Publisher Forum XXIX

Breaking News + Updates

Sonoma is sold out! Please join us for our Publisher Forum in Boulder in August and Scottsdale in November.

Speakers

Keynote

Revenue Without an Ad Server

Todd Sawicki Startup Analyst and Former CRO Cheezburger Network

Media Companies in the Social Age

Eric Harris EVP of Business Operations BuzzFeed

Success in the Post-Audience Era

Brian Monahan EVP; Managing Partner MAGNA Global

Member Session

The Challenges Circling Cross-Platform & Multiscreen Campaigns

Derek Moulaison VP, Advertising Operations IGN Entertainment

Reaching Out With Audience Extension

Kerel Cooper Director, Ad Operations Advance Digital

Shifting to a Responsive State

Aaron Jones CTO IDG Communications

Shifting to a Responsive State

Brian Gleason Chief Revenue Officer IDG

Viewable Impressions Breakout Session

Wendy Mazzoni VP Global Operations Systems Glam Media

Optimizing Your Team to Optimize Revenue

Molly O'Keefe Director, Ad Operations Tribune Interactive

Mobile: Platform or Business Line?

Josh Searcy Sr Manager, Display Advertising... AutoTrader.com

Mobile: Platform or Business Line?

Paula Tyioran Director, Ad Operations AutoTrader.com

Sponsor Session

Broadcast TV Isn't Display: Why The Current Approach to Video Ads Is Failing Publishers

David Kappenstein Senior Director, Advertising... Comcast Advertising Technology & Development

Broadcast TV Isn't Display: Why The Current Approach to Video Ads Is Failing Publishers

Cathi Kwon Group Product Manager Adobe

Revenue Intelligence: Bridging the Great Divide With a Holistic Approach

Roger Corn Head of Product & Strategy OpenX

Recalibrating Digital Conversations

David Shing Digital Prophet AOL Networks

Disrupting Ad Operations in 2013

Drew Bradstock Senior Product Manager DoubleClick

Making Media Work: Tactics and Techniques for Benefiting from the Broadcast-to-IP Transformation

Phillip Conover Adobe Monetization Product Manager Adobe

Making Media Work: Tactics and Techniques for Benefiting from the Broadcast-to-IP Transformation

Martin Williams Adobe Monetization Product Manager Adobe

Get Your Game On

Peter Erickson Director, Publisher Services,... MARKETPLACE

Get Your Game On

Will Schmahl VP of US Sales ADTECH US

With Audience Extension You Never Have to Say 'I’m Sorry'

Paul Wenz VP Business Development Audience Accelerator

The Audience Wants to Be Free

Sean Harvey Sr Product Manager DoubleClick

Video Private Exchanges: Strategies, Opportunities, and Pitfalls

Mark Trefgarne CEO LiveRail

Full Group

Closing Session: The Art of Noise

Paul Valerio Principal, Insights Method, Inc.

