Chris Pfaff moderated the tech track session ‘Immersive Sound: How to Create Powerful Experiences’ on Thursday, March 13th from 11:30-12:30 pm in Salon K of the Hilton Austin Downtown with some of the industry’s leading next-gen audio experts, including Google’s Jani Huoponen, group product manager for immersive audio, Mirko Vogel, general manager, Canada, for Vaudeville Sound Group, and Sylvana Levy, founder of SLX Group.

Jani Huoponen detailed the development of Eclipsa, the audio format born out of the Open Media Alliance’s Immersive Audio Models & Formats (IAMF) specification for next-generation immersive audio.

Mirko Vogel detailed Vaudeville Sound Group’s approach to immersive audio for a range of media formats.

Sylvana Levy discussed producing immersive audio for experiential installations.

You can watch the entire session at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2g1VBkO29k

SXSW 2025 PANEL

IMMERSIVE SOUND: HOW TO CREATE POWERFUL EXPERIENCES

Immersive sound enables unparalleled connections between users and enhances experiences. A new generation of immersive sound technology includes sound objects, which are multichannel sound files captured and designed with specific techniques. These 3D sound environments complement visual experiences with immersive, or spatial, audio that enhances a wide range of industry products and services, including virtual and augmented reality, auditory healing for healthcare, architecture design, automotive design, media, entertainment, and many others.

Chris Pfaff moderated an expert virtual panel for Streaming Media Connect, on February 27, 2025, ‘App, Crackle, Pop: What a Video App Really Needs,’ with Bruno Giner, NPAW; Ankit Awasthi, Amazon Prime; Deirdre Magrane, Tubi; Tom Hurlbutt, Crunchyroll, and Jason Williams, Plex.

The session discussed the product considerations and technical issues surrounding app development for video publishers. You can watch the full session at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-jpftHBl9M&list=PLcSb1s2U3uyDMnUvP0RMv0WnVwp25b6OS&index=15

Chris Pfaff moderated an expert session – ‘Removing the Friction of Content Discovery on CTV’ – at the (virtual) Streaming Media Connect conference, on November 14, 2024, with the following panelists:

Chris Rodriguez, CCO – Revry

Monica Williams, SVP, Digital Products & Operations, Content Distribution – NBCUniversal

Gatsby Frimpong, Co-Founder & CEO – Gatsby TV

Katrina Kowalski, SVP, International Content Programming and Acquisitions – Pluto TV

The premise of the session was that today’s streaming providers deliver endless amounts of content, which can overwhelm viewers who are simply looking for something to watch. The content discovery process often takes far longer than viewers are willing to wait. FAST channels have the power to redefine content discoverability by using data to serve customers the content they want to watch and help them find new content based on prior viewing habits. FAST platforms have a vast amount of data available to them, but only a small amount of it is being used to its full potential. Incorporating viewership data into the content discoverability process can remove the pain points that have bubbled up in the new streaming landscape, lead to more engagement with the content, and open up more opportunities for advertisers to reach their target audiences. This session looks at the success of genre channels and provides attendees with insight into how they help their viewers find their content faster.

You can watch the full session at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Now It’s Personal: AI and Streaming Personalization’ panel at the virtual Streaming Media Connect conference, on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. The expert panel featured Chris Regina, CCO, TCL; Shobana Radhakrishnan, sr. dir., engineering, GoogleTV, Arash Pendari, founder/creative director, Vionlabs AB. and Alex Gruber, chief product officer, Deltatre.

You can watch the full session at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RvJ4JUPhIY&list=PLcSb1s2U3uyA8AMciRoww3BTj6QwoOQII&index=4&t=503s

‘NOW IT’S PERSONAL: AI AND STREAMING PERSONALIZATION’

Many of the ways AI is poised to alter the streaming ecosystem happen behind the scenes, involving the streamlining of workflows or the automation of repetitive production or delivery tasks. But AI also has the potential to transform viewing experiences, making them more personal and immersive. The panel explores what’s possible and what’s probable and how we can expect to see AI’s real-world impact on streaming experiences take shape in the months and years to come.

Chris Pfaff moderated the ‘Disrupting Fast Fashion and Saving the World’ panel at the Digital Fashion Week New York conference, on Saturday, September 7th, at 2:00 pm in the Canvas 3.0 Gallery in the World Trade Center, in New York City. 

