I’ve been invited to speak at the Streaming Media West conference in Silicon Valley on November 17. I’ll be discussing the successful multichannel video commerce strategy I developed for PFI and the branded video commerce portal developed by myself and Myke Bates. From increases in conversion rates to the fantastic results we have in the SERPS I will be covering the benefits of video commerce in online retail and the future of interactive video commerce.

About Streaming Media West
Attended by more than 2,500 executives last year, Streaming Media West is the only show that covers both the business of online video and the technology of streaming, downloading, Webcasting, Internet TV, IPTV, and mobile video. Covering both corporate and consumer business, technology, and content issues in the enterprise, advertising, media and entertainment, broadcast, and education markets.

Streaming Media West 2009 combines cutting-edge exhibitors and intensive conference sessions with more than 100 speakers, giving you the chance to hear and see the best and the brightest minds in the online video industry—at the podium, in the Exhibit Hall, and among the attendees.

Click here to register for Streaming Media West 2009

Streaming Media West 2009 will feature nearly 100 speakers and presenters.

Gerald Abrahamian, Executive Director, New Media Operations, Comcast Entertainment Group

Chris Albrecht, Co-Editor, GigaOM/NewTeeVee

Paul Alfieri, Senior Director, Corporate and Investor Communications, Limelight Networks

Jason Arend, Director of E-Commerce, Online Marketing, and Creative Services, PFI Western

Eric Armstrong, President, Kontiki, Inc.

Roxanne Austin, CEO, Move Networks

Dan Balzer, Training Technology Manager, Retail Learning and Development, BP America

Greg Befort, Director, Regional Public Safety Training Center

Mitch Berman, CEO, ZillionTV

Michael Bishara, SVP, HBO Broadband

Richard Bloom, Course-cast Coordinator, UC Berkeley

Steve Boone, Director, Global Communications, Flowserve Corporation

Maria Buck, Strategic Partner Relationship Manager, AP

Thomas Carpenter, VP, Operations, Digital Chief of Staff, EPIX, Studio 3 Partners

Jose Castillo, President, thinkjose

Nick Chakalos, Senior Director, Strategy and New Business Development, Broadband Home Solutions, Motorola

Will Coghlan, Co-Founder, Senior Producer, Hudson Street Media

Itzik Cohen, CEO, Clipsync

Adam Comey, President, Mountain Sports International

Stephen Condon, Director, Market Development, AT&T Digital Media Services

Zadi Diaz, Creative Director, Co-Founder, Smashface Productions

Colin Dixon, Practice Manager, Broadband Media, TDG

Bob Donlon, GM, Adobe TV

Matt Dunn, Manager, New Media and Studio, Franklin Templeton Investments

Justin Foster, Founder, Video Commerce Consortium

Brent Friedman, Co-Founder, Electric Farm Entertainment (The Gemini Division, Afterworld)

Jim Funk, VP, Business Development, Roku

Haim Goldenberg, Mentalist, Kaltura

Tom Gorke, VP, Digital Distribution, MTV Networks

Shalini Govil-Pai, Lead Product Manager, You Tube/Google

Eric Hards, Team Lead, Multimedia Solutions, Lockheed Martin Enterprise Business Services

Jim Heckman, Founder, CEO, 5to1.com

Octavio Heredia, Director, Extended Education, Arizona State University

Nick Hippe, Solutions Architect, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Marc Hustvedt, Co-Founder, Tubefilter & Editor-in-Chief, Tubefilter News, Tubefilter

Sharon Hutchins, Director, IT Workforce Productivity, Intuit, Inc.

Joe Inzerillo, SVP, MLB.com

Gerry Johnson, Director of Technology, Home Shopping Network

Andres Jordan, VP, Innovation, International Carrier Sales and Solutions, Deutsche Telekom North America

David Jordan, VP, Marketing, Rovi Corporation

Andrew Kippen, VP, Marketing, boxee

Chris Knowlton, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

Lisa Larson-Kelley, Flash Platform Consultant, Video Specialist, Flashconnections.com

Gee Leung, Principal, Inverness Advisors

George Levar, Manager, Engineering and Deployment, Webcast and Digital Media, Accenture

Jim Louderback, CEO, Revision3

Mark Lubeck, Director, Technology & Digital Media, Corporate Communications, Charles Schwab & Co.

