Wednesday,
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
7:30 AM
Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 AM
Session 1: InfoTrends’ State-of-the-Market Address
2006 will be known as a year of significant changes for the digital photography industry. As the digital camera and photo printing markets continue to mature, long-standing and well-respected photography companies are exiting the market. Nevertheless, opportunities remain on the horizon—a new systems approach to photography is in a nascent stage, and efforts to take advantage of the true digital nature of photography are beginning.
This opening session will review some of this year’s significant events and discuss future market directions. Assembling data from our latest end-user studies and forecasts, it will also provide a snapshot of the market size as well as the opportunities and threats in photo capture, sharing, printing, viewing, management, and preservation. Attendees will get a chance to see how they fit into the new picture of digital photography.
9:00 AM
Keynote Presentation Helping Consumers Tell Their Stories in a Net-Connected World
Photos have always been an important element of how we capture our lives and tell our stories. But with the mainstreaming of digital imaging, our ability to connect with our families and friends has expanded far beyond the simple sharing of a photo. Online options enable new ways to use images to create community and relationships. Retailers are offering exciting and creative solutions for today’s pictures. Today, the home desktop has become the control point for managing and using photos across this entire ecosystem. Companies must partner to enable the use of these images between these multiple forums. This session will focus on the evolution of the imaging experience and industry efforts required to build and expand on this vision.
Larry Lesley, Senior Vice President, Digital Photography and Entertainment, HP
9:20 AM
Hot Looks Demo
9:30 AM
Refreshment Break & Exhibit Browsing
10:00 AM
Session 2: A Camera for Every Consumer – Development Plans for 2007 and Beyond
Digital cameras have come a long way in the past dozen years. They have advanced from VGA resolution, no LCD screen, and no memory card option models to 6+ megapixels, 3-inch LCD screen, and wireless connectivity models. A wide selection of products is available for today’s consumers, including simple point-and-shoot cameras, digital SLRs, and megapixel camera phones. Customer needs are evolving, however, and this means that camera features must evolve as well. During this session, leading imaging vendors will discuss:
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Consumer segmentations
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New features and functions and the segments that each product will appeal to
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How digital still cameras and camera phones will address these needs
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The adoption and usage patterns of cameras and camera phones
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Future opportunities
11:00 AM
Session 3: Visionary Panel – Transforming the Consumer Digital Imaging Experience
Our panel of prominent industry experts will set their visions for what lies ahead as consumers continue building their vast archives of digital images. Which technological advances are likely to drive continued camera adoption and upgrades? More importantly, can photo content management and image sharing solutions keep up the pace as picture quantities grow? Panel participants will be asked to consider how the industry can benefit financially from new services and solutions, while guiding consumers towards ubiquitous image access and voluminous printing. Critical topics for discussion include mobile image sharing, Internet-based photo services, image preservation, media centers, and creative forms of photo output. Plenty of audience Q&A time will be allotted for discussion and debate.
12:15 PM
Lunch & Exhibit Browsing
1:30 PM
Session 4: Mobile Imaging – From Novelty to Mainstream?
New hardware, software, and services are enabling camera phones to become useful tools with lasting user experiences rather than novelty gadgets that are seldom used. What types of consumers are using camera phones and what are they doing with them? What will the next generation of devices and services include? How are consumer behaviors changing? This session will discuss the realities of the market today and perspectives on new opportunities for mobile imaging.
2:30 PM
Session 5: The Evolution of Photo Sharing and the Social Networking Phenomenon
Is passive consumption of photo content the future reality, or will Generation @ (12-20 year olds) drive the growth of collaborative online communities? This session examines the use of new types of Web sites that enable casual snapshooters and amateur photographers alike to communicate using photos. Our panelists will look at photo blogging and other forms of consumer generated Web content. They will consider the activities that consumers are engaged in and what motivates them. They'll also discuss how quickly the sharing behaviors of Generation X-ers and other demographics are changing. Additional topics include:
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Existing business models
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How photo sharing Web sites are successfully attracting users
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Existing ancillary services (i.e. print) and partnership opportunities
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New opportunities and threats
3:30 PM
Refreshment Break & Exhibit Browsing
4:00 PM
Session 6: Content Management – Where and How Images are Managed
A professional photographer once said, “If you can’t find the image, you might as well never have taken it. It’s worthless.” This advice applies to professionals as well as consumers. Being able to manage digital content and ultimately locate a particular photo or video clip is becoming a bigger and bigger challenge as billions of photos and video clips now reside on hard disks, CD/DVDs, network drives, and online photo services. How digital photographers interact with content management technology will ultimately determine if this will be just a bump in the road or a major roadblock. During this session attendees will hear insights on:
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The technology road map
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The types of networks and devices that will ultimately manage content centrally
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Content management and its ties to archiving and the preservation of memories
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How software companies and Web-based services help manage content
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When this will become an issue for consumers
4:30 PM
Session 7: The Picture-Perfect Future – Ubiquitous Access to Images
What are the threats and opportunities for imaging in a world of IP-enabled devices, high speed networks, and next generation Internet applications? This session will discuss the future of imaging in the connected society. Hear from technology innovators that are developing solutions to make it easy and convenient for people to create, organize, share and view their image and video content across devices and across the Web. An emphasis will be placed on how digital images have been made transformable and usable in an unlimited number of ways, and what that means for both product and service providers. Web enabling technologies and function rich Web interfaces will also be considered as we analyze what factors will accelerate the pace of change in the photo industry.
