[itvt] Presents "EBIF Intensive," a One-Day Workshop Featuring Canoe Ventures and CableLabs

--Will Take Place March 5th, Immediately after The TV of Tomorrow Show
--Tickets on Sale Now: Special Low Rates for TV of Tomorrow Show Attendees and Speakers

[itvt] is pleased to present "EBIF Intensive," a special one-day workshop/dialog event that will take place in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 5th, the day after The TV of Tomorrow Show (March 3rd and 4th). 

The event--which will be informal, intimate, interactive, and, of course, intensive--is sponsored by Canoe Ventures and CableLabs, the two organizations tasked with developing and implementing the US cable industry's vision for interactive TV based on the Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF), as well as by HSN, a broadcaster that has already nationally deployed an EBIF-powered tcommerce service.

EBIF Intensive is designed to give interactive TV industry stakeholders--including broadcasters, programmers, advertisers/agencies, retailers, application developers, technology providers, and others--a unique opportunity to engage in productive dialog with Canoe Ventures and CableLabs, and marks the first time that those two organizations have participated in such a dialog-driven event. Participants will learn how to work with Canoe Ventures and CableLabs to realize their interactive TV roadmaps.

Participants will not only gain an in-depth understanding of the US cable industry's plans for implementing EBIF-based interactive TV, but--through questions, feedback and frank, face-to-face discussions--will have a voice in shaping those plans. If your company is planning to launch interactive TV programming, advertising, applications or services on US cable platforms, you need to attend this event.

Tickets

EBIF Intensive will build upon and deepen the understanding of EBIF that attendees will have gained from the TV of Tomorrow Show. While tickets to EBIF Intensive are priced at $875, TV of Tomorrow Show attendees and speakers can attend the event for just $225:

• If you have already purchased your ticket to the TV of Tomorrow Show, you can purchase your $225 EBIF Intensive ticket by filling out this form and emailing it to swedlow@itvt.com or faxing it to (415) 707-2154.

• If you have already been accepted as a speaker at the TV of Tomorrow Show, you can purchase your $225 EBIF Intensive ticket by filling out this form and emailing it to swedlow@itvt.com or faxing it to (415) 707-2154.

• If you want to buy a package consisting of a ticket to the TV of Tomorrow Show (currently priced at $875; will increase to $975 January 22nd) and a ticket to EBIF intensive ($225), click here.

• If you want to buy a ticket to the TV of Tomorrow Show only (currently priced at $875; will increase to $975 January 22nd; does not cover admission to EBIF Intensive), click here.

• If you want to buy a ticket to EBIF Intensive only (priced at $875 through March 5th; does not cover admission to the TV of Tomorrow Show), click here.

Sponsorship and Exhibition Opportunities

Additional sponsorship and exhibition opportunities are still available. Benefits include a transcript of the day's proceedings, advertising banners in the [itvt] newsletter and on itvt.com, and more. For more information, contact Tracy Swedlow at (415) 824-5806 or swedlow@itvt.com

What Is EBIF?

EBIF (Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format) was created to define and simplify the format used for developing interactive TV applications and transporting them to the cable industry's entire footprint of legacy and newer digital set-top boxes. It is designed to unify the ITV landscape by providing a technology that will evolve to support "write once, run everywhere" applications.

What Are EBIF's Goals?

• For content providers, EBIF is intended to serve as the foundation for a robust interactive TV marketplace that will support TV as a dominant marketing medium.
• For technology and service providers, EBIF is designed to create a nationwide market for vendors to sell into, with opportunities for hardware and software products as well as application development.
• For advertisers, EBIF is designed to serve as a major step towards a truly national interactive TV footprint that will provide an opportunity to interact with millions of cable subscribers engaged with their favorite programming.
• For cable operators, EBIF is designed to serve as a standard means of enabling robust interactivity across all deployed set-top boxes, creating new opportunities for advertising, innovative customer services and other compelling interactive applications. It is foreseen that the industry-wide adoption of EBIF will enable cable to deploy standardized interactive TV ad products across a national footprint via national programming partners.

What Kinds of Topics Will Be Discussed at EBIF Intensive?

Led by a select group of prominent interactive TV industry figures, attendees will engage in dialog with representatives from Canoe Ventures, CableLabs, HSN and other EBIF experts, explore EBIF initiatives and applications currently under development, and have the opportunity to evaluate for themselves how EBIF technology and the evolving EBIF ecosystem will impact and potentially enable their businesses' ITV plans and objectives.

Topics to be addressed (among many others) include:

• Launching EBIF apps: How exactly does Canoe Ventures intend to make it easier and faster for programmers who have already-tested, ready-to-launch apps to actually launch those apps?
• Templatizing EBIF apps: How will such application specifics as file size, functionality, data capture and user interface be templatized?
• Testing EBIF apps: What is the best way to test applications? What role will CableLabs play in the testing process?
• Telescoping from EBIF apps: The main verified functions of EBIF are RFI and polling. But what about telescoping to VOD content? This is currently supported differently in the various user agents. Can we expect a functional consistency?
• Consistency across EBIF user agents: Will there be a consolidation of EBIF user agents so that the testing process can be streamlined? What is the roadmap for updates to EBIF?
• Revenue/tcommerce: EBIF will enable such functionality as on-screen upselling and provisioning, direct product sales and more. But how should EBIF be tied to the very different and very proprietary backend billing systems used by the various MSO's? How will third-party billing work with EBIF?
• Data Measurement: How will this be handled? How will programmers receive data back from their applications?