Check out the intro clip to the panel at: https://youtu.be/mIR8DRy2uns

Check out a longer 10-minute clip of the panel at: https://youtu.be/bWal0tMi4R0

Chris Pfaff with Tatiana Alexa and Clare Tattersall

Panelists included: Krishnan Sangameswaran, from The F*Word, Miguel Huidor, from NICESTUFF Clothing, Ben Erwin, from Power Simple, and Tatiana Alexa, from Sangrove. 

Chris Pfaff with Krishnan Sangameswaran, Ben Erwin, Tatiana Alexa, and Miguel Huidor

Chris Pfaff (left) and the crowd at DFW NYC (right)

Topics included; What technologies can we leverage to disrupt fast fashion from the ground up? Disrupting Hype — Creating Meaningful Consumer Relationships). 

The XR crowd at DFW NYC, including Alex Coulombe, Robin Moulder, Michael Ferraro

Panel descriptor:

From virtual runways to digital printing on fabrics to NFTs and beyond, the digital fashion world has exploded since the pandemic. In this session, we will discuss how digital fashion can disrupt the traditional fast fashion model and create a more sustainable (and potentially more profitable) fashion ecosystem.

Clare Tattersall, Miguel Huidor, Tatiana Alexa, Ben Erwin, Krishnan Sangameswaran, and Chris Pfaff

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Chris Pfaff (front) with (l to r): Jenny Wall, Paul Kontonis, Jesse Redniss, Dan Rosenfeld, Ian Ivins, and Brittany Slattery.

Chris Pfaff moderated the SXSW 2024 panel – ‘How Immersive Sound Can Deliver Powerful Experiences’ – on Friday, March 15th at the Hilton Austin Downtown, with an expert panel consisting of Mirko Vogel, from Vaudeville Sound Group; Jani Houponen, from Google, and Sylvana Levy, from XRAgency.

Vogel discussed the use of ambisonics in designing immersive audio for a range of projects, including Vaudeville’s creation of the industry’s largest immersive sound library, for Shutterstock; immersive audio for VR, including a music video with artist Whipped Cream; the ‘AmazingWar Stories’ podcast, and more.

Huoponen discussed Google’s immersive audio work, including the Alliance for Open Media’s recent Immersive Audio Models and Formats (IAMF) specification, a major advance in immersive audio design.

Levy demonstrated her immersive audio work on hybrid virtual/live installations for venues.

The audience was also treated to Vaudeville’s IAMF-designed forest audio, which simulated multiple speakers for bird noises and environmental sounds.

You can listen to the full panel at:

https://vimeo.com/928115672/7d2e77e132?share=copy

Chris Pfaff moderated an all-star session – ‘Successful Strategies for Growing and Monetizing Your Streaming Service’ – on the virtual Streaming Media Connect conference, produced by Streaming Media Magazine, on February 22, 2024 that discussed strategies for curating content, maintaining audiences, and growing new channels.

Joining Chris were panelists Rene Santaella, Chief Digital & Streaming Officer, Estrella Media; Matt Farina, Senior Vice President, Content Distribution, NBCUniversal; Eric Sorensen, Director, Streaming Video Research, Parks Associates; Smriti Sharma, Head, Consumer Insights, Publishers Clearing House, and Julia Moonves, SVP, Advertising Sales & Brand Partnerships, pocket.watch.

You can view the entire panel session at:

Chris Pfaff moderated the virtual panel ‘Targeting, Measuring, and Scaling Connected TV Advertising’ on February 20, 2024 for Streaming Media Connect, the virtual conference series produced by Streaming Media Magazine.

Discussion of CTV’s rapid growth centered around the recent Walmart acquisition of Vizio. Joining Chris were panelists Aneessa Steilen, VP, Media & Distribution Marketing, Vevo; Jack Mollins, SVP, Advertising Sales, Atmosphere.TV; Jennifer Monson, VP, Ad Sales, Fubo; Tim Ware, Senior Vice President of Programmatic Sales and Revenue, Sales, Crackle Connex, and Mark Loughney, Senior Consultant, Hub Entertainment Research.

The full panel can be viewed at: