Profiled - World Telemedia - Premium Content, Billing & Traffic event

An interview with Jarvis Todd, CEO at World Telemedia and its forthcoming event Premium Content, Billing & Traffic

Social Media Portal (SMP): What's your role at World Telemedia?

Jarvis Todd (JT): I'm the CEO at World Telemedia and am responsible for tracking market trends and directing our specialist media services to continually identify new and profitable vertical sectors for the Telemedia industry. 

SMP: Briefly, tell us about World Telemedia event, what is it called, what does it strive to do and when is it?

JT: The event is called World Telemedia - Premium Content, Billing & Traffic and it?s all about connecting consumers to the media, content and billing mechanisms they want. It provides a valuable trading exchange for domestic and international providers to tackle strategic challenges whilst developing new partnerships and routes to market across the established Telemedia value chain.

Revenues from interaction with media and marketing show encouraging signs of growth as more consumers use their telephones, mobiles, smartphones, tablets, games consoles and netbooks to interact with TV, print, advertised media content and of course social networks.

These high tech, high value consumers no longer recognize the boundaries between online and mobile and expect a genuine ?premium? from the content and services they wish to consume ? especially if they?re expected to ?pay up? or give up their valuable personal data.

World Telemedia also showcases how creative distribution channels can capture high value customer profiles and generate new revenues through premium network traffic, messaging and payments ? through mobile (?on the move?) propositions.

It will be on the 12th to 14th October 2011.

SMP: Where will the event be held and what sort of brands and attending?

JT: Renaissance Hotel, Amsterdam The Netherlands.  See who is attending at http://www.wtevent.co.uk/wt_2011/whosAttendList.htm

SMP: Who are your target audience (who should be going heading to your event) and why should they attend?

JT: World Telemedia brings together: 

• Network Operators
• Billing & Collection Companies
• Technology & Service Providers
• Aggregators & Resellers
• Premium Content Publishers
• App Development Companies
• Media, Marketing & Data Owners

This is forum explores what applications and vertical sectors are ready to benefit from Telemedia expertise and technology. Attendees gain a first hand understanding of the latest technical developments and commercial strategies that can be applied to successfully build their businesses.

World Telemedia enables:

• Paid for / premium content propositions
• Mobile marketing and billing
• Media, marketing and branding solutions
• Interactive services and data capture
• The transition from online to mobile / ?on the move?  

SMP: What are the highlights of the event and what will attendees benefit most from?

JT: World Telemedia is committed to putting buyers and sellers together and introducing new contacts to one another.

Networking:
 
All delegates will enjoy a range of networking services and events that ensure they?ll get an opportunity to meet the right people. To make this happen, we've ensured that there is an:

• Online meeting system
• Mobile applications and information service
• Blind speed networking
• Working Lunch on both days
• Refreshment breaks and complementary drinks  
• Exclusive client dinner schedule

Seminar - 3 days of thought provoking sessions and meetings covering:

• New Media Fraud Prevention
• European Legal & Regulatory Updates
• Telemedia; online, on the move and on the money
• Exploiting the verticals
• The interactive media opportunity
• The gaming, gambling and events market opportunity
• Strategies for developing media, marketing and content solutions
• Opportunities in retail
• Telemedia Essentials
• Telemedia billing in the interactive world
• Using new billing and payment solutions to expand your business
• Capitalising on domestic and international network capabilities
• SEO and SEM for the entertainment industry
• Advertising in a cross platform media environment   
• Mobile marketing for the entertainment industry

SMP: Now that you are established, what do you see as your biggest challenges and opportunities?

JT: Just about every content, marketing or online driven business must now recognise that in order to continue being successful they must now make provision to trade and interact with consumers whilst they are on the move. This falls firmly into the Telemedia arena - the sector that has pioneered the technical, strategic and marketing skills necessary to connect, bill and deliver across the telecoms network.

