Consider this: In the United States,156 million people own a smart phone, 82 million people have a tablet and a whopping 82% of consumer-retail interactions happen on an app. Clearly, if you own a small business (especially a B to C one), you are missing out if you don't have an app!

In celebration of National Small Business Week (US), Conduit kicked off the launch of Como, the custom mobile app developer par excellence for small businesses. 

Over 300 guests attended the ComoSummit at the IAC Building in NYC to hear from an esteemed list of experts including Melinda Emerson, America's Small Biz expert, who gave an inspiring workshop chock full of tips for becoming a social media ninja. 

To learn more about DIY apps for your small biz, head over to Como HERE.

We are thrilled to announce that we are advising Star China and its Deputy Rep Vivian Yin on their global expansion. Working closely with Michel Rodrigue of the Format People, news of our joint commission was featured in several media outlets including WSN, THR, and TBI.

Markets and Events
MJ has been globetrotting as usual, kicking off the year at NATPE in Miami followed by an appearance at SXSW, where she took in the scene at the Heartbreaker Banquet. Then she was off to Cannes for MIPTV, where formats dominated the scene.

This month, MJ and Jennifer are pleased to be supporting Conduit Mobile's first Tech and Small Business Summit here in NYC on May 14th. The speaker line-up includes Rob Pulciani, Head of Worldwide Marketing at Amazon and the newly appointed Digital Director for the City of New York, Jessica Singleton. If you're around, let us know if you'd like to attend.

MGC Client News:

• At MIPTV, Star China announced that UK’s ITV Studios GE would globally distribute Star’s first original Chinese format Sing My Song  - which aired this Spring, with a total of 430 million viewers on CCTV-3. Check out C21's great video interview with Star Deputy Representative Vivian Yin revealing Star’s new vision.
• Congrats to Michel Rodrigue and Justin Scroggie who are heading to Seoul to produce a series of professional Format workshops for KOCCA.
• GRB Entertainment closed multiple deals around the globe from its award-winning catalog, including Rhianna 777 and Untold Stories of the ER.
• MasterPeace received 25,000 votes for their original song contest My Music MasterPeace; over 200 original songs for peace were submitted.
• International Radio Festival announced the winner of the 3rd College DJ Search sponsored by iBiquity. Congrats to Alex Spinelli of Skidmore College, NY - who will present his show in Zurich this September. .

We're looking forward to the busy months ahead and are grateful to work with the best partners in the business. Make sure to drop us a line to say hello and let us know what you're up to this year as well.

Congratulations to Paula Heredia on her feature article in ELLA magazine! 

Paula is an Emmy Award-winng filmmaker with a tremendous talent for storytelling whose film Africa Rising—about ending the practice of female genital mutilation— has been praised by Meryl Streep as "A powerful look at how to eliminate, from within cultures themselves, a tragic practice".

We are excited to see Paula's upcoming new documentary film, Alborada, exploring conflict and reconciliation. Paula touchingly shares the story of her mother, a former guerilla in El Salvador and the small country town that embraces her and helps to heal the wounds of war.

As we enter the Year of the Horse on the Chinese calendar – one that is said to be good for businesses of lumber, agriculture and media -  let’s take a look at what’s been happening in Chinese media, specifically TV Formats.

This is the first year that Chinese broadcasters are officially limited to air only one non-Chinese format per annum. Clifford Coonan, The Hollywood Reporter Asian Bureau Chief elaborated on this change in his article last November. It will be challenging for some of the bigger producers who have been excited to see huge success with their purchased foreign formats from formats’ giants - Endemol, Shine, FremantleMedia, Talpa, Studio Lambert, Red Arrow, etc.  Or companies can do as Star China TV did. They started the year off big with their first originally produced Chinese format “Sing My Song” (photo above) which received mega ratings, reaching #1 in prime time.  Star also produces “The Voice – China” which is hugely successful. They have to balance the two productions as one of the new rules also prohibits more than one music talent show can appear in primetime per quarter. Global formats expert, Michel Rodrigue, The Format People, has been advising Star China for several months, helping guide them to stretch their own creative muscles so we can expect to see more original programming.  We should soon start to see more tv formats starting to flow out of China.

It's hard to believe that MGC is starting our 3rd year! 

I truly earned my Delta Diamond status in 2013, making trips to Rio, Cannes, Amsterdam, Cairo, Zurich, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, and more while attending NATPE, MIPTV, LA Screenings, MIPCOM, CMJ, AFM, Promax Asia.