Schedule

Mar 3, 2013
Mar 4, 2013
Mar 5, 2013
Mar 6, 2013
9:00 am — 9:10 am
9:10 am — 10:00 am
Speakers
Brian Monahan (MAGNA Global)
Session Type
Keynote
10:00 am — 10:10 pm
Session Type
Break
10:10 am — 11:10 am
Join Dave Kappenstein, Senior Director of Ad Technology & Development, Comcast Interactive Media and Cathi Kwon, Group Product Manager, Adobe Systems for an examination of the state of video advertising across broadcasting and digital workflows. The session will focus on the major impediments to bringing more TV dollars to digital, with a specific focus on how the current approach of building video ad serving on top of legacy display ad servers doesn't work — and what content producers and...
Speakers
David Kappenstein (Comcast Advertising Technology & Development)
Cathi Kwon (Adobe)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
11:10 am — 11:30 am
Session Type
Break
11:30 am — 12:00 pm
The fragmented advertising ecosystem has resulted in a complex set of operational tools deployed by Ad Ops pros, creating a chasm between advertising and content that ultimately diminishes total revenue potential. ‘Revenue intelligence’ is here: with recourse to more holistic revenue management that bridges this new ‘great divide’ and helps radically advance efficiency and increase revenue. 
Speakers
Roger Corn (OpenX)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
12:00 pm — 12:30 pm
12:30 pm — 1:30 pm
Session Type
Meal
1:30 pm — 2:10 pm
Through examples from IGN's cross-platform and multiscreen efforts, Derek Moulaison leads a discussion highlighting the challenges in bringing these kind of campaigns to life. Participants will then try to develop best practices for going forward in this evolving space.
Speakers
Derek Moulaison (IGN Entertainment)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
1:30 pm — 2:10 pm
Mobile is impacting every aspect of digital advertising and there is a balancing act to treat it as it's own thing (mobile specific advertising) or as just another impression to be served. Josh and Paula from Autotrader will talk about how they are trying to find balance in their approach to mobile and since no one has the answers to this, will lead this breakout session to discuss particular aspects with the group.
Speakers
Josh Searcy (AutoTrader.com)
Paula Tyioran (AutoTrader.com)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
2:20 pm — 3:00 pm
Whether to fill out campaigns lagging on-site or to draw larger buys from major advertisers, audience extension efforts – that is, buying third-party inventory targeted using a site's audience segment/s – have proved quite effective, with publishers amping up their efforts as more technology vendors offer solutions. As Advance Internet has been in the audience extension business for a while now, Director of Operations Kerel Cooper will draw on his experience to describe best practices as well...
Speakers
Kerel Cooper (Advance Digital)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
2:20 pm — 3:00 pm
The news that the World Wide Web Consortium is set to christen HTML5 as a standard in 2014, has many publishers pondering what an HTML-5-driven responsive design system will do for their sites – and whether it will completely upend their site monetization practices. Following the publishers' embrace of a responsive content management system in 2012, representatives from IDG – publisher of Macworld, PC World and upstart Techhive – will detail the integration process and the challenges and...
Speakers
Aaron Jones (IDG Communications)
Brian Gleason (IDG)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
3:00 pm — 3:30 pm
Session Type
Break
3:30 pm — 4:10 pm
Speakers
Wendy Mazzoni (Glam Media)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
3:30 pm — 4:10 pm
Speakers
Molly O'Keefe (Tribune Interactive)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
4:10 pm — 4:20 pm
Session Type
Break
4:20 pm — 5:00 pm
Even people living under rocks were quite aware of the hoopla surrounding native advertising in 2012, and few media companies quite embrace (or even embody) this still red-hot trend like Buzzfeed. EVP of Business Operations Eric Harris will walk through the Buzzfeed strategy, highlighting what can improve monetization efforts for other publishers.
Speakers
Eric Harris (BuzzFeed)
Session Type
Keynote
6:00 pm — 8:00 pm
Session Type
Activity
8:00 pm — 10:00 pm
9:00 am — 9:10 am
9:10 am — 10:00 am
Speakers
Brian Monahan (MAGNA Global)
Session Type
Keynote
10:00 am — 10:10 pm
Session Type
Break
10:10 am — 11:10 am
Join Dave Kappenstein, Senior Director of Ad Technology & Development, Comcast Interactive Media and Cathi Kwon, Group Product Manager, Adobe Systems for an examination of the state of video advertising across broadcasting and digital workflows. The session will focus on the major impediments to bringing more TV dollars to digital, with a specific focus on how the current approach of building video ad serving on top of legacy display ad servers doesn't work — and what content producers and...
Speakers
David Kappenstein (Comcast Advertising Technology & Development)
Cathi Kwon (Adobe)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
11:10 am — 11:30 am
Session Type
Break
11:30 am — 12:00 pm
The fragmented advertising ecosystem has resulted in a complex set of operational tools deployed by Ad Ops pros, creating a chasm between advertising and content that ultimately diminishes total revenue potential. ‘Revenue intelligence’ is here: with recourse to more holistic revenue management that bridges this new ‘great divide’ and helps radically advance efficiency and increase revenue. 
Speakers
Roger Corn (OpenX)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
12:00 pm — 12:30 pm
12:30 pm — 1:30 pm
Session Type
Meal
1:30 pm — 2:10 pm
Through examples from IGN's cross-platform and multiscreen efforts, Derek Moulaison leads a discussion highlighting the challenges in bringing these kind of campaigns to life. Participants will then try to develop best practices for going forward in this evolving space.
