Jay Meydad's Life Mashup

Can’t believe it has been a year since the previous visit of the Israeli New Media Delegation to Los Angeles. Next week it will happen again and I will participate in it for the 3rd year in a row (see my post about the 2007 visit).

The delegation is organized by Yossi Vardi and Arnon Milchen and its purpose is to give young Israeli start ups the opportunity to meet with potential investors and executives from large media companies and pitch their companies and products in a speed dating format (participants — make sure you practice on your elevator pitch).

I will take part in a breakfast panel where the participating companies will meet a few Los Angeles based Israeli executives for tips and advise, Q&A and some networking. Together with me the panel will also include Alex Sirota from Yahoo/FoxyTunes, Roy Bahat from IGN Ent., Yair Landa ex President of Sony Digital and Leor Stern from Google. After two years of sitting together on this panel, I will miss my friend Nimrod Lev who recently packed his staff and family, left Fox/MySpace and moved back to Israel.

In addition to days full of meetings, the participating companies will also enjoy some fancy cocktails and dinners, LaLaLand style. So if you happen to be at the BetaSouth event next week in Santa Monica, you will have a chance to meet them over there.

Finally, here is more information about the visiting companies as provided to my by the organizers.

1. AnyClip enables consumers as well as professionals to find any moment from any film ever made. AnyClip seeks to create a new revenue model for Hollywood based on our core belief that clips have value as standalone content. With scale and efficiency, AnyClip will bring three nascent business models to the movie industry.
2. BloggersBase is a platform for discovery and delivery of premium user generated content, targeting newspapers, media companies, bloggers and readers. We aim to solve the problem of user-generated content overflow, of uncontrolled (usually low) quality. BloggersBase offers its solution as a white-label platform (B2B) and as a target site (B2C).
3. Dopa Music operates a background music service customized for each website and context that brings a whole new sense to online content. Dopa Music service is based on a sophisticated algorithm (patent-pending) that selects the best tracks in real-time based on more than 100 parameters. Site owners can pay monthly subscription or enjoy service for free and receive commissions on audio ads played at their site. Dopa Music secured seed funding from Israel’s Chief Scientist. Erez Perlmutter, Founder, former VP BizDev at Kasamba sold to LivePerson.
4. Funtactix combines the best of AAA game and web technologies to bring console-quality, multiplayer gaming to the browser. The studio’s end-to-end, white-label solution turns popular franchises into profitable online gaming communities through avatar-based, high-end game content and microtransactions.
5. IPgallery is a privately held company with more than 40 deployments. Its solutions deliver highly scalable, flexible and reliable solutions enabling SPs to deploy new revenue generating services.
6. MAGYX develops “Smart Content™” – unique interactive solutions combining high-end technology and content, powerful marketing platforms empowering the communication between end-users, media platforms and advertisers.
7. P-Kama operates Rummikub.com, an online platform for family style entertainment based on the world’s 3rd bestselling board game. The game attracts players of every age, including Baby Boomers and young teens. It connects to family values which are enhanced by social media features. An average of 15 minutes playing each game makes Rummikub a powerful tool for promotion and customer retention.
8. PicScout – With 85% of the images detected by PicScout on commercial web sites being used non-legitimately, there exists a vast opportunity to track, protect and monetize images on the internet. PicScout™, through its proprietary image recognition technology created a new era in image copyright protection, is now leading the way to authorize the image marketplace to become a legitimate internet economy.
9. Tweegee.com is a pioneering destination site designed exclusively for kids. The site empowers children and pre-teens ages 7 to 13 to express themselves creatively and safely through an innovative and customized online environment. Tweegee integrates social networking, digital content and interactive tools offering kids a complete web platform. All the online communication is protected with technologically advanced safeguards including the patent pending “wordup!”, giving the parents the reassurance they need to protect their children. Tweegee was recently reviewed and qualified for meeting the standards of the CARU kid’s privacy safe harbor program in the USA.
10. Qlipso is your den and your favorite sports bar all rolled into one. It’s an impromptu online party with your best friends from FaceBook, your favorite media from video, game or music sites – all synched up and live! Avatars, webcams, voice and text chat – Qlipso brings it all together!
11. XSIGHTS service allows consumers using their cameraphone to transform any static objects, (products, newspapers, magazines, wall-posters, books…) to an interactive multi-media experience. XSIGHTS is the only company capable to identify many links within the same image. The links may be, as small as, a “single-word” in a text document or a “street crossing” on a map, thus activating classified listings, product catalogues, advertisements and street maps. The user can navigate and view different links within the same session. XSIGHTS mature and field proven solution is operational with or without the need to download an application to the phone.

