Where is Temp X today?

Beer goggles? Rose-colored glasses?

I've finagled my way into TheWrap's conference called "The Grill."  While I'm holding out hope this means there will be all-you-can-eat beef ribs, turns out it's simply a bunch of entertainment executives ruminating on their own brilliance.  So why go?  One reason and one reason only - Ben Silverman.  That's right, everyone's favorite deposed D-Boy is giving a presentation called "The New Television: When Advertisers Write the Rules."  Clearly he learned a lot from Knight Rider and the other product placements TV shows he greenlit.  But who knows?  Maybe he'll surprise us.

I'll also write about the other presenters, the most interesting being Harvey Levin of TMZ and Howard Schultz of Starbucks fame.  So check back frequently and find what these people are saying.

I wonder if any of these people have been nominated for the Brown List?

• Jon Miller (News Corp): "On the Front Lines of Paid Content"
• Ben Silverman (Electus): "The New Television: When Advertisers Write the Rules"
• Lauren Zalaznick (NBCU): "Bravo, Oxygen and the future of cable"
• Scott Moore (MSN) & Jimmy Pitaro (Yahoo): "Entertainment and the Predicament of the Portals"

Coffee Break (phew!)

• Howard Schultz (Starbucks): "How A Coffee Company Found Salvation in Social Media"
• Michael Kassan (MediaLink), Adam Smith (United Entertainment Group), Scott Donaton (Ensemble), Brian Terkelson (Liquid Thread), “The Future of Branded Entertainment”

Lunch (beef ribs?)

• Jim Lanzone (Clicker): "The New Era of Internet TV: Winners and Losers"
• Jordan Levin (Generate): "Will Hollywood, Madison Avenue and the Valley ever Speak the Same Language?"
• Warren Lieberfarb (Warren Lieberfarb, Assoc.): "The Internet: Friend or Foe of Hollywood?"
• Orly Adelson (Dick Clark Productions): "Live TV Pays: Can Online?"
• Joe Greenstein (Flixster): "How Flixster Learned to Rock the Mobile Space"
• Elie Dekel (Saban Brands): "Transmedia Strategies for Today's Brands"

Coffee Break (I'm assuming it's courtesy of Starbucks?)

• Ryan Kavanaugh (Relativity Media): "The 21st Century Independent Movie Studio"
• Ted Sarandos (NetFlix): "The Challenge to the Pay TV Model"
• Victoria Espinel (The White House): "Protecting Intellectual Property"
• Harvey Levin (TMZ): "The News Disrupter: Breaking the Rules"