Speakers
Derek Moulaison (IGN Entertainment)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
1:30 pm — 2:10 pm
Mobile is impacting every aspect of digital advertising and there is a balancing act to treat it as it's own thing (mobile specific advertising) or as just another impression to be served. Josh and Paula from Autotrader will talk about how they are trying to find balance in their approach to mobile and since no one has the answers to this, will lead this breakout session to discuss particular aspects with the group.
Speakers
Josh Searcy (AutoTrader.com)
Paula Tyioran (AutoTrader.com)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
2:20 pm — 3:00 pm
Whether to fill out campaigns lagging on-site or to draw larger buys from major advertisers, audience extension efforts – that is, buying third-party inventory targeted using a site's audience segment/s – have proved quite effective, with publishers amping up their efforts as more technology vendors offer solutions. As Advance Internet has been in the audience extension business for a while now, Director of Operations Kerel Cooper will draw on his experience to describe best practices as well...
Speakers
Kerel Cooper (Advance Digital)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
2:20 pm — 3:00 pm
The news that the World Wide Web Consortium is set to christen HTML5 as a standard in 2014, has many publishers pondering what an HTML-5-driven responsive design system will do for their sites – and whether it will completely upend their site monetization practices. Following the publishers' embrace of a responsive content management system in 2012, representatives from IDG – publisher of Macworld, PC World and upstart Techhive – will detail the integration process and the challenges and...
Speakers
Aaron Jones (IDG Communications)
Brian Gleason (IDG)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
3:00 pm — 3:30 pm
Session Type
Break
3:30 pm — 4:10 pm
Speakers
Wendy Mazzoni (Glam Media)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
1
3:30 pm — 4:10 pm
Speakers
Molly O'Keefe (Tribune Interactive)
Session Type
Member Session
Session Track
2
4:10 pm — 4:20 pm
Session Type
Break
4:20 pm — 5:00 pm
Even people living under rocks were quite aware of the hoopla surrounding native advertising in 2012, and few media companies quite embrace (or even embody) this still red-hot trend like Buzzfeed. EVP of Business Operations Eric Harris will walk through the Buzzfeed strategy, highlighting what can improve monetization efforts for other publishers.
Speakers
Eric Harris (BuzzFeed)
Session Type
Keynote
6:00 pm — 8:00 pm
Session Type
Activity
8:00 pm — 10:00 pm
9:00 am — 9:50 am
Nearly every media company chief revenue officer will spend the first half of 2013 muttering the words native advertising over and over. While implementing native advertising programs (or content marketing) may prove daunting, startup investor and adviser Todd Sawicki – who also appears on Bravo’s LOLwork as the former CRO of Cheezburger – argues that this is the first step in toward the future of digital advertising. And for the first time in 10 years, revenue operations and product design...
Speakers
Todd Sawicki (Cheezburger Network)
Session Type
Keynote
9:50 am — 10:10 am
As the digital landscape continues to shift, marketers and publishers need to move away from “campaigning” at consumers and toward having "conversations" with them. In the embracing of a more humanized experience, attention is becoming the new currency measured by dwell time and engagement – not just the quick drive-by of a “like” or a “follow." In what will certainly be a dynamic, energetic and entertaining presentation, get enlightened by a meaningful and insightful look at digital...
Speakers
David Shing (AOL Networks)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
10:10 am — 10:30 am
 It’s no secret that the role of ad operations is constantly changing and ad ops are more complex today than ever before. Join us in this session as we talk with Allison Kaiser, VP - Operations & Product Development at Liberty Advertising, on what some of the biggest trends of 2012 that are continuing to disrupt ad operations in 2013 are, and how ad operations teams need to align themselves to resolve these. 
Speakers
Drew Bradstock (DoubleClick)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
10:30 am — 10:45 am
Session Type
Break
10:45 am — 11:30 am
This breakout session with Adobe Monetization Product Managers Phillip Conover and Martin Williams will examine broadcast terminology and tools. The goal is to provide participants with specific advice for analyzing current workflows, identifying opportunities for improvement, anddeploying a workflow architecture in digital that compliments – and in some cases mirrors – what is currently being done in broadcasting. Key takeaways will include understanding and implementing systems today – while...
Speakers
Phillip Conover (Adobe)
Martin Williams (Adobe)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
Session Track
1
10:45 am — 11:30 am
It’s been a long two days of learning, networking and product pitches. Now it’s time to take a break and treat yourself to some fun, games and prizes, with ADTECH/AOL Network's Director of Publisher Services, Paul Erickson, and its VP of US Sales, Will Schmahl. In this session you’ll have a chance to collaborate with your AdMonsters peers, test your industry knowledge and compete for awesome prizes. Don’t miss out on the fun, register now.
Speakers
Peter Erickson (MARKETPLACE)
Will Schmahl (ADTECH US)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
Session Track
2
10:45 am — 11:30 am
Your sales person closes a big deal with a top client and says “Let’s deliver it…whatever it takes!” Imagine a day where you never have to say “Sorry, we can’t.” Publishers are finding audience extension to be a lifesaver, especially as advertisers request more and more sophisticated ad solutions. Discover how publishers are fulfilling campaign objectives and exceeding goals while capturing bigger budgets using audience extension for display, mobile, video, social and integrated sponsorships....