Rafi Mamalian, Director, Advertising Sales, blip.tv

Richard Mavrogeanes, Founder, VBrick Systems

Matthew McRae, VP, Products, Vizio

Tom Morgan, Principal, Media.tv

John Morris, CTO, Director of Operations, Drexel University

Mike Moser, Senior Project Manager, Vertigo

Gregg Moss, SVP, Enterprise Streaming Media Strategy and Delivery, Bank of America, Knowledge Channel

Scott Nadzan, Director, Technology Services, Syracuse University

Rico Nasol, Content Team Senior Manager, Zappos.com

Mike Newman, CEO, Accordent Technologies

Jan Ozer, Principal, Doceo Publishing

Vanessa Pappas, Director, Audience and Strategic Partnerships, Next New Networks

Mark Pascarella, CEO, Gotuit

John Paul, VP, Product Development, Sling Media

Patty Perkins, Special Projects Manager, Wachovia

Florian Pestoni, Principal Product Manager, Adobe Systems, Inc.

Greg Posten, Manager, Media Infrastructure and Technology, Sun Microsystems

Jenni Powell, New Media Consultant (LonelyGirl15, The Guild, Legend of Neil)

Dan Pryor, VP, Corporate Communications, Safeway

Dan Rayburn, Executive Vice President, StreamingMedia.com

Ben Reneker, Senior Analyst, SNL Kagan

Emil Rensing, Chief Digital Officer, Studio 3 Partners/EPIX

Paul Riismandel, Director of Curriculum Support, School of Communication, Northwestern University

Marty Roberts, VP, Marketing, thePlatform

Steve Robinson, President, Panache

Jerry Rocha, VP, Mobile Media, Nielsen Online

Ruchir Rodrigues, VP, Product Platforms, Verizon

Steven Sabonjohn, Product Manager, Transcoding, NBC Universal

Tal Saraf, General Manager Amazon CloudFront, Amazon Web Services

Paul Scanlan, President, Co-Founder, MobiTV

David Siegel, VP, IP Services, Product Management, Global Crossing

Caleb Silver, Executive Producer for Video, CNNMoney.com

Matt Smith, Senior Director, Systems Architecture and Strategy, Inlet Technologies

Bill Stone, President, FLO TV

Mike Sullivan, Manager of Video Production, Hot Topic

Arielle Sumits, Senior Analyst, IP Traffic Measurement and Forecasting, Cisco

Doug Sylvester, Chief Strategy Officer, Avail-TVN

Mark Taylor, VP, Product Delivery and Strategy, Level 3

Jeremy Toeman, Founding Partner, Stage Two Consulting

Herve Utheza, President, RCDb

Francisco Varela, Head of Wireless Partnerships, YouTube

Wayne Waterman, Streaming Media Engineer, Intel

Matthew Weisbecker, Director of Sales, Western Region, NBC Universal Digital Media

Brandon White, Interactive Manager, FUNimation Entertainment

Marc Whitten, GM, Xbox LIVE

Brett Wilson, Co-Founder, CEO, TubeMogul

Joe Wilson, VP, Strategic Product Development, Turner Broadcasting

Michael Wolf, VP, Research, GigaOm

Thom Woodley, Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Dinosaur Diorama

Steven Woodward, Senior Technical Evangelist, Microsoft

Evan Young, Senior Director, Broadband Services, TiVo

We currently have an opening for a Senior Web Developer who will mainly work on development of enterprise scale ecommerce and video commerce platforms. Applicants must possess a vast working knowledge including but not limited to the following topics.

