TODAY!

Digital LA - Final Presidential Debate Watch Party

and Digital Panel: Digital Democracy

October 19, 5:30-9:30p

Cross Campus Downtown LA

TONITE: Join us to watch the Final Presidential Debate, followed by a panel with digital experts and leaders at Cross Campus Downtown LA. Our panelists will discuss how to use tech tools to increase voter registration, turnout, awareness, inspire action, from social media to influencers to increase awareness. We will also discuss startups /tech that are impacted by legislation such as immigration in this debate or ongoing, and what startups/ tech can do to get involved. Check-in 5:30p, Debate Watch 6-7:30p, Panel 7:45-8:45p. Part of Innovate LA events Oct 6-23. 

FREE RSVP http://digitaldebate.eventbrite.com

PANEL SPEAKERS

Hunter Scarborough, Voter, Founder & CEO. Named the "#1 up-and-coming app" of 2016 by Newsweek, Voter is a platform to find the politicians, corporations, and causes that support your views. Often dubbed, "Tinder for politics," Voter analyzes big (political) data, including candidates' speeches, voting history, and campaign finance records, to give you complete confidence in your vote. @HuntaJames @Voter

Catherine Geanuracos, CityGrows, COO. CityGrows is a workflow and transparency platform for local governments. Catherine has been engaged in digital political campaigns since 2004.  She has managed voter engagement data and evaluation for two national political cycles for MoveOn.org and received two Pollie Awards for her work on Eric Garcetti's mayoral race. @Geanuracos

Gabriela Cid, FWD.us, Southern CA Associate. Since 2013, FWD.us has been mobilizing the tech + business community in support of policies that keep the American Dream achievable in the 21st century, starting with commonsense immigration reform. Gabriela has been working on the issue of immigration for close to 10 years. @FWD_us

Nate Kaplan, SeePolitical, Founder.

SeePolitical is a 501c3 nonprofit producing fun, unbiased animations demystifying ballot measures and creating original content explaining the electoral process to increase civic awareness. SeePolitical animations have been distributed through online and major media distributors like ABC California affiliates, Univision, the LA Times, and NPR stations. Over 4 million Californians viewed SeePolitical animations in English and Spanish during the November 2014 elections cycle on the web and on television

Teja Foster, #SchoolsNotPrisons. Teja has worked on projects with the #SchoolsNotPrisons Tour, Weaving Movements of the San Diego Foundation, Revolve Impact, PBS Socal, Clear Channel, Griffith Observatory, Children Uniting Nations, and guardNOW.

Taylor McPartland, Lincoln Federation, Director. The Lincoln Federation advocates for entrepreneurs on relevant policy issues and inspire positive change throughout our community. @LincolnOrg @TayMcPartland

Moderator: Kevin Winston, Digital LA, Founder CEO

Sara Benincasa is a comedian and the author of several books including  "Tim Kaine Is Your Nice Dad" (2016). She has been a talk radio host and producer, and a freelance writer covering whatever anyone would pay her to do. @sarajbenincasa

HOST COMMITTEE: 
- Lora O'Connor, Cate Park and Cookie Parker, former Co-Chairs, So Cal Tech4Obama 
- Kevin Winston, Digital LA 

PARTNERS: 

Innovate LA is a two week, countywide celebration of the breadth of innovation and creativity within our region Oct 6-23, with a series of events, lectures and talks all over LA. http://innovate.la

Cross Campus is a leading collaborative, on-­demand work space and business event venue. Its vision is to re-­imagine the office by creating a more inspiring, productive and socially connected environment for startups, entrepreneurs and creative professionals. @CrossCampusLA

Clean Living Club provides subscription-based healthy organic meals every day to small businesses and startups. Eat healthy while you're working on your startup! To get 50% off your first month, use code DIGITALLACLC by Friday Oct 21 at http://cleanlivingclub.com

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CTRL Collective Presents VR Haunted Mansion - 10/27. Explore several horror VR at the CTRL Collective in Playa Vista, which will gets a spooky haunted house makeover. Digital LA is a media partner.

CTRL Collective Presents Ex Machina Halloween - 10/28 steampunk masquerade theme party at CTRL Collective Downtown, with Digital LA Happy Birthday Internet toast and cupcakes at midnight, to celebrate when UCLA researchers sent the first packed of data to Stanford, and what became the Internet on October 29.

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Silicon Beach News

Siemer Summit Wavemaker Awards. Siemer announced it was being acquired by China based CEC Capital at its Siemer Summit. The summit recognized four LA startups last night:

- Mahalo Award - IPO of the Year:  Trade Desk, which IPOed recently

- Maverick Award - Most Disruptive: Thrive Market

- Waverider Award - Hottest Early Stage Startup: Sensay

- WaveMaker Award - Best Exit: Dollar Shave Club

"I've been in the LA tech scene for 16 years, and I've never been more bullish on LA than now," said Dan Murray CFO of Dollar Shave Club who accepted the award. He described we have great companies now, and a great pipeline of companies coming.