Our biggest challenge is to gain access to the vast array of vertical sectors that can benefit from engaging with our industry. As a small specialist media company we rely on strategic partnerships to achieve this goal and we?re delighted to add SMP to our ever growing list of partners.         
 
SMP: What?s the next big step for social media / networks and what role of mobile have to play?

JT: Next big steps for social media has to be its role in TV and media interaction, as well as its role in retail. On the TV front, social is now ? as we speak ? becoming the interaction channel of choice for shows such as X-Factor and Celebrity Big Brother, giving fans the chance to follow, share, interact and get extra content. It will also soon be used as the voting channel as well.

SMP: What does this mean for networks?

JT: Well for starters it means they have all but lost the PSMS Voting revenue stream and possibly, longer term, the voice call voting revenue stream around these shows as the audience opts to use social media channels. All good news for Facebook credits. Where does mobile fit? Well everyone is second screening with their smartphone or tab while watching, so for social TV interaction read mobile social TV interaction. Again this impacts the networks as these second screeners are typically at home and using Wi-Fi. For operators this is a lose-lose.

The other big area for social media is retail. Not only are retail brands letting users follow them and are interacting with their customers ? and pinging them offers ? they are increasingly looking at using Facebook as a storefront. The role of mobile here is that, again, more than 60% of social media users are doing to through mobile and combining retail with mobile social media out in the shopping mall allows the real world and the m-commerce world to collide.

Mobile social in retail can now offer location based offers, P2P recommendations and even ways of getting more info and buying stuff while out and about. For operators this means traffic - so long as the malls and retailers don't follow Tesco down the free fi route. When (not if) they do, it is again a lose-lose for the operator.
 
SMP: What?s going to be the most interesting aspect regarding social media and mobile technology throughout 2011?

JT: THE most interesting things for social and mobile through 2011 will no doubt be the shift away from operator services to Wi-Fi and eventually free fi services that then suddenly start to make everything mobile much more interesting, cheap and easier for consumers to do.

Where do we start: Mobile will become the de facto e-commerce channel, and that will be conducted through both retailer hybrid apps and m-websites and social media platforms. TV and media interaction, interaction with adverts and brands will also continue to grow through the mobile and social channels as everyone looks to get a personal dialogue going with consumers through mobile. It will be driven by text and special offers, but will soon expand to include AR games, content, personalised ads, interaction with billboards, location aware social media offers. Mobile and social will also become increasingly inseparable as 2011 becomes 2012.

On the purely social media front we are likely to also see something of a battle royal between the state and the people over what you can and can't say on social media and what right the state has to shut down social media sites if it thinks they are encouraging criminality ? the first stages of which we have seen with the UK riots.

As we enter a very politically unstable time in the UK and elsewhere we are going to see social media on mobile used more and more to turn flash mobs into protests and riots and the state's reaction to this will be crucial in shaping how all media and communications is regulated and ultimately how we are allowed to use social media. This time the revolution will be Twitterised, to paraphrase the late, great Gil Scott Heron

SMP: Best way to contact you?

JT: Telephone, +44 (0)7711 927092, Mobile: +44 (0)8707 327 327

Email: jarvis @ wtevent.co.uk, Skype jarvis.todd

World Telemedia on Twitter @telemediaTweets and our blog at http://telemedia360.blogspot.com/


SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?

JT: 2 x Granary toast (1 x Bovril 1 x Honey) and tea of course

SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?

JT: Made tea for the builders and gave a client a 20% discount!
 
SMP: If you weren?t running World Telemedia what would you be doing?

JT: Making gourmet sandwiches and breeding dogs

SMP: When and where did you go on your last holiday?

JT: This summer, we started in Dubrovnik (Croatia) then travelled to Budva and then Kotor (both in Montenegro).

SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?

JT: Find an excuse to go outside and have a cigarette ? which is terrible I know

SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?

JT: I want to live forever ? because there?s just never enough time!  

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