Education and Training
BA, BS or AAS in computer science, MIS, networking, programming or related area or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Experience
2 – 5 years or equivalent working knowledge and skill as a developer/programmer, web developer with at least one year in an agency/marketing or ecommerce environment.
- Established analytical skills for evaluating improvements to process and system flow
- Proven ability to effectively execute project deliverables from established technical requirements
- Demonstrated proficiency in UI construction, ensuring the integrity of the UI throughout the development lifecycle while optimizing for the user experience and search engines
- Established development language skill sets with the desire to learn new methodologies independently

Required Qualifications
- Must be articulate, have excellent written and oral communication skills, and able to explain both abstract and technical concepts effectively
- Ability to prioritize and multi-task within a fast paced, professional environment
- Ability to understand site functionality and customer expectations of assigned responsibilities
- Ability to apply user interface and interactive design best practices to projects
- Must actively study and apply new trends in markup, marketing, web development, e-commerce and design
- Must have outstanding creativity, attention to detail, and concern for accuracy
- Must be able to work effectively within a team environment

Required Skills
- OOP with PHP
- MySQL
- PHP frameworks such as Zend, CakePHP, CodeIgniter, etc.
- ‘Web 2.0’ Standards
- Intricate knowledge of wordpress development and themeing
- XML, and RSS
- HTML, XHTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX
- Javascript frameworks such as Jquery, script.aculo.us, Prototype, Moo Tools
- Must have a great working knowledge of SEO and Web Analytics
- Knowledge of Unix/Linux – Knowledge of Apache web server
- Knowledge of Windows Server 2003 and IIS
- Must know how to use Adobe Photoshop
- Knowledge of mobile development would be a BIG plus

Additional Skills
- Cocoa/iPhone Application Development
- Magento Ecommerce Development Experience
- Experience with OpenEdge Progress is a plus
- IT and Networking Experience

This is NOT a work from home, freelance or outsourced position. Please send resumes (.doc, .docx, or .pdf only please), portfolios and questions to jason@jasonarend.com

For those who do not meet the qualifications we are do have internship positions available in related areas. Please state that you are interested in an internship position when you email your resume.

PFI is looking for a Senior Graphic Web Designer. This position is in charge of creating websites, landing pages, email campaigns, designing print materials, product packaging, interactive promotions, occasional television graphics and more. Main responsibilities include promotional and product merchandising through graphic design and web design. Will design weekly marketing campaigns, check all designs for cross browser compatibility, design email marketing campaigns and test for compatibility across different clients and new web banners each week for on site and offsite ads. To be eligible the candidate must have at least 3 to 5 years of web/print/multimedia/marketing design experience

-Must have strong knowledge of design fundamentals, layout, typography, print and web specifications
-Intermediate understanding of XHTML/CSS, with direct experience optimizing design concepts around these technologies
-Ability to come up with visual comps in a short period of time, must meet strict deadlines
-Must be very articulate, have excellent written and oral communication skills, and able to explain abstract concepts effectively
-Ability to prioritize and multi-task within a fast paced, professional environment
-Ability to understand site functionality and customer expectations of assigned responsibilities
-Ability to apply user interface and interactive design best practices to projects
-Must actively study and apply new trends in marketing, web development, e-commerce and design
-Must have outstanding creativity, attention to detail, and concern for accuracy
-Must be able to work effectively within a team environment
-Must be able to perform A/B Multivariate testing on landing pages and other designs
-Have a general knowledge of Web Analytics and how to measure the effectiveness of your work

Must have advanced knowledge of:
-Photoshop
-Illustrator
-Dreamweaver
-Flash

Must have intermediate knowledge of:
-CSS/XHTML
-E-commerce
-Online marketing
-SEO

This is NOT a work from home, freelance or outsourced position. A resume and outstanding portfolio are required!

Send all materials to jasona@pfiwestern.com

PFI is looking for a photographer and graphic designer with the ability to thrive in an fast paced, high volume environment. This is an in-house production environment, almost exclusively product on white, focusing on footwear, apparel and accessories. You will be responsible for executing high-quality digital photography for our online catalog, maintaining consistently high standards for accuracy, aesthetics, and productivity.

This position requires decisive on-set troubleshooting of photography challenges, balances individual productivity and execution, while maintaining high standards for shooting web-based images. Ultimately responsible for the quality and appearance of photographs online: has a deep understanding of all stages of the photography and editing process.

Successful candidates will be strong communicators, detail-oriented, have a passion for photography, successful candidates are tech-savvy and shop online.

