Ok, AlwaysON has a ranking algo - lets see what it is:

11:15 am – Noon: Workshop: How We Pick the AO Media-100 Winners
        Moderator: Ezra Roizen, strategy consultant, The Roizen Report
        Ryan Brenner, AlwaysOn
        Brian Kelly, Co-Chair Venture Capital and Technology Practice Group, Manatt
        Ed Lambert, SVP, Bridge Bank

First, let's get companies off the list and get it down to 250 companies - year around interviews - talking and meeting CEO's year round.

We also use a set of selection criteria and then do our own research. - once we do that, we cut the list down to 150 companies.

Once we're down to 150 - we have to really cut it fine to get it down to 100 companies.  And then we figure out the top 3 companies.

We are trying to look at companies on

1. innovation
2. market potential
3. degree of commercialization
4. media buzz (where are they getting attention)
5. stakeholder value creation (how is value created and see where it will go).

We try to think about companies that are innovative - look at new models for doing things - some of these will be stand alone companies.

Selection Committee - we bring a lot of brain power to this selection process.  When you go through all the companies on the list - what do you spot as a trend - is that the AD is embedded into the experience.  Also, Viral Marketing, Digg, Buzz, with the right message - so how do create content that message.

Diagram - new idea in the left and consumers on the right of the diagram.

Panel Question: Community - has does this fit in?

The new world order of marketing is you trust your friends more than your advertiser. One panelists wonders what the effect of taking online video and posting it for the world to see.

The real impact of all this stuff (IE: and elections) that are determined by what shows up on YouTube, etc.

How do you compete with competitors that are much bigger than yours ("punching beyond your weight")?  There is a window for Rapid Growth - and if you are a small company that wants to get big fast, there's a way to do it - and that's what AlwaysON is about - and it's in AlwaysON Magazine.