Early Registration Discount Extended Until October 24, 2008
Great news! Two exciting new companies join the rooster of speakers of our upcoming MIT Smart Customization Seminar, and the Zazzle Co-founders will present their cooperation with Keds in person.
NEW PRESENTATION: Mass Customization Leaders: My M&M's, Mars, Inc. Dan Michael, R&D Director
Few mega-consumer brands have driven customization as far as Mars, Inc., owner of the famous M&Ms product line. Introduced in 2005, My M&M's is one of the largest mass customization ventures of a major consumer brands. Dan Michael shares in his presentation how My M&M's was planned, implemented, grown and established at its recent scale and scope. He also will discuss the opportunities and challenges of establishing a mass customization business within a large existing organization focused on the mass market.
NEW PANELIST in Mass Customization Entrepreneurs Panel: Jeff Jian Chen, Founder, Net Virta
Net Virta
won the MIT100K business plan competition this year as a semifinalist. Their technology enables consumers to construct their precise virtual 3D body models with ease for their online needs. The markets include online apparel shopping, weightloss tracking, customized apparel products , on-line virtual reality gaming, remote tailoring, social networking, and any avatar based markets.
The technology is based on patent pending computer vision technology. Consumers use simple digital cameras to construct their 3D models, at home, with no cost, and with extreme accuracy. Consumer takes 3-5 pictures of them self, upload these pictures to their PC, and Net Virta's algorithm will convert these 2D images into 3D body models .
Sounds to good to be true? Join the seminar and see for yourself ... I am personally very existed to listen to this two presentations.
In addition, I am glad to announce that Jeff Beaver and Andy Howell, Co-Founders of Zazzle will personally share experiences in the online mass customization domain, joined by Kristen Ella, Ecommerce Manager of Keds.
Zazzle is the only on-demand retail platform for consumers and major brands, offering billions of one-of-a-kind products shipped within 24hours. Users can instantly create, customize to fit their personal style, purchase, and sell a near infinite array of products online. In an exclusive partnership with sportswear icon Keds, the inventor of the "sneaker", Zazzle created its first line of fully customizable sports shoes. The presentation will share the creation of a new customization assortment for Keds.
Finally, we added one more exciting talk:
Mass Customization Next Generation: Embedded Toolkits in the Automotive Industry, Robert Schmitt, RWTH Aachen: This presentation will present an example of leading edge research on customization toolkits. Conventionally, you configure your custom product before you order it. The idea of this joint project with Robert Schmitt, however, is to embed a customization toolkit within a product. You will see the first BMW equipped with such a toolkit, allowing the customization of a car during the usage stage in a new dimension.
And we also took care that you still can come and register to the seminar -- despite all financial crisis. The early registration deadline has been extended until October 24 -- so save 800 USD of the registration fee by registering now!
Continue reading ... My previous posting with detailed information on all presentations of the seminar!
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