, Loot Crate has engaged fans on Facebook, Instgram, and Twitter to engage with fans.

FabFitFun beauty box engages its community via social media and its message forums, where fans will often answer questions for each other.

SnackNation, which delivers monthly health snacks to businesses, engages its community of HR managers with forums about creating happier employees.

Watch Gang, a subscription watch service, creates community via trading. Subscribers can trade watches via its online forums.

2. Content Marketing

Creating content that fans share, or fan-generated content helps. Loot Crate has produced short films related to fan passions. FabFitFun creates beauty and style guides, said Lucy Liu, VP of Product (photo right). SnackNation creates article and guides about creating healthy work environments for HR managers.

3. Branded Boxes

Unike a cardboard brown Amazon box, which is purely functional and not part of the experience, subscription box companies understand that your box is part of your brand and experience.

4. Unboxing

Content Marketing and Branded Boxes combine with unboxing videos. These are videos fans make of themselves opening boxes. Unboxing videos have become "a thing" on YouTube, Instagram and social media, with fans eager to see what's in the box, and the opener's reaction to contents. Some customers have even built a following for their unboxing videos.

5. Box Content Algorithms: What People Want

Successful box companies use an array of tools to determine what goes into each box. When the box companies on the panel first started, contents were determined by the founders, their friend - tastemakers, and what products they were able to scramble to get to put in the box. Years later, the companies use a combination of tools to figure out what goes in each box. SnackNation employs "Snack Wizards" who taste each product for its B2B snack boxes, said CEO Sean Kelly (photo right)

6. Influencers

Loot Crate partnered with game and pop culture influencers early on, giving them boxes, which they posted about on social media. FabFitFun also works with influencers, or just gives boxes to influencers and celebs, who naturally post photos of the box.

See article http://digitalla.net/subscription

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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.

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.

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 in Hawaii. We talked drones, clean tech and LA - Hawaii tech connections at our second Silicon Beach meet Startup Paradise: Digital LA - Aloha Digital Drinks at the Moana Surfrider Beach Bar in Waikiki on Wednesday. We enjoyed sunset views of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, as we ate poke nachos and sipped strawberry pina coladas and mai-tais. Attendees included a digital branding agency based in Santa Monica that just opened up an office in Hawaii; Samantha Kimsey, Program Director at Computational Thinkers, which teaches programming courses in Hawaii; and developer who's done work for Sony Pictures, Riot Games and Dog Vacay. We also talked

future LA - Hawaii tech connections. See our article with upcoming Hawaii Creative Lab bootcamp and details to get involved at http://digitalla.net/aloha

- 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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Digital LA - Games VR Executive Dinner featured startup executives and influencers met for our Digital LA - Games Executive Dinner presented by TriNet at the new Tao Hollywood. Attendees included several past speakers of our Digital LA events including games influencer Mari Takahashi of SMOSH Games / Defy Media, Caspar Bohme founder of Navel.Live livestream VR who spoke on our VR Monetization panel, Amy Allison of Two Bit Circus, Valerie Wang of TriNet who spoke on our HR Tech panel, and Gilda the founder of Candy Lab AR, whose CMO will be speaking at our Augmented Reality panel on May 25. Thanks to host TriNet. See recap 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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Digital LA - Meet the New Funds panel

Investment dollars continue to pour into LA, with the launch of several new VC funds already in 2017.

While the funds are new, the VCs have extensive experience investing in LA Tech and Silicon Beach.

VCs shared info about their funds and advice for investors at our Digital LA - Meet the new VC Funds panel at CTRL Collective in Playa Vista.

Speakers gave 10 Dos and Don'ts for startup founders looking for funding - see article

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Digital LA - VR Access panel. Our VR experts described 15 ways to increase access to VR for mainstream, women and kids, diversity groups and more at our Digital LA - VR Access panel at CTRL Collective Playa Vista.

It's important to focus on increasing access to grow VR consumer base as a whole, and ensure niche communities and groups are not being left out of this much anticipated technology from consumption to creation of VR content. More VR monetization tools in the video and our article .

Women Gamers panel. Thanks to our Digital LA - Women Gamers speakers for an inspirational discussion! Seven top game influencers described how they started to game for a living, build their audiences, engage fans, and work with brands. Thanks LolRenaynay, Mari, Emuhleet, Brizzy Voices, Amber Plaster, Briana White, and LilyPichu. Watch entire panel via our Periscope. Article soon

Digital LA - Love and Dating. Experts from Tinder, eHarmony, Three Day Rule, Grindr, and more gave tips on dating, from improving your dating profile to your dating app, at our annual Digital LA - Love & Dating panel at CTRL Collective in Playa Vista. See our article and FB album.

LA is the #1 city for dating apps and online dating, with a large number of single, busy, attractive people who like to date frequently.

LA's online dating companies help people connect from short term dates to long term relationships.

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Our Digital LA - Music Startups panel featured speakers from Techstars and Silicon Beach music startups. Music investment and startups are slowly coming back pianissimo, focusing on revenue from music services transactions and subscriptions, rather than actual song licensing. In LA, Troy Carter's SMASHD Labs accelerator had some music startups. And new Techstars Music accelerator will invest $1.2M in its first class of expected 10 startups to be announced later this month. After our panel, band FOXTRAX, an official SXSW 2017 showcase band, performed . See our highlights recap in our article.

Chinese investors have increased interest in Silicon Beach, especially in entertainment, AR/VR, influencer data, and more, said speakers at our annual Chinese - LA Tech panel to celebrate Lunar New Year, held at Cross Campus Downtown LA. Speakers included Jiyuan Hu of ArcheMatrix Investment Group, and Stella Poon of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Speakers discussed how startups can open operations in Hong Kong as a gateway to expanding into China. Silicon Beach startup Milk & Honey custom shoes did just that before founder Dori Howard sold it. We also talked what's hot in China, including eSports, games, and more, in our article.

Women VR experts from Specular Theory, Huffington Post Ryot News, and more discussed how to create, produce, market VR on our panel, with food by Clean Living Club. Panelists said that trends to look for in VR include untethered, live VR, social VR, and more. Several speakers said that there are several great 360 video experiences, but more interactive VR experience will really showcase VR. Also, brands like Cartier are experimenting in VR to build their worlds. Four female founder pitched their VR projects ranging from saving honeybees to creating VR games for female gamers. See our photos. Article soon.

Digital LA - Digital Health is increasing in LA and worldwide, said speakers at our annual Digital Health panel, timed to New Years health and fitness resolutions. Attendees included startups, PR, developers, and a cardiologist at CTRL Collective Playa Vista. See our article.

Since our Digital Health panel last January, Techstars Cedars-Sinai Healthcare Accelerator has invested more than $1.2M in 11 startups. Eight of them were from the LA area. Techstars held a demo day with 600 attendees at the Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center in Beverly Hills, the largest digital health event in LA, with physicians, health and HMO administrators, entrepreneurs and more. Nearly all of the 11 startups announced deals with Cedars-Sinai hospital or affiliates at the demo day.

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Silicon Beach Fest celebrated 5th anniversary

Silicon Beach Fest celebrated its fifth anniversary with three days of panels, parties, keynotes, mixers and a VIP yacht cruise at the Marina del Rey Hotel and other venues last week. More than 400 speakers shared insights and experience on more than 80 panels and sessions over five days, on topics including growth, VR, advertising, influencers, social media, developers, design, and more.

Thanks to speakers, sponsors, volunteers, organizers, vendors, and attendees for making our fifth summer Silicon Beach Fest such a success! Several attendees said and tweeted they found the panel topics that continued into engaging hallway and mixer conversations both information-packed and inspiring. Watch for our Silicon Beach Fest one-day event this fall.

Read article with SBF HIGHLIGHTS

Kitterly wins SBF Startup Showcase 2016 Title

Kitterly won the Silicon Beach Fest Startup Showcase 2016 title. The crafting site is an alum of 500 Startups, and is founded by Mari Bower, CEO. Kitterly wins the prize package including the SBF 2016 title, $5,000 courtesy Media Temple, a Surf Air flight to its California destinations, two Air New Zealand tickets on its LA - London route, ten hours transactional legal services from Sheappard Mullin, and three months membership at CTRL Collective, at either its Playa Vista or new Downtown location (for a tour email tm@ctrlcollective.com) . Kitterly was first of the 20 startups pitched at the Silicon Beach Fest 2016 Startup Showcase. Five judges choice and one audience choice advanced to the finals on Friday. The six finalists were: Kitterly, Markett, Heal (doctor on demand), Heartbeat (women millennial marketing network), Canny (cannabis directory), and audience choice Vampr (music networking). Markett, an on demand marketing company that is part of Amplify accelerator, placed second. Watch the Friday Final pitches in this replay video.

Silicon Beach Fest receives Certificate of Recognition from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. At Downtown Day on Monday, Office of LA Mayor Eric Garcetti city officials presented Silicon Beach Fest founder Kevin Winston with a Certificate of Recognition, on the 5th annivesary of Silicon Beach Fest this year (photo right). Then, LA City Officials described the Mayor's tech initiatives, including attracting tech companies to move to LA, open data hackathons, digital divide programs, opportunities for startups to bid on city projects, and a huge job fair in January, which Jason Nazar is spearheading as LA City Entrepreneur In Residence.