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JOBS

To get or place a job, visit http://digitalla.net/jobs

- SalesPlanner at Wikia in LA. http://digitalla.net/job/wikiasalesplanner/ 

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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. 

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 [email protected]) . 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.  

Silicon Beach Fest Closing Party, presented by TechStyle Fashion Group, featured closing keynote speaker Dan O'Keefe, co-exeutive producer of the top TV show Silicon Valley. He spoke about producing and writing for the show, which is an inspiration and favorite show among entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley to Silicon Beach and around the world. He said that show writers get ideas for storylines based on tech news, visits to startups in Silicon Valley, and staff writers' own personal experiences. The show also has consultant experts who advise on everything from investing and financing to developer and coding to ensure the show is authentic and accurate. He said the show is always looking for good new story ideas. 

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PANEL RECAPS

If you moderated or were on a panel, and can write a summary, please email it to [email protected] with SBF as subject so we can add it here and on our site!

Keynote: Shawn Gold, CMO of TechStyle Fashion Group: Reimagining the Fashion Business

TechStyle CMO Shawn Gold discussed his company's recent name change from JustFab, and its marketing campaigns across its portfolio of brands that include JustFab, Fabletics, ShoeDazzle and Fabkids. TechStyle specializes in using social media, TV, and other digital tools to reach each of its brands audience in different ways. For example, Shoedazzle is upbeat and hip; Fabletics activewear frequently uses humor, and Fabletics co-founder actress Kate Hudson frequently appears in videos. Watch replay.

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Presented by Icon Media Direct

Growth is a big theme at this year's Silicon, Beach Fest, with several LA startups that have grown to national and international audience in the past few few years. Several startups have seen huge success from integrated digital and television campaigns to reach larger mainstream audiences. Nancy Lazkani, CEO of Icon Media Direct, moderated a panel with speakers from TrueCar, Jarden Consumer Solutions and Guthy-Renker who described how integrated digital and television campaigns can increase awareness, branding, and sales.  TrueCar CMO Neeraj said that television plus digital absolutely resulted in increase boost. Watch replay. 

Speakers:

 - Nancy Lazkani, Icon Media Direct, Inc., CEO (Moderator)
- Neeraj Gunsagar, TrueCar, Inc., Chief Marketing Officer
- Kierie Courtney, Jarden Consumer Solutions, VP/GM Global Consumer Direct
- Boris Shimanovsky, Guthy-Renker, LLC, Chief Creative Officer at Guthy-Renker, President, GRM

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Javon Frazier, EVP, Strategy & Business Development, Studio 71, LP and UCLA Extension Instructor, discussed how he set out to raise $10,000 for their YouTube client's project "Joking Hazard," a card game that was developed to be the next "Cards Against Humanity." They started a global Kickstarter online fundraising campaign to gain awareness and raise funds for their project. In less than 6 weeks, Studio 71, LP surpassed their expectations raising over $3.2 million and garnered attention for their project that is still making headlines. Javon and panelists discussed how they developed the campaign, oversaw all the marketing and will be handling the game's printing and fulfillment.

Speakers:
- Bilal Kaiser, UCLA Extension, Instructor; Agency Guacamole, Owner (Moderator)
- Javon Frazier, EVP, Strategy & Business Development, Studio 71, LP and UCLA Extension Instructor
- John Fitzpatrick, Studio 71, Producer & Talent Manager, ProSiebenSat.1 Group

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TV and You: What's Next? featured AT&T executives discussing TV entertainment products that consumers want, including speakers from DIRECTV, VR, and more. Watch replay.

Speakers included:
- Erik Brannon, IHS Markit Technology, Principal Analyst (Moderator)
- Michele Barney, AT&T, VP Content & Programming
- Ben Mui, AT&T, VP Engineering
- Peter Sargent, AT&T, Director, Product Management

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Univision executives and latina influencers discussed how to reach latino audiences online at a packed panel on the main stage. Univision executives discussed their programming, content, outreach, and partnerships with influencers for everything from entertainment to increasing latino voting at the polls. Watch replay.

 Speakers:
- Diego Carvejal, Univision, Vice President of Digital Content
- Jennifer Perri, Univision, Director of Partnership Development and Multi-platform Strategy
- StyledbyAle, Lifestyle Blogger/YouTuber
- Leon Krauze, Author and KMEX-34 News Anchor
- Christina Zalpa, Sizmek, Sales Manager LATAM & US Hispanic
- Adrien Sossa, Xad, Director, Channel Partnerships
- Jaime Gabaldoni, Univision Communications, Senior Autos Editor and Influencer

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Improve Your Online Dating Life with Female Dating CEOs Panel

Four female dating CEOs got together at Silicon Beach Fest to share their 30 years of dating industry tips on how to create the perfect dating profile. The conversation included how they got involved in the multi-billion dollar online dating industry, with backgrounds in technology, finance, entertainment, and fashion, and a discussion on the big elephant in the room, Tinder.

Here are their top tips on how to improve your dating life.