Additional Responsibilities:
- Product editing in Photoshop
- Graphic Design for online banners and other promotional materials
- Writing blogs and other online articles

Qualifications:
- 2 year or 4 year degree in photography/graphic design and/or related field or industry experience
- A strong online portfolio of print and online materials that demonstrate applied knowledge of digital photography, studio lighting, composition, color quality, and aesthetics.
- Working knowledge of Photoshop
- Proven ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines

Additional Skills:
- Experience in videography is a plus
- Working knowledge of Dreamweaver, Illustrator and Content Management Systems is a plus
- Understanding of color correction in photoshop
- Basic HTML
- Strong written communication skills with experience in blogging

This is NOT a work from home, freelance or outsourced position. A resume and outstanding portfolio are required!

Send all materials to jasona@pfiwestern.com

Galactic Center of Milky Way Rises over Texas Star Party from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Composer JoAnn Kuchera-Morin (Director of the Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology) demos the AlloSphere, a new way to see, hear and interpret scientific data.

E-Commerce Web Design and Video Commerce Development. PFI is one of the largest western retailers in the world and when I took over their e-commerce division the online store was in desperate need of a makeover and some crucial enhancements. After nearly six months of research and pouring over years of data I redesigned every square inch of the site optimizing every pixel to consistently brand PFI, better organize products and operations, maximize conversions, and create an effective yet enjoyable customer shopping experience.

This page is currently under construction. I will be posting a comprehensive writeup on our successful multichannel video strategy and UI design very shortly. Check back soon!

Research, Development, Video Commerce Strategy and Design by Jason Arend
E-Commerce and Video Commerce Development by Myke Bates

Dev Team

Jason Arend
Director of E-Commerce, Online Marketing and Creative Services for all PFI Companies
Director of Television Production

Myke Bates
Senior Developer

Chris Cooper
Banner Design

Gareth Van Orman
Product Image Editing and Cross Browser Compatibility

Andree Dixon
Product Merchandising and Copywriting

Pixel Perfections Photography Logo Design. Here a two different logo designs I did for Pixel Perfection Photography. The two logo concepts explore variations in type and color based on the clients requests. All designs are clean with a pixel graphic and typeface.

Designed by Jason Arend

Interactive Kiosk Development For PFI. In the 4th quarter of 2008 we recognized a challenge in the brick and mortar stores that when we have the greatest amount of traffic we are getting the least amount of customer data i.e.: emails and segmentation data, since we needed to get people through the checkout lines faster during those peak times. By developing an interactive kiosk system placed through-out the stores I could create a customer data acquisition solution that didn’t slow down the checkout process or take away from the customer’s shopping experience. First I setup a promotion to entice customers within the store to use the kiosks and add value for the taking the time to participate. A shiny light animation grabs your attention to enter a drawing for a $500 shopping spree. The text header animation is the only part of the system that is done in Flash everything else is done in javascript and PHP. The first screen gather’s basic customer information such as email, name, address, gender and birthday. Then the following screens collect information on how they heard about PFI and what led them to come in so we can track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns across on different channels. The other screens gauge interest in specific product types for syndication then feedback, comments, and suggestions.

First Version Kiosk Hardware. When choosing what type of computer to use for the very first kiosks we needed something as cheap as possible that took up little to no space and and looked good aesthetically in our stores. The all in one Apple iMacs were the perfect solution. Purchasing used 15 inch imacs we were to get the cost per unit down to $200.

New Features In Kiosk Version 2. Almost immediately after we deployed the first few kiosks we started on the next version with some added functionality. The second version supports any screen resolution allowing it to be on any type of computer and display. Since it is all web based there are no limitations on supported operating system. The kiosk can be any on platform that has an internet browser. It can also be run locally without an internet connection to securely gather leads and customer data at remote events, concerts and trade shows. Using a web based approach allows us to quickly change the kiosk experience and tailor it to a each promotion or event. Another feature in the second version was the ability to append an employee ID to a customer profile. Now we can run internal contest with store employees to create competition in getting customers to participate. The employees can also use a new admin system that can pull up there customers and view or add additional notes.

Watch The Animated HD Video Demonstration Below

Watch HD Video

Development by Jason Arend and Myke Bates

Design, Animation and Video Production by Jason Arend

Myke Bates http://www.mykebates.com