Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Silicon Beach and Beyond: What Can OTT Services Learn From Tech Startups’ session at Streaming Media West 2022 on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach, California.

Speakers on the session included:

• Eric Smith, from Roku
• Dana Witt, from Kast Media and Live Current Media Inc.
• Ben Hoyt, from 47 Games
• Will Baumann, from Fourthwall

You can watch the entire ‘Silicon Beach and Beyond: What Can OTT Services Learn From Tech Startups’ session at:

(Left to right): Ben Hoyt, Eric Smith, Chris Pfaff, Will Baumann, and Dana Witt

(Left to right): Dana Witt, Will Baumann, Eric Smith, Chris Pfaff, and Ben Hoyt

Eric Smith (left) makes a point regarding Roku’s growth

Will Baumann (second from left) discusses e-commerce for influencers

Ben Hoyt discusses the game developer mentality

Chris Pfaff moderated the Grand Finale/Plenary session – ‘Driving Audience Engagement with Interactive Streaming’ – at the TV of Tomorrow Show at the General’s Residence, at Fort Mason, San Francisco on Thursday, October 13, 2022.

Speakers included:

• Tom Link, MuxIP
• Evo Heyning, PlayableAgency
• Pip Brignall, The Round
• Gregor Landwehr, Contentflow       

Chris Pfaff moderated an all-star panel – ‘Life in the FAST Lane’ – as a pre-MIPCOM virtual session on the Media Meet & Greet community, on the Deal Room platform, on Monday, October 10, 2022.

The speakers included:

• Jonathan French, senior vice president, sales and business development, MuxIP
• Larry Baird, chief marketing officer, Crackle Plus
• Richard Young, director of syndication, Little Dot Studios
• John T. Wells, CEO, Dooya Media Group

The session discussed the accelerated adoption of Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television, or FAST, models, and how advertisers and brands are positioning their content for this growing sector.

Chris Pfaff (upper left); Larry Baird (upper center): Richard Young (upper right); Jonathan French (lower left), John Wells (lower right)

You can watch the entire ‘Life in the FAST Lane’ panel at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the virtual ‘Future of Interactive Streaming’ panel at the Streaming Media Connect, on Thursday, August 25, 2022.

The panel discussed the current state of real-time interactive streaming, and the challenges of scale. As ultra-low latency, real-time applications for sports,      e-sports, auctions, and betting gain traction, the future of real-time streaming may embrace a myriad of new applications that deliver on long-held promises of true interactivity.

Speakers on the panel included:

Darcy Lorincz, chief technology officer, Barrett-Jackson Auction Company
Emily Blodgett, head of production, Mainstream Media
Oliver Lietz, CEO, nanocosmos
Erdal Kilinc, CEO/co-founder, Deal Room Events

You can watch the entire panel at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the scintillating ‘SVOD: It’s Not Dead Yet’ virtual session at Streaming Media Connect 2022 on August 23, 2022 with Evan Shapiro, from ESHAP; Jennifer Kent, from Parks Associates, and Paul Pastor, from Struum.

The session discussed the slowdown in subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services, which has led some pundits to declare that the first act of the “streaming wars” is now over. SVOD, though, is in the middle of creative and licensing challenges, and customer retention – in the wake of advertising video-on-demand (AVOD) services – remains challenging. The panel discussed the way forward for SVOD providers, both large and small.

You can watch the full ‘SVOD: Is It Dead Yet?’ session at:

Chris Pfaff moderated a fireside chat – ‘How AI + Data Shift Businesses Today’ – at Arctic15 2022 in Helsinki on June 7 2022 at Kaapelitehdas. The session featured two dynamic founders who are using AI in their businesses: Ariane C. Gomes from Baseimmune and Marit Rødevand from Strise.

Ariane C. Gomes, Baseimmune (left), listens as Marit Rødevand, Strise, discusses AI and data strategies, as Chris Pfaff, moderator, looks on (right).

Marit Rødevand, from Strise (left), Chris Pfaff, from Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC (center), and Ariane C. Gomes, from Baseimmune (right) prior to the session

Chris Pfaff opened Arctic15 2022 – the first in-person Arctic15 since 2019 – at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki on June 7, 2022, with a fireside chat that featured Gregory M. Bernstein, from EQT Group, and Simone Ross, from TED Conferences. The session discussed how to source innovative companies for investment, and how to view innovation trends.

Gregory M. Bernstein, EQT Group (left), Simone Ross, TED Conferences (center), and Chris Pfaff, Chris Pfaff Tech Media LLC (right)

Chris Pfaff listens intently during the ‘Finding the Next Big Thing’ fireside chat

Chris Pfaff (left) greets Jan Ameri (right) with a salutatory fist bump at the opening of Arctic15 2022 at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki

Gregory M. Bernstein (left), from EQT Group, Simone Ross (center), from TED Conferences, and Chris Pfaff (right) before the ‘Finding the Next Big Thing’ panel at Arctic15 2022

Chris Pfaff moderated the virtual ‘Revenue Growth Syndication’ panel at the WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers) Asian Media Leaders Summit on Tuesday, May 24th at 11:30 am Singapore time. Joining him were Aya Uryu, co-founder and COO of Nordot and Jeff Myers, co-founder of Factinate. The session discussed how Fractionate added more revenue with smarter content and distribution strategies by working with Nordot’s intelligent news distribution platform.

WAN-IFRA’S Asian Media Leaders Summit is the leading platform for publishers and news industry leaders from Asia Pacific to hear about and discuss contemporary issues with peers from the region and around the world.

You can watch the full panel at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtehBHepDs&list=PLoI_JTd83w-pyW9SqVfsG7yP_jScNw8Yq&index=2

Chris Pfaff moderated the NAB Show Media Meet & Greet session with NAB show director and NAB EVP Chris Brown on April 5, 2022, where Brown details the NAB Show’s reimagined look, and its new networking features, as well as the NAB Show’s four carefully curated collections of exhibits and education illustrating the entire content lifecycle: Create, Connect, Capitalize and Intelligent Content. The session was a special event that kicked off a month-long series of professional networking opportunities, culminating at the in-person event in Las Vegas. Attendees to Media Meet & Greet, produced by Janet Greco, from Broadcast Projects, could meet new colleagues, refresh old friendships, and come together as part of a month-long networking experience.

The NAB Show Media Meet & Greet took place on the premium event platform, Deal Room, enabling attendees to discover who was attending the NAB Show in Las Vegas directly on the platform.

Chris Pfaff moderated the Streaming Media Connect virtual panel – ‘From Small Things: How Niche Services Can Find Mainstream Success’ – on Thursday, February 17, 2022, a discussion on the growth in niche OTT services, with the followingexpert group of panelists:

• Igor Oreper, vice president, solutions, Bitmovin
• Paul Erickson, Director of Research, Parks Associates 
• DeShuna Spencer, CEO/founder, Kweli
• Marc DiLorenzo, CEO/founder, 2GTHR
• Ajit Thakur, CEO, aha 
• Damian Pelliccione, CEO/co-founder,Revry

You can watch the full panel on ‘From Small Things: How Niche Services Can Find Mainstream Success’ at:

ABOUT ‘FROM SMALL THINGS: HOW NICHE SERVICES CAN FIND MAINSTREAM SUCCESS’  

Whether they’re defined by the type of content—science fiction, horror, romance—or the type of audience, niche services are the long tail of the OTT universe. But just because their audiences are limited doesn’t mean their revenue opportunities are. Partnerships with aggregators and “mainstream” services offer pathways to bigger viewership numbers, and innovative marketing approaches can turn small services into big successes.