 | Ypulse Daily Update 06.24.09
Directory and more at Ypulse.com | |  | Quick Links Ypulse Essentials: Virgin Mobile FreeFest, Girl Detectives, Millennial Dads Posted by meredith  2009 Virgin Mobile "FreeFest" (answers frugal music lovers' prayers by doing away with admission fees at this year's festival)
- Pac Sun's new exec (is the former president and CEO of Vans. And New Balance cobrands with Peanuts) (Label Networks) (WWD)
- The spread of teen dating violence (timed to coincide with the end of Chris Brown's trial, DoSomething.org releases the results of their nation-wide survey. And MTV asks industry pros how Chris Brown's sentence will affect the singer's music career)
-Toyota Community Scholars (program honors 100 U.S. students who are proven leaders, both in the classroom and in their communities)
- Score one for 'Team Jacob' (the New Moon movie tie-in book cover is all about the teen wolf. Plus the allure of the girl detective) (EW) (Chasing Ray)
- Nick Jonas goes to Washington (to lobby for diabetes research) (MTV News)
- Millennial Dads (get a nod for taking their share of "the second shift." And the economic quandaries of quarterlifers) (Huffington Post) (Forbes)
- What MTV has in store (a glimpse at the eight new projects on tap, including "The Awesomes," an animated series about a bumbling superhero team and the "Teen Wolf" remake. Also Jessica Simpson returns to reality television with a show about different cultural standards of beauty. And summer ratings take a hit among the 18 - 49 set) (Variety) (Rolling Stone) (New York Times, reg. required)
- Don't believe the hype (about out-of-control teens. The Irish Times takes the media -- on both sides of the Atlantic -- to task for badmouthing a generation)
- More data on the rise of public interest jobs (among college grads. Bloomberg spotlights Amherst College. Also Gen Y prepares for a simpler lifestyle because of the recession) (USA Today)
Posted in: Ypulse Essentials Ypulse Jobs: Radio Disney, HarperCollins & More Posted by meredith Today we bring you another sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there or through our Ypulse LinkedIn group (join today, if you haven't yet!). Post today and we'll feature your opening in our monthly Ypulse Jobs roundup.
Senior Manager, Media Relations at Radio Disney
Industry: Youth Radio/Publicity
Location: Burbank, CA
Description: The Sr. Manager, Media Relations serves as the press liaison for the kids radio network where there is a focus on building franchises and increasing advertising revenue... more [via Cynopsis Kids]
Senior Search Engine Marketing Manager at a Teen Social Networking/Virtual World
Industry: SEO Marketing
Location: San Jose, CA
Description: The SEM Manager will be responsible for all aspects of the site's Search Engine Optimization including meta-tagging of the site, day-to-day management and optimization of the company's SEM by increased visibility on various search engine sites.. more
Senior Marketing Manager - School and Library at HarperCollins
Industry: Children's Book Publishing
Location: New York, NY
Description: Work with all Children's Books departments to conceptualize, develop and execute creative marketing materials for the institutional market, primarily teachers, librarians and wholesalers. Partner with Director on all phases of conference planning/execution, to include author scheduling and travel, reserving booth space, booth furnishings, display and autographing books, promotional items... more [via mediabistro]
Associate Publisher at The Chronicle of Higher Education
Industry: Newspaper
Location: Washington, D.C.
Description: The Chronicle of Higher Education Inc. seeks an associate publisher for corporate clients to lead across all advertising and sales channels, including print, online, international and events.. more [via mediabistro]
Vice President of Business Development at MyYearbook
Industry: New Media, Social Networks
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Description: The Vice President, Business Development will be a key member of the senior management team, reporting to the CEO, and will work closely with the CFO and Vice President, Sales and Marketing in developing strategic and revenue growth opportunities... more [via LinkedIn, reg. required]
Digitial Producer at Alloy Marketing
Industry: Digital youth media
Location: New York, NY
Description: Channel One News is looking for two talented, enthusiastic Digital Producers to cover domestic and international news stories for a teen audience... more
For more coverage of youth marketing, go to the Ypulse Youth Marketing Channel sponsored by Youth Marketing Connection. Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Youth Marketing Ypulse Guest Post: The Integral Role Game Makers Can Play In Advancing Digital Games For Children's Health Posted by meredith Today's Ypulse Guest Post is from Ann My Thai, the Assistant Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and co-author of Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health, the report the Center unveiled yesterday at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, D.C. We asked Ann to share an overview of the report and some highlights from yesterday's event...
