We are deep in planning mode for our next big event, The Ypulse 2008 National Mashup, happening Jult 14-15 once again at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Last July over 350 youth media and marketing professionals attended the first major Ypulse conference, which featured two pre-conferences. This year we're planning four pre-conferences including another interactive workshop on teens and technology, a Ypulse Books & Publishing Mashup (that will focus on books and mags), a Casual Games Mashup, and a TV/Movies Mashup. And that's all happening the morning of July 14th before the main event even starts! We will again feature a Youth Media Showcase, where we give free exhibitor space to four non-profit youth media organizations as well as an award to an individual or group doing amazing stuff with technology to reach teens. We'll be launching the new conference site soon, so stay tuned...

For this year's advisory board, everyone has participated in at least one Ypulse Mashup as an attendee, speaker or an adviser. We will be adding an additional adviser from our founding sponsor TBA. If you have a speaker suggestion or pitch, please read this post first. Then feel free to email me. If you are interested in sponsoring or exhibiting, please get in touch with Phil -- he's our sponsorship go-to guy.

And now, meet the advisory board:

Bob Arnold, Leader, beinggirl.com, Procter & Gamble

Bob has been very active in the interactive marketing field for the past four years, first working on P&G's homemadesimple.com program, then moving to take North America and now global leadership for beinggirl.com. While at homemadesimple, he was part of the team that more than doubled subscribers and set the stage for the homemadesimple TV show. Since taking over beinggirl.com, traffic has more than tripled and expanded to include more P&G beauty brands, becoming a fixture in teen marketing at P&G.

danah boyd, Fellow, Annenberg Center for Communications, University of Southern California

danah boyd is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. Her dissertation focuses on how American youth engage in networked publics like MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Xanga, etc. This work is funded by the MacArthur Foundation as part of a broader grant on digital youth and informal learning. Prior to Berkeley, danah received a bachelor's degree in computer science from Brown University and a master's degree in sociable media from MIT Media Lab. She has worked as an ethnographer and social media researcher for various corporations, including Intel, Tribe.net, Google, and Yahoo! She also created and managed a large online community for V-Day, a non-profit organization working to end violence against women and girls worldwide.

Karl Carter, Co-Founder, Inner City Enterprises/GTM Inc.

Karl helped launch Inner City Enterprises, Inc., a strategic communications and entertainment holding company, to develop and launch creative programs that engage urban youth audiences worldwide. It has four integrated business segments: GTM...It Means A Lot (a youth marketing and promotions agency), Soul Underground (a live, positive entertainment platform for showcasing the best in underground urban talent), Wheat Bread Clothing (a progressive urban streetwear apparel company, and Change the Game (a non-profit community outreach initiative). Karl is responsible for designing innovative media & new business pitches targeting the youth subculture market. Karl received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from George Washington University, specializing in Electronic Media Marketing.

Dixie Feldman, Senior Editorial Director of The N, MTV Networks

"Dixie" Feldman is Senior Editorial Director for The N, MTV Networks' digital media brand totally for and about teens, exploring creative, effective ways to engage The N's millions of viewers. Prior to The N, "Dixie" was Editorial Director for Oxygen.com, as well as producer for "Oprah Goes Online" and an on-air personality for the network. Before Oxygen, she crisscrossed the country as National Project Director for public television's multi-million dollar professional development initiative to help teachers use media effectively. In addition to her relentless Web "evangelizing," Dixie wrote for a variety of media, including AMC, BUST , the New York Post, and the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Currently doling out advice in a column for WE, Dixie can be also be found working on her upcoming book, DAMES; training for marathons; and coping with a menagerie including 2 dogs and 5 (!) parrots.

Stephen E. Loflin, Executive Director, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars

Steve is the founder and Executive Director of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS). In 1994, Steve founded NSCS to recognize students who had done well academically during their first years in college and to provide members with an opportunity to be honored and involved in an organization devoted to scholarship, integrity and service. NSCS currently has more than 225 chapters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The membership consists of 160,000 current undergraduate students and 400,000 alumni lifetime members. Steve was recently elected president of the Association of College Honor Societies which is the only certifying organization for collegiate honor societies.

Allison Mooney, Director of Trends & Research, Fleishman-Hillard

In her role as Director of Trends & Research at NGT (Next Great Thing), the insights arm of Fleishman-Hillard's Youth and Mobile Marketing practice, Allison tracks youth-driven wireless trends and innovations that are changing the communications industry around the world. Allison is also a regular contributor to the trends blog PSFK.com and has written for Radar, Glamour, Stereotype among other publications. Before joining Fleishman-Hillard, she worked at Details Magazine as Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief and staff writer, and at Random House in the Doubleday Broadway Marketing department. Allison graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with majors in English and Psychology and a minor in French, then attended the Columbia Publishing Course at the University's School of Journalism.

Posted by anastasia