Last chance to sign up for DiscoveryBeat

DiscoveryBeat is approaching on Tuesday and we’re nearly sold out. The event is about solving one of the toughest problems in the social/mobile/gaming ecosystem: How do you get apps noticed amid a lot of noise?

We’ve got room for 200 people and there are just a few seats left. You can still get tickets via this link.  The conference is at the Automattic Lounge on Pier 38 in San Francisco, from 2:30 pm to 7:30 pm, Dec. 8.

Here is what the full agenda looks like for speakers:

230 pm: Doors open, registration starts

3 pm – 4pm Presentations:

Vijay Chattha talks about “Make or Break: How to successfully leverage publicity and social media to drive awareness and downloads of mobile apps.”

Simon Khalaf talks about “Should Driving App Discovery Require Hemorrhaging Money?” Presentation preloaded on laptop.

Peter Relan, chairman of YouWeb, talks about “Social Gaming: The Evolving Technology Platform & Monetization.”

Bill Mooney, vice president in charge of FarmVille at Zynga, on how to “Trust numbers more than experience.”

Discovery 1.0: Starting from scratch

With more than 119,000 apps in the Apple AppStore, discovery is a huge problem. Facebook is just as tough. And to make it worse, you’re at a disadvantage because large networks have the upper hand of experience in platform strategy and a louder voice to get their products heard.

• If you’re a two-person garage development shop and starting from scratch, how do you create an app that can go viral?
• If you’re not a giant company, how do you exploit your newness and focus, using the key ingredients of success?
• How can the smaller developers team up with bigger brands that have name recognition? When should they go it alone?
• How do they build a company that bigger investors will notice?
• What are some of the platform tools at your disposal that can be used to get your apps noticed?
• How does discovery fit with the right business model for your app?

Moderator: Matt Marshall, editor in chief, VentureBeat
Panelists: Randy Angle, design director, SGN
Julian Farrior, chief executive, Backflip Studios
Ge Wang, chief technology officer, Smule
Peter Farago, vice president of marketing, Flurry

Presentation: Chris Dury, vice president of marketing at GetJar, talks about “Super-sizing the app economy by moving it beyond the iPhone.”

Discovery 2.0: Moving to the next level

The social app companies, those successful application companies that came of age on Facebook and the iPhone, have created their own ecosystems with successful titles that feed on each other. Now what do they do?

• How many different types of monetization schemes do they need?
• What can they learn from the bigger companies?
• Should they recruit executives from the “old world” companies, to help with partnering or organizational discipline?
• What sort of analytics process should they have in place?
• Can anyone catch up with them?
• What will the social/mobile/gaming look like in two years?

Moderator: Dean Takahashi, lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat
Panelists: Sebastien DeHalleux, chief operating officer, Playfish
John Pleasants, chief executive, Playdom
Roy Sehgal, general manager Zynga and producer of Cafe World game
Neil Young, chief executive, Ngmoco

Discovery 3.0: Bringing in the big guys

Established video game companies and entertainment giants are eyeing the social networking and mobile platforms as a source of future growth. For success, the big guys need to apply the secret ingredients in different proportions.

• How much should they invest in these areas, and how should they do it?
• Which kinds of partners should they recruit?
• Which business models are the best?
• Who has made the transition already?
• What’s the right mix of social networking, marketing, analytical measurement, advertising and web design ingredients they should apply?

Moderator: Roy Bahat, general manager, IGN
Panelists: Jon Vlassopulos, chief executive, Moderati
Alex St. John, president and chief technology officer, hi5
Michael Chang, chief executive, Greystripe
Lisa Marino, vice president of sales, RockYou

6:10 pm to 7:30 pm Reception.

Our sponsors are Zynga, GetJar, Flurry, Applaunch PR, YouWeb and SGN. For more info, check out the DiscoveryBeat site.