Mark your calendar for Oct in Oxford for our 7th Mass Media course and Forum Oxford conference

A few announcements as I am on vacation during August

Please mark your calendar for two excellent events in October in Oxford

JOIN DAVID CUSHMAN, ALAN MOORE AND TOMI FOR 2 DAYS IN OXFORD 12-13 OCT

On Oct 12-13 you get the rare chance of a two day short course with both of us. Alan Moore and I are returning to run our 7th Mass Medium course at Oxford University with our dear friend and fellow author David Cushman probably best known to readers of this blog via his very good blog Faster Future. The course is the definitive 'media for mobile' and mobile content and services course, based loosely on my sixth book (Mobile as 7th of the Mass Media, all course attendees receive an autographed copy of the hardcover book) so we look at the mobile consumers, the mobile eco-system, then the various media types and content including music, gaming, news, etc - as well as advertising and marketing of course, and including the signature themes of this blog, social networking on mobile as well. We examine the overlaps, cannibalization threats and market opportunities in mobile for other media brands and players from print to broadcast to the internet etc, and we discuss the 8 unique aspects of mobile. For regular readers of this blog, its perhaps familiar territory, but this is THE course you want to send your new hires and team members, or the business development boss for mobile if you are a media brand etc.. The course is not technical, and you do not need previous courses to be able to attend.

As a short course run by the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education, the course is a very reasonably priced opportunity to learn about the media and mobile opportunities, from me representing the mobile side, from David representing the classic media side, and Alan the guy who coined the term Engagement Marketing, representing the advertising and marketing side of the convergence in the 7th mass media space. And yes, of course, all who attend get the Oxford University certificate of attendance for completing the course too. Here is the page describing our 7th Mass Medium course including the full agenda.

NEXT, THE FORUM OXFORD TECHNOLOGY FUTURE CONFERENCE IS 15 OCTOBER

Then the other big Oxford event for our readers is on the same week! On 15 October, we have already our 4th annual Forum Oxford Conference. Always, after each of the first 3 conferences, we've had so many people who said, 'I should have been there' or 'I wish I had the chance to be there' and almost universally those who attended, are eager to be back and to recommend it to others. So here is plenty of time to warn you, please put this on your calendar.

This conference focuses on the future of mobile and technology convergence and attracts an unbelievably senior level of attendees, and we have truly exceptional class of speakers. The biggest brands have all been heard or seen there as you might expect from Vodafone to Nokia to Samsung to the more innovative specialists in mobile such as MTV and Three etc. Perhaps more impressive is the lineup of just about 'the who's who' of the top thought leaders in mobile, including authors like Tony Fish, William Webb, Martin Sauter, Russell Buckley, Christian Lindholm, Jonathan MacDonald, Mark Curtis (and Ajit Jaokar, and Alan and me..) .Consider that in the past 3 years we've heard from just about all the biggest names you talk about in mobile today, including Admob, Flirtomatic, Xtract, Blyk, Fjord, and the most relevant topics you might think of today, such as mobile money in Africa or the Digital Footprint or Data mining and even such things as art in the mobile media age. To get a feeling of what its like, here is my review of our first Conference.

For this year's 2010 Forum Oxford Conference again we have those people and companies and topics you really want to hear and see. We have among confirmed speakers Layar talking about Augmented Reality, Movidius showing the latest in video tech for mobile phones, the former Guardian mobilist-journalist extraordinaire and now also famed publisher of Location-Based Poetry Vic Keegan; the multiple bestselling mobile author and guru Chetan Sharma; and the topics you want like Android, mobile in the the emerging world, mobile learning, the Internet of Things, and so many more. As always, the Forum Oxford Conference is co-chaired with my very dear friend and multiple bestselling mobile author Ajit Jaokar.

Two specific points. One, this is 'the' only and I mean only - true thought-leader conference for where our industry is going in the next years. Like in the past, this is the collection of the very best minds for one day, about the future of mobile and we have always an unparalleled level of world most senior speakers, authors and top industry decision-makers. The conference attendees are extremely senior level, for this very fact. Yes, we are at Oxford, so of course the attendance tends to be more UK based, but for a UK conference we get regularly visitors from very far on all continents. The venue is cozy and very friendly. We have exceptoinal level of interaction between all who attend. As everyone remarks at each of the first 3 annual events, the Forum Oxford event is exceptionally interactive where you get to talk with everybody. And yes, many will bring some books to get them signed by the authors too who are speaking haha. But yes, this is one very rare event, where almost nobody leaves the event before the end of the day, even as it is Friday. But after the event, we have the free drinks reception and the discussions and meetings are so productive, that people really don't want to leave.