Speakers
Paul Wenz (Audience Accelerator)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
Session Track
3
10:45 am — 11:30 am
The audience revolution in digital advertising has publishers treating data as every bit as valuable and important as inventory, and using it across a wide range of purposes never conceived of before. Join us in this breakout session as Sean Harvey talks about the innovative ways that publishers are using DoubleClick's audience management tools to expand revenues and improve user experiences. 
Speakers
Sean Harvey (DoubleClick)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
Session Track
4
10:45 am — 11:30 am
The evolution of video private exchanges has developed from theory to practice and is now the go-to solution for premium publishers. Join LiveRail’s CEO & Co-Founder Mark Trefgarne for industry insight into the value of video private exchanges and discover new controls that allow premium publishers to leverage programmatic selling as a complement to direct sales efforts. In this session, you’ll gain perspective in chosen strategies for limited premium inventory and understand why...
Speakers
Mark Trefgarne (LiveRail)
Session Type
Sponsor Session
Session Track
5
11:30 am — 11:40 am
Session Type
Break
11:40 am — 12:25 pm
See descriptions from first round of sponsor breakout sessions for more information.
Session Type
Sponsor Session
12:25 pm — 4:30 pm
Session Type
Activity
6:00 pm — 10:00 pm
Session Type
Meal
9:00 am — 9:30 am
9:30 am — 10:10 am
How do you and your team justify using multiple ad servers, and what kind of operational challenges does that present? What would be the impetus for switching to a single ad server?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
1
9:30 am — 10:10 am
What happens when you can't accept third party tracking on all or part of an order? How do you proceed when you offer untraditional (e.g., non-IAB) products? How do you deal with adjacency terms when your platform is based on UGC?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
2
9:30 am — 10:10 am
What lessons can recent migrators share with those about to embark on the journey? How should pubs prepare - and cope during the transition?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
3
9:30 am — 10:10 am
Why should your company be interested in the programmatic guaranteed channel? How do you see it working with (i.e., not cannibalizing) direct sales? How would it fit into your indirect inventory strategy?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
4
10:10 am — 10:30 am
Session Type
Break
10:30 am — 11:10 am
How are people placing value on the data they have? What type of first party data do folks leverage? What types of 3rd party data providers do people seek out?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
1
10:30 am — 11:10 am
How does your company measure ad impact on site speed? Is the measurement an accurate reflection of average user experience? How are Ad Ops held accountable to positively impact this metric? Who overrules revenue vs. latency issues? How can Ops optimize RTB and network ads to load faster?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
2
10:30 am — 11:10 am
Is Ad Ops, as a department, best served under Sales/Revenue or under Product/Programming? What’s the best way to divide planner/trafficker responsibilities -- by client from 'pitch to pay' or have one group handle pitch and another handle execution? What level of staffing is appropriate relative to revenue?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
3
10:30 am — 11:10 am
Workflow management and cross-team coverage – the need for a “ticketing” system outside of the OMS as well as asset and discussion “storage.” Addressing new sizes and slots – as well as ad size constraints – on the fly. Custom/native advertising tracking and removal, including network/global settings in shared platforms – what happens when you are the odd man out and your needs are not met?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
4
11:20 am — 12:00 pm
How do you break out your performance revenue and inventory? Do you have time deliver insights to your sales managers? How do you manage the rate discussion, or do you even have time, to have these discussions? How do you manage discounting? Do you even control it? Do you have input or do you just do the analysis?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
1
11:20 am — 12:00 pm
Is the rating of your iOS app in the toilet because people complain about ads even existing on your FREE app? Do they also complain about ads existing on your paid-subscription app? Do people use the dreaded term “pop-up” when describing your mobile ad experience?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
2
11:20 am — 12:00 pm
How has video monetization changed for your company in the last year? If you’re working with programmatic channels, what has been the experience? Have you pondered video syndication tools?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
3
11:20 am — 12:00 pm
Following Firefox’s announcement it will reject third-party cookies and with Do Not Track standardization looming, is the future of cookies in jeopardy? What are the alternatives and, more important, do they actually work?
Session Type
Breakout
Session Track
4
11:30 am — 11:40 am
Session Type
Break
12:00 pm — 1:00 pm
Session Type
Meal
1:00 pm — 1:40 pm
Session Type
Full Group
1:40 pm — 3:00 pm
 To bring the Sonoma Publisher Forum to a close, Paul Valerio, Principal at Method Inc. in San Francisco, will lead a discussion based on the ideas in his white paper "The Art of Noise". New technologies have given us all access to more and better data than ever before. But has our ability to make good decisions based on this data improved at the same time? One of the most overlooked strategic assets we all possess is human perception — our innate ability to recognize patterns, and use...
Speakers
Paul Valerio (Method, Inc.)
Session Type
Full Group

