Proving that mobile is poised to become the first screen is undoubtedly the goal of the Mobile Marketing Association?s Mobile Marketing Forum in Los Angeles' Beverly Hilton Hotel Nov. 16-17.

Mobile is always on, always available and everywhere. Mobile has become the hot new medium for marketing and the MMF aims to show attendees how to use it and ways that brands are implementing it effectively.

?In many ways this year?s Los Angeles show is going to be very different than those in the past,? said Michael Becker, San Francisco-based managing director of North America at the MMA. ?First of all, the venue is different. It is definitely an upgrade.

?But most important is the caliber of the content,? he said. ?For the first time we were able to get a global A-list celebrity opening the show. Thanks to Millennial Media, Jamie Foxx will be speaking.

?After the June show in New York we really learned a lot about what our members and the industry wants from the Mobile Marketing Forum. Track sessions are going to cover every single aspect of the mobile industry, with no overlap. There will be great quality content.?

Learning about mobile
The MMF is the place to learn about all things mobile.

Sessions will focus on how to start a campaign, how to define strategic objectives to ensure optimal engagement with the consumer and how to leverage all of the options in mobile effectively. 

Advertising and agency executives, brand managers, marketing professionals, media planners, buyers, television and film executives, publishers, technology leaders and enablers, market research firms, content providers, integrators and aggregators can benefit by attending.  

?This year is going to be tons of fun, with Elmo coming to the show, from Sesame Street,? Mr. Becker said. ?There will be a tremendous amount of mobile activities at the show including a scavenger hunt.

?Also what is different about this year is that it is almost like there are two conferences in one,? he said. ?The preconference is like its own conference. Mobile has matured and we don?t need the 101 discussion.

?So the preconference workshop is a series of seven discussions focusing on 10 step how-to?s. So, 10 steps for mobile messaging, commerce and SMS. These will be action-oriented discussions on how to actually get mobile done.?

Big brands and agencies in attendance
Executives from brands such as The Coca-Cola Co., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and MySpace will be speaking at the event.

Agency executive from Digitas and AKQA will also be speaking.

Sessions will cover mobile commerce, SMS, mobile advertising, mobile media and content creation, mobile video advertising and the marriage of mobile and social media.

Location-based mobile marketing and advertising will also be discussed. 

?The fall Mobile Marketing Forum gives us a chance to learn from others, celebrate the year?s successes at the awards ceremony, and to get smarter to hit the ground running for next year,? said Jeff Hasen, chief marketing officer of Hipcricket, Kirkland, WA.

?My Tuesday workshop on what?s possible in mobile touches on everything from mobile saving lives to mobile driving engagement to the fact that consumers really do want to interact with brands through permission-based loyalty clubs,? he said. ?At Hipcricket, we?re especially eager for the award show to learn whether our work with Arby?s wins in the North American Product Launch of the Year category.

?From a live commercial on Jimmy Kimmel that had a major text component to the building of 172 local databases, this program shows how far mobile has come ? and how much is possible.?

Adopt-a-Brand
Another thing that is really unique about this year?s Los Angeles MMF is with the event's "Adopt-a-Brand" program, brands, agencies and retailers can come to the event for $250. 

Students and professors can come for $200. 

This year?s prices are discounted significantly.

?The purpose of all our forums is evangelizing how to use and embrace the mobile channel for valuable engagement,? the MMA?s Mr. Becker said.

?It is obviously also about networking and relationship building opportunities for attendees,? he said. ?They can get to know one another and collaborate and grow their businesses.?

Here's what some other attendees expect from the show:

James Citron, CEO of Mogreet, Los Angeles
The Los Angeles MMF will likely be the biggest show in the history of the MMA as it brings together one of the largest advertising communities with the latest innovations in the mobile industry.

Our industry is growing faster than ever before in terms of advertising budgets, consumer adoption and ROI generated for marketers.

If ad:tech New York is a good proxy, the response and attendance from brands interested in mobile in 2010 is at least 2-3 times greater than last year.

There's been huge disruptive change in the mobile marketing industry in 2010.

The top brands in nearly every vertical industry have mobile line items in their budgets and dedicated mobile personnel.

Consumers of all ages have started using mobile in new and more significant ways and the handset manufacturers have entered the mobile advertising business.

2010 and 2011 are not the "year of mobile" - the next five years will be the years of mobile.

Some key themes that we expect to be major talking points:

-Mobile video: usage is skyrocketing across all carriers, handsets, consumer segments. Video is everyone's favorite entertainment and advertising medium.

-MMS has finally arrived in the U.S. market in a big way. The greatest media channel created has massive adoption in the U.S. by major brands.

-Android: Android usage is growing incredibly fast and has caused a fascinating smartphone battle a la Microsoft versus Apple of the 80s/90s between Apple and Android.

Stephanie Bauer Marshall, manager of mobile advertising, Verizon Wireless, Basking Ridge, NJ
There is much excitement around mobile marketing this year. We all talk about it being the year of mobile marketing, but the hype is quickly becoming reality.

MMA Forum attendees should expect to hear the evidence that supports this view.

Erin (Mack) McKelvey, senior vice president of marketing, Millennial Media, Baltimore, MD 

The Mobile Marketing Forum West is a gathering of numerous industry thought leaders to share best practices and, hopefully, bring some new dialogue to the ever-evolving mobile landscape.

Active Mobile Marketing Association member companies have rallied behind the organization to provide speakers previously unseen at this type of industry conference. 

This showcases mobile?s expansion into more mainstream conversations from the high level celebrities and executives on this year?s agenda. 

And, let?s be honest, Elmo will be there - who could have predicted that?

I?m interviewing Anita Stewart, the senior vice president of global partnerships from Sesame Workshop as part of the opening keynotes. 

We?re excited to follow Jamie Foxx, and we plan to deliver compelling content and current research that reveals how Sesame Workshop reaches and engages today?s mobile mom.

Over the past few months, Anita and I have been discussing the evolving needs of women, particularly mothers.

There are fundamental socioeconomic shifts that have diversified the types of global households?from homes with dual incomes or single parents, to those with stay at home parents.

While this has created media fragmentation, the one common medium in all of these types of households is mobile.

Advertisers who want to reach parents of young children can learn from the extensive research and continuous feedback Sesame Workshop receives from this incredibly engaged audience.

Frank Barbieri, founder and chief product officer at Transpera, San Francisco

I think this year is big for brand advertising on mobile. New platforms like the iPad being pushed out there and the great reach with existing mobile platforms like iPhone, BlackBerry and Android are encouraging more advertising. Also, the metrics have rationalized, so whether it is video or rich media, spending is up.

Steve Jobs has tremendous power to put headlines on the Wall Street Journal. He said that phones are the best marketing vehicles to reach consumers on and he has made a case for the industry.

In the fourth quarter spend is up and I think we will see more of that in 2011.

Final take
Here is what Mobile Marketer thinks of the MMF