Secondly, it is at the pictoresque Oxford University campus. For an event that costs only 205 UK Pounds for the full day including lunch and the drinks reception, that is truly a bargain. Oxford is near Heathrow Airport so its an easy connection from the airport and you might consider spending the weekend in Oxforfd if you have not visited that part of England before. The actual Conference is always a one-day event on Friday in Oxford, but we always start informally the night before, Thursday evening, at the same pub just outside the venue, and the informal chat with all of us will last into the wee hours. So if you do attend, please plan on arriving in the early afternoon of the Thursday, and check in at your hotel, so you have time to join us at the pub. Many who live in England will not drive up in the morning of the Friday, but prefer to arrive at Oxford on Thursday afternoon so they can join us at the pub informal part and meet up with us etc. So please also remember to plan on being there from Thursday evening onto the very end of Friday. So this is one of those rare events where I really go on record saying, this is worth flying into. For more including confirmed speakers and all info about the Forum Oxford Future Technologies Conference 2010, please see the Conference website.

(Obviously, please consider taking both the course and joining the conference)

AND REMEMBER TOMI PODCAST AT M-SEARCH GROOVE

And one more thing. We've started the podcast series with Peggy Ann Salz (best known probably for editing the wonderful annnual Netsize Guide. Peggy's website is M-Search Groove, obviously dealing with mobilist matters and search related things, and mobile search haha.. And she has a series of very good podcasts with many influential leaders - including our Alan Moore yes of course - and we started a monthly short about 5 minute chat about the numbers and stats of mobile. Its in an interview format, where Peggy picks some of her fave stories of recent mobile numbers and then asks me to comment and give background. I also add a flavor bit to it, where we end it always with something a bit more wild and weird in the research into mobile consumers.. Please take a listen to the Podcast with Tomi Ahonen on Mobile Stats.

I am only briefly online during August, but from September will start to be seen again very actively globally, am at big conference events in Sao Paulo, Canberra, Toronto, Hong Kong, and countless private workshops and seminars as well. So if you have a need. please drop me an email and lets book the date before we have timing conflicts.

Comments

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I listened to you on the podcast. Your use of the word "families" got me thinking of all those old mob/gangster movies.

I like learning about history. Many stories tend to focus on an individual person, group, or event. Your use of the history of Beta vs. VHS and Mac vs. PC, has now got me looking at those same historical stories and looking for the relationships/families. For example, for hundreds of years it was taught that 200 Europeans destroyed the Inca Empire; but we now know that they had the help of the many peoples the Incas oppressed.

It is not sad that more children have phones than books. It actually means they have more time and money to dedicate to reading if they should choose to do so. As they run out of things to talk about, they just might do it.

I also once heard a radio talk show host complain about people on welfare having phones. He saw it as a luxury they should do without. This kind of thinking stems from assuming our experience is the same as everyone else’s or looking at the situation through the fun and games culture popularized in the media.

But let’s look at the facts. There use to be payphones everywhere. Back then we never criticized children or poor people for having coins to make calls. Maybe we have an expensive data plan and our kids download a bunch of fun apps but that doesn’t mean those poor people are doing the same thing.

In my own experience, the monetary value of one phone call to me can easily save me more money than my monthly bill. For the cheapest plans it could pay for more than six months of phone bills. The alternative for me is to spend a lot of time and money commuting to become informed of the things I need to be informed of.

It also means I can better coordinate with others and arrive at the same time instead of waiting for others to show up. For example a repairman does not know the exact time he will show up because the job site he was at before mine may take him longer than he thought. He may even learn that he cannot keep his appointment with me. Because we are able to communicate last minute, I never waste time or money going to meet him until the exact time is confirmed. This is also the case for business appointments and sales calls.

I also experience this huge savings of time and money in family life as well. I don’t have to wait until I get home to be told that something has come up and such and such is needed and then have to commute from the home just to deal with that one specific situation. Instead I can be informed long before I start my commute home and combine my commutes, saving time and money; increasing the quality of life of my family.

With all this savings in time and money, reading becomes more affordable in both time and money. With all this communicating going on, people probably want to have something interesting to say; reading can satisfy that need. With mbooks outselling ebooks in Japan, the rest of the world is likely to follow. The phone gives people more opportunities to read other than just the home and library.

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