About

XMediaLab has always been about helping companies improve their creative ideas, and therefore increasing the likelihood of receiving funding, and getting to market successfully. In other words, commercialising ideas.

XMediaLab focuses on the critical development and relationship stages that are prior to pitching and seeking investment. Getting the idea right, first.

Every Lab has had multiple success stories based around the core objective of improving creative ideas through the one-on-one mentoring facilitation between the Lab participants and the International Mentors.

The theme of XMediaLab Wellington “Commercialising Ideas” brings together a roster of the world’s best informed experts, VC’s, and business analysts to help the participating companies with creative thinking, comparison to best-practice examples, access to outstanding international professional networks, and exposure to investment opportunities.

Wellington is one the world’s most uniquely beautiful cities, and is home to active and internationally successful creative communities. A perfect place to meet up, in typical XMediaLab style.

XML Wellington is looking for the best, new digital media business ideas to participate in the Lab. As always, it’s cross-platform, cross disciplinary, and cross cultural.

International participants include:

• Tom Duterme - New Business Development, Google (Mountain View)
• Chris Adams - New Media Pioneer; Co-Founder, Participant Productions (Los Angeles)
• Sam Morgan - Founder, TradeMe (Wellington)
• Brian Seth Hurst - CEO, The Opportunity Management Company; Vice Chair, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Los Angeles)
• Suresh Seetharaman - Founder and President, Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation (Bangalore, New York)
• Chris Deering - Chairman, Codemasters; formerly President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (London)
• Alvin Wang Graylin - China’s Leading Mobile Entrepreneur (Shanghai)
• Noah Falstein - The Father of Serious Games; President, The Inspiracy (San Francisco)
• Marcelino Ford-Livene - General Manager, Interactive Content, Intel Digital Home Group; Governor of Interactive Media, Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences (Los Angeles)
• Richard MacManus - Founder and Editor, ReadWriteWeb, one of the world’s most popular web blogs (Wellington)
• Jason Roks - Emerging Technology & Digital Distribution Analyst (Toronto)
• Hugh Mason - Partner, Pembridge Partners LLP (London)
• Sean Kauppinen - Vice President, TriplePoint (San Francisco)
• Rod Drury - Serial Entrepreneur, Founder and CEO, Xero (Wellington)
• Gao Li (Daisy) - Deputy Director, Suzhou Industrial Park Science & Technology Development Center Deputy General Manager, Suzhou International Science Park (Suzhou)
• Xin Chung - CEO and Founder, Vykarian
• Helen Baxter - Managing Directrix, Mohawk Media (Auckland)
• Marcia Lyons - Programme Director of Digital Media Design, Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington)
• Keren FLavell - Co-founder and Executive Producer, SLCN.TV (Melbourne)
• Adam Bryce - Trend Forecaster and Creative Director,Slam X Hype (Auckland)

The Keynote Conference Day will showcase the perspectives of each of the International and Local Mentors. The Conference Day is General Admission.

The Lab days are restricted to the selected participants with their nominated project teams and ideas. The participants present their projects, and then work directly with the Mentors they choose one-on-one on their own idea.

XMediaLab Wellington “Commercialising Ideas” is supported by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as part of its work to help grow New Zealand’s digital content industry and build its international competitiveness. 

The Mentors

XMediaLab has access to a superb roster of the some of the world’s leading digital media practitioners, innovators, and power-brokers. International Mentors and Speakers at XMediaLab Wellington  “Commercialising Ideas” include:
 

Tom Duterme

New Business Development, Google (Mountain View)

Tom is a New Business Development Manager who assesses new business opportunities for the company.
 

Sam Morgan

Founder, Trade Me (Wellington)

Sam is Wellington born and bred. After attending school in Wellington and a brief but unsuccessful stint at university, he started his career as an IT consultant for Deloitte Consulting.
 

Chris Adams

New Media Pioneer; Co-Founder, Participant Productions (Los Angeles)

Chris Adams is an internationally recognized new media pioneer, entertainment industry executive and social entrepreneur with nearly twenty years of experience in creating and developing partnerships, programming and relationships between media, entertainment and online brands.
 

Brian Seth Hurst

CEO, The Opportunity Management Company; Second Vice Chair, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; Board Member, Producers Guild of America (Los Angeles)

Brian Seth Hurst is CEO of The Opportunity Management Company, Inc., a strategic consultancy and cross media production company that is driving the next generation of entertainment.  

Suresh Seetharaman

Founder and President, Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation (Bangalore, New York)

Suresh Seetharaman is the co founder and President of Virgin Animation and Virgin Comics.
 

Chris Deering

Chairman, Codemasters; formerly President of Sony Computer Entertainment – Europe (London)

Chris Deering has led multicultural motion picture video and computer game publishing for nearly 3 decades, initially as Vice President – International for Atari game consoles and computers, and subsequently as Executive Vice President and COO for Columbia Pictures International Video, and from 1995 to 2005 as President of Sony Computer Entertainment - Europe (SCEE).