The Integral Role Game Makers Can Play In Advancing Digital Games For Children's Health
The idea that digital games might actually help improve children's learning and health is, in some quarters, a radical one. But contrary to typical media portrayals of games as a threat to children's well-being, a growing body of research provides compelling evidence that well-designed games can benefit children. With innovative new game technologies such as the Wii Fit, and the broadening of game platforms available, such as social networks and mobile, the potential for games to support children's learning and health has never been greater.
Unveiled yesterday at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, DC, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center's latest report, Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health, investigates how games can advance education and health reforms starting with young children. The report draws on interviews with 24 experts in technology, education, policy and philanthropy and a review of the current landscape, including an inventory of three dozen learning and health games. Game Changer calls for greater national investment in R&D to explore the potential benefits and limitations of games and offers recommendations for action.
Yesterday's event featured a panel of experts from industry, research, and policy and hosted participants from these key sectors. The panel explored how government policy and investment could spur the development of more well-designed games to be deployed for education and health efforts. Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell shared how the 40-year old Sesame Street has entered the digital age, highlighting its "Healthy Habits" podcasts and health-themed video playlists and games on the show's broadband site.
Panelists also discussed the current barriers to accelerating R&D for well-designed learning and health games and the need for the commercial games industry to participate in such efforts. Former Activision Studios head Alan Gershenfeld saw retaining the right talent to design and manage game production as one of the greatest barriers. He also outlined three trends he believes are fertile ground for developing learning and health games: embedding content in social network games; the "Guitar Hero phenomenon"--his observation that playing Guitar Hero could inspire and motivate players to learn how to play a real guitar; and molding and making games. Here he cited the example of Gamestar Mechanic, the breakthrough game design and research initiative by Gamelab, the Institute of Play, and the University of Wisconsin's Games, Learning and Society Group that has inspired the new Quest to Learn school that will open in New York City this fall.
In order to get proven game innovations into the hands of children, a chorus of experts interviewed for Game Changer emphasized the importance of industry both in the R&D and distribution. Although the barriers to game making are diminishing with game platforms like the iPhone, it can still be a highly complex task that requires multi-disciplinary collaboration. As panelist Scot Osterweil, Director of MIT's Education Arcade described, researchers that are awarded government agency grants are focused on theory, which does not necessarily translate into well-designed games that show learning impact. He called for more "design research" that focuses on developing smaller, less expensive, less financially risky games to test theories and assess the potential of games.
A fundamental question raised by the report is what incentives exist for commercial game makers to develop games for learning and health? The blockbuster success of games such as Dance Dance Revolution, Wii Fit, BrainAge and others show that there is a viable market for games that provide a blend of entertaining and purposeful experiences for players. A more coordinated R&D agenda could help pinpoint specific game features that engage and motivate children, as well as enhance learning and health outcomes. Real national leadership in this area could thus serve the goals of researchers as well as generate building blocks for commercial innovation.
The Game Changer event concluded with remarks from Congresswoman and Chair of the Congressional Entertainment Industries Caucus Diane Watson's Chief of Staff, Richard Butcher, who invited the Cooney Center and other children's digital media leaders to collaborate on designing strategies and convening forums to transform children's learning and health. We will be following up on that challenge in the months ahead.
About Ann
 Ann My Thai is the Assistant Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and the co-author of Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health. Ann leads the Center's strategic partnership efforts with high tech and gaming industries, and oversees organizational growth and strategy Posted in: Ypulse Essentials | Youth Marketing | Education | Gaming
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