Julie Spira, Moderator and CEO of Cyber-Dating Expert: "Always ask a question in your profile or in text/email exchanges to become engaged in the convo and meet IRL." @JulieSpira

Kelly Steckelberg, CEO of Zoosk: "Use Spellcheck. The Zoosk study about grammar and spelling showed it had a huge effect on success rate." @Zoosk

Talia Goldstein, CEO of Three Day Rule: "Don't post a mysterious other man or woman. The person viewing the profile will wonder, is this your husband or brother?" @ThreeDayRule

Jennifer Kelton, CEO of BOD Dating App: "Don't post selfies in the steamy bathroom mirror. Find a friend to take your photos." @badonlinedates

Full Recap with 20 Tips from the CEOs can be found at https://cyberdatingexpert.com/tips-female-dating-ceos

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SPONSORS

Thanks to our Silicon Beach Fest 2016 sponsors!

- Icon Media Direct is a Premiere sponsor. Icon Media Direct helps develop digital and TV broadcast campaigns for startups ready to reach larger audiences and markets, locally to nationally. Icon Media Direct CEO Nancy Lazkani moderated a panel with TrueCar and others on their TV + digital marketing campaigns. Icon Media Direct also presentedthe Opening Party at the Marina del Rey Hotel lawn, and is providing a free tote bag to all attendees. 

- TechStyle Fashion Group, formerly known as JustFab Inc., iss a Premiere sponsor. CMO Shawn Gold spoke on a keynote on Friday Aug 26, plus other execs will spoke on the Fashion Tech panel downtown, and the Growth panel. TechStyle also presented the Closing Party at CTRL Collective.

- Media Temple returns a Platinum Plus sponsor, having supported Silicon Beach Fest the past four years. Media Temple provided the $5K Startup Showcasee pitch prize, the volunteer T-shirts, and sponsored the Sunday Funday Pool Party (photo right)

- AT&T joins as a Platinum sponsor, with speakers from its DIRECTV product and other divisions on panels. AT&T presented the Thursday Night AT&T Reception, Aug 25, on the lawn at the Marina del Rey Hotel. 

- Univision returns as a Platinum sponsor, with its Thursday Aug 25 panel discussing Latino content, influencers and distribution. Univision has launched several digital initiatives, partnering with Latino influencers, and more. 

- UCLA Extension joined as a Platinum sponsor. UCLA Extension instructors spoke on two panels: Digital Fundraising on Wed Aug 24, and Got Content? on Thur Aug 25. UCLA Extension also sponsored the CoolHaus ice cream truck for free ice cream on Wed 3-4p. Attendees visited the UCLA Extension table at the Sponsor Lounge to learn more about UCLA Extensions courses to help you advance or transition careers. Use code SBF16 for a 10% discount off courses online. 

Gold sponsors include: Latham & Watkins, Sheppard Mullin, Chief Outsiders, Air New Zealand, The LaunchPad Agency, and Ogletree Deakins. Greenberg Glusker provided the lanyards and badges. 

Bronze sponsors including Loyola Marymount University, AdColony, and Stubbs Alderton & Markiles.

Thanks to our in-kind sponsors: Soothe (provided complimentary massages in the Startup Village and VIP lounge - Soothe photo right), Surf Air, Quest Nutrition, Shootly, Bezalel, Tesloop, High Brew Coffee, The Bouqs Company, and more. 

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PRESS

We are creating a list of press about SBF. If you wrote an article or blog post, please tweet @DigitalLA or email [email protected] with SBF PRESS as the subject. 

Some recent articles so far:

- 10 VR Predictions from SBF, in Huffington Post article by Liz H Kelly

- Huntington Post: "Back to the Future" Phone Booth by Unispace by Liz H Kelly

Photo right is Kluge designer Abraham, who is watching the Silicon Beach Fest VR experience that he created. Fly through the SBF 3D boardwalk featured in Kluge's graphics featured all over the fest programs, main stage banner and site. You can download it at http://siliconbeachfest.com/vr and watch it on your phone, or with VR cardboard googles, like the ones in the pic created by Unofficial Cardboard. 

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We are selecting and uploading photos from the thousands taken by Shootly photographers. 

In the meanwhile, here are photos that SBF Festival Director Kevin Winston took with his trusty red camera:

- Tue: Womens Lunch

- Wednesday Panels

- Wednesday Opening Party, presented by Icon Media Direct

- Thursday Panels

- Thursday AT&T Reception

- Friday pics and closing party including drone video are  coming!

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ABOUT SILICON BEACH FEST

Silicon Beach Fest is LA's original festival celebrating LA tech, entertainment & startups with panels, keynotes, workshops, mixers, and more that was held August 24-27, 2016 in LA.  We are excited to celebrated its 5th year, adding an extra day of panels for three days of panels Aug 24-26 at the stunning Marina Del Rey Hotel, which had a $25M renovation, with gorgeous views of the marina, water and boats from every conference room. There will be a Silicon Beach Fest one-day event in the fall, and the mutliday event returns next summer 2017. 

- Watch a recap of last year's fun in this SBF sizzle reel, created by Lemonlight Media (which can create one for you!)