There were several trips to our second home in LA with my right hand gal Jennifer Irizarry, including participating in fantastic events at the Sunset Marquis -- the best rock n’ roll hotel on the planet! 

2013 was a big year for our close friends and partners; congrats go out to:

• MasterPeace  co-Founders Mohamed Helmy & Ilco van der Linde who received recognition for innovation in peace building from U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon!
• JP Bommel, who founded Barton Creek Intl in June and lent his expertise to MasterPeace and the International Radio Festival
• Our dear friend & MasterPeace advisor Robert Kraft  who returned to the stage with 2 sold-out concerts in NY and LA and launched Kraftbox Entertainment
• Nomin Chinbat, CEO, Mongol TV, named one of the Most Powerful Women in Asian Media in both Content Asia and The Hollywood Reporter 
• Paula Heredia, Heredia Pictures, El Salvador - nominated with an ACE Eddie and her work was featured in a major museum exhibition in El Salvador  

MGC is very grateful for our incredible clients & partners, including:

The United Nations Correspondents Association Annual Gala December 18 at Cipriani's featured a performance by MasterPeace ambassadors Emmanuel Jal & DMC of Run DMC and Stevie Wonder. MasterPeace co-founders Mohamed Helmy and Ilco van der Linde received recognition for their peace efforts in front of 600 UN journalists and ambassadors.

Contributed by Jennifer Irizarry
@jennyfriend

The International Radio Festival in partnership with HD Radio, Mixcloud and CMJ invites US and Canada college radio DJ's to upload their best mix for a chance to win a trip to the International Radio Festival 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland where the lucky winner will perform a live show, network and go home with goodies from HD Radio. Past winners include: Angie Szani of WSOU and Brody Ramone of WBGU. Enter at mix cloud.com today!

MasterPeace announces the launch of #MyMusicMasterPeace a global competition for a lucky musician to open the MasterPeace in Concert global concert series in Istanbul on the International Day of Peace 2014. Musicians, create a profile on MasterPeace.org and submit your video entry! Details HERE.

MasterPeace Co-Founder Mohamed Helmy was interviewed for MTV World's Rebel Music documentary series that explores the role of youth culture and music in geopolitical hotspots around the world. The series chronicles the lives of talented and dedicated human rights champions in Egypt, Afghanistan, Mali, Mexico, India, Israel and Palestine and was co-produced by legendary street artist Shepard Fairey. 

Contributed by Jennifer Irizarry
@jennyfriend

Nomin Chinbat, CEO of Mongol TV makes no bones about her commitment to modernizing Mongolian media by adhering to Western journalism norms and standards. With expert guidance from Michel Rodrigue's The Format People, Mongol TV has reinvented itself as a world-class television network, with Chinbat's personal crusade against piracy a hallmark of the Mongol TV brand.

Now the Mongolian telecommunications leader has exposed the entrenched, business as usual corruption that pervades traditional Mongolian media in a rather unexpected style that is just dripping in hilarity.

In an over-the-top stunt, a Mongol TV journalist posing as a representative of the nonexistent Wholesome Foods Mongolia paid several hundred dollars to run a story that McDonald's was opening in the Asian nation. MGC got our hands on a copy of the fake press release which amusingly cites one Mr. P. Rank (get it? P.Rank?). The story got pick up in 9 major media outlets who paid for the story. Check it out:

November 28, 2013

contributed by Jennifer Irizarry 
@jennyfriend

If there is one person on the planet that could explain the baffling array of options in the current music streaming landscape, it’s Petar Savic, CEO of the Supreme Factory. Originally hailing from Serbia, this music producer and app developer par excellence has worked closely with top social networks including YouTube, Google Plus, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Spotify, Myspace, LastFM, Reverb Nation, Mixlr, Mobile Roadie and Livestream, and is a veritable encyclopedia of all things music and digital.

Contributed by Jennifer Irizarry
@jennyfriend

November 20, 2013

Over 750 music industry insiders and friends gathered at the Sunset Marquis on Saturday, November 16th to celebrate the iconic music hotel's 50th anniversary. MGC was on hand representing MasterPeace- a global grassroots movement using music, art and education to promote peace-building, now in over 40 countries around the world. The Sunset Marquis is a founding North American partner of the MasterPeace movement and we were thrilled to introduce a new audience to their mission-inlcuding notable peace advocate Julian Lennon, pictured above with MGC President MJ Sorenson.