The latest edition of Ad Age’s premiere event is going down for the first time in the cradle of the digital revolution, where search, social, mobile, and gaming are now redefining communications and marketing.

The goal of Digital West is to bridge the gap between the technological innovation and active creation of new models and platforms on the west coast with big brands and media looking to evolve and execute on their own internal visions for progress.

We will explore certain key themes, like mobile and social commerce, content dissemination and marketing, video and entertainment, and others, focusing on the new models, platforms, and technologies that will power the industry’s evolution in those spaces.

The hope is to facilitate conversation around these issues between the marketing, media, and entrepreneurial communities, so they might collaborate and innovate in concert, pushing our entire industry forward in the process.

We will also be hosting our first-ever social and mobile hacks, in lieu of our usual themed breakouts. In these sessions, you will hear from two leaders in the marketing and agency worlds about their goals challenges they face in their forays into the mobile and social territories.

Then we’ll be turning the floor over to 16 start-ups, who will have the opportunity to deliver 5 minute presentations on how and why their platform, service, or technology could be used by marketers looking to innovate and evolve. Digital West will feature two concurrent sessions, one focused innovation in the mobile space, and the other on social.
The winning start-up in the brand hack will be awarded a $25,000 project or partnership with the American Express.
The winning start-up in the agency hack will receive either $25,000 for a project or partnership from Ignited LA, or a combination of $15,000, office space, and creative resources.
The brand hacks are a literal manifestation of the overall essence of Digital West. We aim to give the entrepreneurs a platform to tell the brands and media what they are capable of, what they can do for them, and how it will fit into the future of the industry that they are actively developing. Conversely, we will give the brands a platform to tell the start-ups and entrepreneurs what they look for when evaluating new technologies and platforms and what types of partnerships they’re looking to build.
If you’d like to submit your start-up to pitch in these sessions, please email adagespeakers@adage.com and make sure to include:

• Background on the company and founders. Where did you come from? What stage of development and funding? Have you partnered with brands before? Have you launched, are you in beta testing, or are you still in stealth?

• Tell us about the platform as is. What is the goal of your start-up? What are you doing that others haven’t already done? What’s the technological innovation or disruption?

• And most importantly, what’s the pitch for brands and marketers?