FAQ

Who attends the Publisher Forum?

Attendance is limited to individuals employed by online publishing/media companies, whose roles focus on ad operations and/or ad technology. If you are already an AdMonsters member, you will receive registration materials automatically when registration opens. If you are not already a member, please visit our membership information page.

Please note that to preserve the integrity of our unique forum, conference attendance is limited, and we do sell out regularly, so it is to your advantage to register as early as possible.

What to expect at the Publisher Forum

Most sessions are open to members only, except for Sponsor Workshops, Panels, and networking sessions.

The member session agenda is comprised of 30-60 minute sessions led by members. These sessions take the form of presentations, round-table discussions, and case studies on a wide variety of relevant topics. Some examples include ad serving technology, inventory management, organizational structure, business process automation, ad operations policies, rich/streaming media, and case studies.

The conference format for the Publisher Forum will run for three days, beginning with a cocktail reception and dinner on Sunday evening and ending at 5 PM Wednesday. The majority of the agenda is comprised of the following:

  • one keynote by an industry visionary
  • sessions led by ad ops leaders who are also AdMonsters members
  • breakouts covering a wide variety of focused and ad-ops relevant topics; some examples include ad serving technology, inventory management, organizational structure, business process automation, ad operations policies, rich/streaming media, and case studies
Rocket Fuel