Large turnout for first digital media event

Long Island's first big digital media conference attracted more than 400 people Tuesday, about 50 more than organizers had expected, and while digital may never become one of the region's biggest economic engines, it could play a significant future role, economists said.

The Digital Summit at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, organized only in the last two months by Melville-based advertising agency EGC Group Inc., drew digital media workers, education officials and technology executives, who heard a panel that included people from Google, Facebook, 1-800-Flowers.com and JetBlue Airways.

Keynote speaker Joanna O'Connell, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, said 55 million iPads have been sold since 2010, and that huge segments of the U.S. population are now connected to three electronic devices. "We call these folks 'the Always Addressable Customers,' " O'Connell said.

Yes, O'Connell said, such a conference was needed on the Island. "I think . . . the fact that every seat in this room was filled testifies to that," she said.

Nicole Larrauri, managing partner at EGC Group, said about 350 people were expected. "We had a lot of walk-ins," Larrauri said, adding her hope was that each attendee would take away one idea to further their digital media operations at work or home.

EGC president and founder Ernie Canadeo said he hopes the summit can be repeated next year.

Shital Patel, a regional economist in Hicksville for the state Labor Department, said figures for employment in digital media specifically are not kept but 78,800 people on Long Island work in professional and business services, which includes some digital media jobs. While the sector is large, it is dwarfed by the largest, government, which employs 209,100.

Nonetheless, Long Island Association economist Pearl Kamer said the digital world can become a larger player on the Island. The issue, she said, is finding the skilled workers digital media needs.