5 Things You Can Learn at Streaming Media East

From May 10 to May 11 (and with pre-conference workshops on May 9), the Streaming Media East conference will take place at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. While SME has a reputation as an insider's gathering—a place where the big names in online video gather to make deals—there's a ton of practical knowledge for those just starting out or looking to broaden their skills.

Here are five incredibly useful things you can learn at SME. Show this to your boss if he or she needs convincing.

1. How to Encode Videos for HTML5
In Tuesday's session D101, OnlineVideo.net's own Jan Ozer will teach the fundamentals of both H.264 and WebM, giving you the knowledge to stream HTML5 video from your own site. That's only a small chunk of the conference's HTML5 lessons, though: this year, Streaming Media East is adding an entire fourth track devoted entirely to HTML5 video. Learn how to build a player, stream to iOS devices, and more.

2. What HBO Will Do Next in Online Streaming
In a major coup, Streaming Media East has gotten Eric Kessler, co-president of HBO, to deliver Tuesday's keynote address. It's rare for HBO to present at conferences, but Kessler has something major to show off: the upcoming version of HBO Go, which lets subscribers view HBO content online. The conference will also feature speakers from The New York Times, Time Magazine, Sorenson Media, National Geographic Digital Media, Microsoft, MTV, and many more companies.

3. How to Use Adobe Flash within the Enterprise
Streaming Media East's pre-conference sessions are ideal ways to dig in deeper and really learn a topic. One of the two morning sessions will teach attendees how to use the Adobe Flash Media Server family of products for both communication and collaboration. Other pre-conference sessions teach the Microsoft media platform, SharePoint for video delivery, and Encoding for Flash, mobile, and HTML5.

4. How Apple TV, Roku, Boxee, and TiVo Compare
New to this year's conference is the Broadband Device Pavilion, an area where attendees can get hands-on time with over 25 broadband-enabled devices. Try out game consoles, Blu-ray Players, tablets, and set-top boxes. Learn how their interfaces work and what types of streaming video they offer. It's an unparalleled opportunity to sample the whole field in one location.

5. How to Make Money from Your Video Content
Monetization is always a hot topic at Streaming Media East, and this year's lineup features sessions like Tuesday's B101: Winning with Ad Buyers: What Makes Your Video Inventory Valuable? In this session, pros from Adap.tv and Sunday Sky will tell you how to make your videos attractive to ad buyers. Or check out Wednesday's A201: The Potential for Monetizing Over-the-Top Video. It will teach how to profit from the new wave of OTT devices. Wednesday's B203 will each about video ad formats. If you're looking to generate revenue, SME can easily pay for itself.

Check here for the full list of Streaming Media East 2011 conferences. When you're ready to sign up, look to the Registration page. Registration is discounted until April 8.

Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net