Noah Falstein

President, The Inspiracy (San Francisco)
 
Noah Falstein is one the gaming world’s pre-eminent authorities.

Hugh Mason

Partner, Pembridge Partners LLP (London, Singapore)

Following training as a documentary TV producer-director with the BBC, Hugh Mason founded and grew a multiple-award-winning broadcast TV production company.

Marcelino Ford-Livene

General Manager of Interactive Content and Advanced Advertising Development, Intel Digital Home Group (Los Angeles)

Marcelino Ford-Livene has a wide range of business, operational and creative experience in the interactive and traditional media industries.

Richard MacManus

Founder and Editor, ReadWriteWeb (Wellington)

Richard MacManus is one of the world’s most highly respected digital media and web technology analysts and strategists.

Sean Kauppinen

Vice President, TriplePoint (San Francisco)

Sean Kauppinen has represented videogames and gaming hardware since 1995, working on more than 400 titles in his career.

Jason Roks

Emerging Technology & Digital Distribution Analyst (Toronto)

Jason Roks is recognized across North America for his networking and digital media distribution acumen, and for his ingenuity in predicting and leveraging new directions in Internet and digital communications technologies.

Alvin Wang Graylin

CEO and Co-founder, mInfo Inc (Shanghai)

Mr. Graylin is the CEO of mInfo, the leading Mobile Search Service in China providing natural language search services to users throughout China via SMS, WAP, IM and embedded client applet.

Rod Drury

Founder and CEO, Xero (Wellington)

Rod Drury is founder and CEO of Xero, a Software as a Service (SaaS) online accounting solution for Small Businesses. Xero listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange in June 2007.

Gao Li (Daisy)

Deputy Director, Suzhou Industrial Park Science & Technology Development Center Deputy General Manager, Suzhou International Science Park (Suzhou)

Ms Gao has more than 8 years of experience facilitating the entrance of international businesses into the China market, and establishing themselves in Suzhou, China.

Xin Chung

CEO and Founder, Vykarian Studios (Shanghai)
 
Xin founded Shanghai-based Vykarian in 2003 servicing a nascent game outsourcing market.

Helen Baxter

Managing Directrix, Mohawk Media (Auckland)

Helen Baxter runs Mohawk Media, an animation & video production company in West Auckland. She produces the g33k show, a science & technology series, writes the MsBehaviour Files for The Big Idea, appears regularly on Virtual World, Radio New Zealand, and the Radio Wammo show on Kiwi FM.

Marcia Lyons

Programme Director of Digital Media Design, Victoria University of Wellington (Wellington)

Marcia Lyons is a world-leading and highly awarded Multi Media Artist, and internationally recognized innovation expert in digital media arts and pedagogy.

Keren Flavell

Co-founder and Executive Producer, Treet.TV (Melbourne)

Keren Flavell is an award-winning interactive digital media producer with 14 years experience in producing content online, with a focus on entertainment and music.

Adam Bryce

Trend Forecaster and Creative Director Slam X Hype (Auckland)

Adam Bryce graduated from Central St. Martins (London) with Honours in Fashion Marketing and Communication, before completing his resulting internship at the prestigious 'Chanel' under Karl Lagerfeld in Paris.

The Lab

XMediaLab is a uniquely exciting creative event for digital media professionals.

XMediaLab consists of a one-day Professional Conference Day that showcases all the Mentors as Speakers. The Lab itself is an intensive two-day creative ideas and business matching environment for the selected participants who get to work directly on their own project ideas with a range of the world's best digital media experts, and build business opportunities with other Lab participants.

The XMediaLab experience increases the chances of getting your project idea to market and achieving commercial success. You also enter into an impeccable international network of digital media stars with their superb expertise and high-value international contacts.

The environment of the Lab allows participating companies and teams to schedule their own unique Lab experience by selecting for themselves which Mentors they choose to spend their one-on-one time with.

It's a form of elite personal consultation with a range of the world's outstanding digital media people about your own project ideas. And you make friends with the international stars.

Previous project teams have ranged from independent start-ups which have gone on to win awards at MIPCOM in Cannes, UNESCO in New York, AIMIA in Australia; to Lonely Planet; ABC’s Rage and The Chaser; Disney Internet Group from Tokyo; Zuji.com; India’s biggest games and animation company; and world leading Virtual Worlds platform. Project teams have come from the UK, Hong Kong, China, Australia, Japan, Germany, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and New Zealand.

The "X" in XMediaLab stands for: Cross Platform, Cross Disciplinary, and Cross Cultural.

The 2008 Wellington Lab is looking for 16 great projects across social media, computer games, animation, mobile applications, video, interactive entertainment and content and web applications. 

Projects may have an entertainment, cultural, educational, or an informational basis.


Previous Lab participants have been laudatory in their praise for this unique experience. Typical comments include:

Getting There

Soundings Theatre, Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa