Between pretending to be a gnome in Muir Woods and checking out a Giants game, I also took in the sights and sounds of ad:tech 2011. The conference is the largest gathering of digital marketers hosting keynote guest speakers, like Arianna Huffington, Antonio Lucio, Manny Anekal and John Bax to name a few. Hot topics on everyone’s lips: tablets, social gaming and mobile. Here are a few key takeaways from top sessions:

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised…It Will Be Tweeted or Facebooked

Speaker: Arianna Huffington
Topic: Recap of how social media is transforming the world.
Insight: As people become more entrenched with technology, hyper connectedness results in missing actual genuine connections in our day-to-day lives.
Quote: “Don’t look at what things [technologies] are dying in our world, look at what is being born.” 
Trends: Localization of news. As international and national media falls, emphasis on quality local news will prevail. AOL’s recent project: patch.com.

Too Big To Ignore – Social Gaming  

Panelists: Jimmy Kim, Tim Chang and Kim Kyaw
Topic: Social gaming has hit and the stats are staggering.
Insight: The key to creating a successful social game is technical infrastructure,
monetized play and culture tie-ins with friends.
Fact: Social gamers don’t think of themselves as gamers — on average, they’re
40+ women in the U.S.
Trends: Anticipate an increase in social gaming with the growth of tablet adoption.
Brazil social gaming market is on the rise.

Trends, Fads & Transformations – The Changing Face of the Internet

Speaker: Jeffrey Cole, Director of USC Anneberg Center for the Digital Future
Topic: Evolution of technology, from the 1950s to present.
Insight: From single hit releases to e-books to an infinite number of cable
channels, consuming music, TV and books will continue to evolve. 
Prediction: Laugh tracks will disappear from shows as users become more
familiar with consuming media by themselves or online with friends. 
Trends: Screen time will increase to over 50 hours per week in the next
3-4 years and privacy concerns will peak.