Photo credit: Menetnashté (On Vacation)

Last weekend I participated at the first ever Kinnernet USA, an un-conference, inspired by Tim O’Reilly’s foo camp, that was organized by Jeff Pulver and Yossi Vardi. The camp was at the beautiful Bolger Center at Potomoc MD and it brought together about 100 people who came from all over the US, Europe and Israel to interact, discuss, create, play (music and games) and share thoughts and ideas.

This was my 3rd Kinnernet (first two were the “original” ones in Israel). It was very enjoyable & also different than the Israeli version. Kinnernet USA had less of the wild outdoors activities Kinnernet is known for like drag racing, robotics, fireworks, water activities and others and there was more focus on workshops & discussions. Similarities included tons of food, very little sleep, very funny Eggstravaganza, extremely creative Gadgethon (winners were a  computer powered sand table and Zoozbeat created by the very talented Gil Weinberg), Midnight Cooking Madness (I think it was the best ever) and fun jam sessions.

The biggest evidence to how different this Kinnernet was compared to its Israeli version could be found in the gaming section. The game room, typically the most crowded place 24×7, was well equipped with plenty of gaming consoles, large screens and massive sound systems. However, it remained empty most of the time. At the same time, plenty of folks played all night long, sessions of Werewolf games thanks to Jimmy Wales who initiated this. Not only that, Werewolf has made it to future Kinnernet’s official playlist and got Yossi’s blessing.

Overall, it was a very fun weekend as you can see in some of the photos I shot and in the videos uploaded to qik here.

And here’s the presentation I gave at the opening ceremony. Named “Kinnernet For Dummies”, it is a quick start guide for newbies done using photos from past Kinnernets.

Yossi Vardi chat with Kara Swisher at Le Web 08 on his new initiative – internet for the dead. Inspired by Gil Rimon.

Earlier this week, I returned from Israel where I participated in Kinnernet, Yossi Vardi’s geek camp that took place to the shores of the Kinneret.

Cathy Brooks (of Seesmic) asked me there what was the best part. My answer was simply – “the beginning, the middle and the end”.

Yet, there were a few specific sessions, workshops & presentations I liked the most:

• Itai Talgam’s lecture about “management styles of great conductors”. It was fascinating to see how much the body language of conductors can indicate what type of managers they would be.
• Hanoch Piven’s “Art using Junk” workshop. This is the portrait of Avi Nimni I made (especially for Klieger).
• The home made satellite built from a PC, GPS, Digital Camera and transmitter connected to a helium balloon. Once in the air it sent photos of Jordan as well as its location and those coordinates were mashed up using Google Earth API to display its route. Very cool!
• Simon Levene (Accell Partners) presenting in a hilarious way the business plan for his next venture – WhoTheHell.RU. Does anyone have the video?
• Barak Berkowitz’s Paint with Light night workshop. Check out this art work.
• and last, but not least, the talented Ariel Qassis, who hypnotized me whenever his fingers touched the Qanun.

I am sure I am missing at least 100 other things that made this creative event simply great.

More photos can be found here, here, and a zillion more on Flickr

Update: Here is the video of Seder 2.0 by Peter Hirshberg

Later this week a delegation of selected Israeli digital media start ups will hit Los Angeles.

The event is organized by Yossi Vardi and Arnon Milchan with the purpose of introducing Israeli entrepreneurs to some of the world’s largest media companies.

In addition to those meetings, there will be a panel of Israelis who work for US media companies. I will be one of the panelists together with Nimrod Lev (Fox Interactive/KSolo), Shaul Olmert (MTV Networks), Roy Bahat (IGN Newscorp), Itzik Ben-Bassat (formerly Blizzard) and others.

I look forward to meeting old friends & colleagues as well as getting to know some of Isreal’s most creative minds. In case you will be in the event, please come by and say hello.

I went to Israel for a very short and intensive trip. Spent a few days in Tel Aviv and a few at the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), saw family & friends and participated in two major internet/technology events that took place that week.

The first event was Kinnernet, the un-conference created by Yossi Vardi. A crowd of about 250 creative & fascinating people were invited to spend two days collaborating, discussing, juggling, and playing.

The second event was TheMarker COM.Vention, Israel’s largest internet conference. I sat on panel called “Disruption 2.0: The Way Web 2.0 Challenges Web 1.0? and had the opportunity to present the way Snap disrupts the search market.

The conference was a great success. Over 3000 people attended the well organized event. I had the opportunity to meet many colleagues from past life (conratulations to my friends Itzik, Eran, Eyal, Amir and the rest of the InfoGin team for winning the ‘most promising startup award’) and get to know new Israeli internet professionals and entrepreneurs. Here’s a brilliant video made by two of them.