Kids and the Internet:
A review of current research in kid/parent use of the Internet

Tom De Boor
President
Cotyledon Productions
and Lead Analyst
Grunwald Associates

Session Description:

Amidst all the hype-and resultant skepticism-about the Internet, solid data and analysis are often lacking.  In this presentation, Peter Grunwald and Tom De Boor will review the results from two surveys conducted in 2002 (almost 5,000 telephone interviews in all):   'Children, Families and the Internet'  (interviews with parents and children in association with Children Now www.childrennow.org and sponsored by Bell South and Kodak) and 'Schools and the Internet' (interviews with technology decision makers in 811 school districts, including 90 of the largest 100 districts in association with the National School Boards Foundation www.nsbf.org, and sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and AT&T).  This session will address the role of the Internet in family entertainment and  marketing and focus on kids ages 2-17 and their parents and will discuss:
·        What Are Children, Teens, And Families Doing Online
·        Relationship Between Internet, Television, Radio And Other Media
·        Family Use Of New Technologies Including Handhelds And Wireless
·        How To Reach The ‘Power Kids’ Who Exert Strong Influence On Their Peers
·        Family Needs And Wants With New Media
·        Marketing Opportunities From The School -- Home Connection
·        Marketing Messages & Kid/ Parent Attitudes
·        Implications For Financial Services Companies

Please note that this advance look at survey results is ‘off the record’  for press coverage and redistribution outside your company is not allowed.

This session is appropriate for product developers, marketers, researchers and strategist in Internet Marketing and in Children/Teen's Segments.

Attendance Fee:

$275.00 plus $50.00 per telephone line used.

About Tom De Boor

Tom de Boor is the principal analyst for Grunwald Associates’ industry-leading surveys of children and family Internet use; he also runs his own consulting practice, Cotyledon Productions.  Tom has been a leader in the development of educational multimedia and online services for more than a decade. 

At America Online, Tom founded three current America Online channels--Research & Learn, Kids Only, and Families [Parenting]—developed services offerings that were the forerunners and/or initial anchors of three more, and overall managed or developed services for more than half of AOL’s national content channels.  He has worked with a wide variety of media and technology partners, including, among others, Viacom, Time-Warner, Disney, TCI, IBM, Pearson, Scholastic, Discovery, Smithsonian, National Geographic, CPB, PBS, and NPR.  Sites he has developed or consulted on have won the industry’s highest awards.  

Tom focuses on helping companies creatively differentiate themselves from their competition, as well as tackle some of the most challenging aspects of online service development, such as appropriate focus, site design, production management, online community development, growth path development, and the creation of cybermarketing programs and campaigns.

About Peter Grunwald and Grunwald Associates

Peter Grunwald has worked with electronic information services for children and  families since 1978.   He is President of Grunwald Associates (www.grunwald.com), a research and consulting firm in Burlingame, CA.  

Since 1995, widely-respected Grunwald Associates surveys have provided hard numbers and analysis to help companies develop products and get buy-in from partners, management and the public.  Grunwald surveys use a unique public-private model to finance an ambitious combination of rigorous methodology and analysis by teams composed of "hands on" industry leaders.   Surveys are partially underwritten by corporate underwriters; recent underwriters have included KODAK, BellSouth, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AT&T, Microsoft, Children’s Television Workshop, and the Educational Testing Service.

Grunwald surveys have defined the market for child and parent use of new technology, and have an unbroken track record of obtaining intense media attention and garnering respect from opinion leaders.  The Grunwald flagship survey, CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND THE INTERNET 2002-2003,  has just completed thousands of interviews with kids and parents, exploring influences and behavior related to media use and purchases.  A companion survey, SCHOOLS AND THE INTERNET, recently completed 811 interviews with school district technology decision-makers, including 90 out of the largest 100 districts.  Grunwald Associates has also developed proprietary analyses of large-sample Census data on children’s media use.

Before forming Grunwald Associates, Mr. Grunwald was Vice President of Issue Dynamics, Inc. (IDI), a leading Washington DC public affairs firm in the telecommunications industry.  At IDI, Mr. Grunwald created marketing and other alliances between corporate clients and leading education organizations as well as industry groups.  Prior to joining IDI, Mr. Grunwald was Director of Sales and Field Marketing for GTE Education Services.  In that role, he helped market and manage the largest commercial online network in education.  Mr. Grunwald entered the telecommunications field in 1978 through the cable television industry, where he helped design city information systems for Viacom Communications, Cablevision Systems Development Corporation, and others.