My favorite answer to the question, “Can you make us a viral video?” was, “Sure, give us the budget to make 100 videos and I can almost guarantee one of the will go viral.” (I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was Joseph Thornley who shared that with me.)

What makes a video go viral—gaining popularity through online sharing—is a hotly debated question. If it were easy to pinpoint the reason so many people shared KONY 2012 (more than 90 million views), Gagnam Style, Harlem Shakes, Charlie Bit My Finger or Double Rainbow, everybody would be duplicating their successes. Instead, individuals and organizations put everything they’ve got into videos that never come close to achieving those numbers.

If you’ve ever wondered about the characteristics of viral videos, your opportunity to hear from a panel of experts is at hand. On April 26, I will moderate a panel at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University as part of the first-ever Viral Video Summit. The Summit—a student’s idea that was pulled together quickly—is open to anybody interested in attending, both in-person and via streaming video.

The panel includes my friend David Spark of Spark Media Solutions, YouTube’s Bing Chen, and GoPro’s Rick Loughery. (Additional panelists could be added.)

GoPro is providing prizes for the Summit competition, which is open to anybody, anywhere. Just upload a video to YouTube and add VIVIS 2013 to the end of your video’s title. The videos that earn the most views by the time of the Summit will win in each of four categories: advertisements, music, kids/animals, and sports.

Incidentally, the graduate-level social media class I teach at AAU is currently working to develop a social media strategy for the Summit that will be kicked into gear during the final week leading up to the event.