5:30 PM
Hot Looks Demo
5:40 PM
Networking Reception
Thursday, October 19, 2006
7:30 AM
Continental Breakfast & Exhibits
8:00 AM
Keynote Presentation: Making the World a Better Place by Helping People Share Life’s Joy
Today, millions of people around the world are capturing their memories and communicating in deeper, more meaningful ways. Consumers are interested in sharing their pictures and creating highly customized and personalized photo-based products and merchandise to preserve their precious memories, express their creativity and make gift giving more personal. Digital cameras, digital image processing and the Internet have changed the photo-related services market, and have created new ways to satisfy consumers’ desire to be thoughtful and creative with their memories. This session will cover how as an industry, we are now able to address a larger portion of the consumer value chain and drive consumer loyalty in ways not possible with earlier technology.
Jeffrey Housenbold, President & CEO, Shutterfly
8:20 AM
Hot Looks Demo
8:30 AM
Session 8: Following the Prints – A Look Forward at the Competitive Photo Prints Market
Factors influencing photo printing behavior continue to expand and evolve, leading to a plethora of choices for consumers. Where digital camera owners ultimately choose to print their photos is only a small part of a larger question. Whether in the home, online, or in retail stores, consumers have a myriad of options at their disposal for photo printing, and it has become clear that customers will use a mix of services to meet their photo printing needs.
What can vendors in all environments do to simplify the photo-printing process and grow their share of the pie? Is the convenience and immediacy of home photo printing enough to survive the growing acceptance of retail printing services? This session considers the size of the photo printing market and provides a breakdown of consumer behavior and trends that will impact the mix of print volumes in all environments.
9:30 AM
Refreshment Break & Exhibit Browsing
10:00 AM
Session 9: Matching Capabilities to Customer Needs in the Evolving Photo Printing Market
The maturing digital camera market has resulted in a wide range of camera owners. Photo printing behaviors among early adopters and advanced photo enthusiasts are changing. Meanwhile, the mass-market appeal of digital cameras has resulted in a flood of first-time camera owners, many of whom are still trying to figure out the best way to produce digital photographic prints. What factors will drive the printing behaviors of technology laggards and point-and-shoot users? What are vendors doing to influence this photo printing behavior among all users? Our panel of industry leaders, representing a wide range of printing and sharing technologies, will discuss:
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Trends driving print volumes, print costs, and ease of use
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Moving beyond the 4” x 6” print—the real revenue opportunity?
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The ubiquitous nature of photo kiosk print stations—is there enough consumer demand?
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The impact of paid and unpaid online photo services
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Portable viewing/sharing devices: Opportunity or threat?
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Targeting the pro photographer and other opportunities for B-size photo printers
11:15 AM
Session 10: The Retail Experience – Evolution, Solutions, and Trends
The retail photo printing market continues its evolutionary process. 4 x 6 print prices have dropped considerably, net-to-retail is growing in popularity, and photo kiosk print bars continue to receive rave reviews. What impact are these changes having on the retail photo prints business? How will they affect the retail photo printing experience for consumers? This panel session will examine the steps that retailers are taking to meet the evolving behaviors of digital camera users. It will also seek to uncover what solutions are optimal for various situations.
12:15 PM
Lunch & Exhibit Browsing
1:45 PM
Session 11: Photo Merchandise – Will this Be Incremental to 4 x 6 Revenue or Replace It?
Photo merchandise is a rapidly growing, high-margin opportunity that can provide new sources of revenue and profits to supplement the extremely competitive 4 x 6 market. Nevertheless, photo merchandising has many of its own challenges, including dramatic seasonal demand swings, labor-intensive manufacturing, product innovation demands, brand and content licensing requirements, and other issues that can make or break a business. A variety of industry leaders will discuss their perspective on this emerging market to help you figure out your play in the photo merchandise, art, and gift markets.
2:45 PM
Session 12: Pro Photography – New Opportunities in Web-Based Services
The professional photography industry is undergoing a significant change as new Web-based services change the business model. These new services are enabling photographers to become far more efficient, extend their reach, and offer new revenue opportunities. Key aspects of businesses and operations are migrating to hosted services including photo management, printing, collaboration, rights management, and marketing. Industry leaders will discuss the transformation that is currently taking place in the professional photography industry.
3:15 PM
Refreshment Break & Exhibit Browsing
3:45 PM
Session 13: Growth Opportunities for Digital Imaging - The Financial Analyst and VC Perspective
As VC spending improves, it is important for all industry participants to keep their eye on the financial community's view of the market. How are the key players being viewed by Wall Street, and how are start-ups proving that they can attract a critical mass of users? Most importantly, what is the outlook for 2007? Panelists will take a critical look at the latest industry developments and discuss recent trends in areas such as user-generated content, video, and mobile imaging.
4:30 PM
InfoTrends Closing Session
4:45 PM
Conference Adjourns
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