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Speakers: BRITE '08 Conference and CMO Summit

 

Maryam BanikarimMaryam Banikarim is Chief Marketing Officer of Univision Communications Inc., the nation’s leading Spanish-language media company. Ms. Banikarim oversees all company-wide marketing and public relations initiatives across the Company’s television, music, radio and online assets, which represent a combined $1.9 billion portfolio. Under her leadership, marketing efforts focus on raising Univision’s profile before the business community, enhancing the overall relationship with consumers and connecting clients with the growing U.S. Hispanic market. She joined Univision in 2002 as Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing, and has been instrumental in driving incremental sales and revenue growth for the Company.

Ms. Banikarim has more than 15 years of broadcast, publishing, multimedia and advertising agency experience. Previously, she provided management and marketing consulting services to a variety of clients including Time Warner, Deutsche Bank and Bacardi Ltd. Her experience also includes roles as Publisher at Macmillan Publishing and General Manager and Marketing Director for Citysearch. In addition, Ms. Banikarim was a member of the first integrated marketing solutions group at Turner Broadcasting. She began her marketing career in account management at Young and Rubicam.

Ms. Banikarim earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Barnard College where she won the Harry S. Truman scholarship. She also holds an MBA and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Columbia University.

In August 2006, Ms. Banikarim was selected as one of Advertising Age’s “40 under 40” list of youthful stars who are change leaders in the marketing arena. And in March of 2006, Ms. Banikarim earned a place on Fast Company’s “Fast Fifty” list of corporate trailblazers and trendsetters. She sits on the board of Advertising Week, Sweat Equity Enterprises, the Mt. Sinai Adolescent Healthcare Center and serves as Chair of the Affiliates Council for Prep for Prep. She has lived and worked in several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, France, Iran and the United Kingdom, and currently resides in New York City with her husband and two children.

Aaron Cohen is the CEO of Bolt.com. In 2003 Aaron Cohen returned to Bolt Media, a young-adult focused media company, as its Chief Executive Officer. Bolt had started as a subsidiary of Concrete Media which Aaron co-founded in 1996 and where he served as CEO from 1998-2002. While at Concrete, Aaron also ran Bolt's sister company, Girls On Inc, before selling the company to Oxygen Media in 1999. From 1996 through 2002 Concrete provided large corporations with strategic consulting; technology architecture, design and implementation; and network management services, with a particular focus on helping its clients create new businesses on the Internet. The company's clients included Avon, Tommy Hilfiger, Bechtel Enterprises, McKesson, and Bertelsmann. Under Aaron's leadership, Concrete Media's original investors received substantial returns on investment. In two liquidity events, he returned 16 and 50 times the original investments for shareholders.

Carol Koh Evans is the General Manager of Massive Incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, which is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. Carol has over 12 years of experience working in the technology, online media and finance sectors. Prior to joining Massive following the acquisition by Microsoft, Carol spent six years with Microsoft in Corporate Development, Corporate Strategy and MSN M&A where she primarily supported Microsoft’s consumer initiatives, including MSN, Home & Entertainment, and Digital Media.

Prior to Microsoft, Carol led Corporate Development for The Knot (www.theknot.com), and managed the company’s IPO in December 1999. In addition, she worked as an investment banker with Lehman Brothers in New York and Hong Kong and Robertson Stephens in San Francisco as well as participated in General Electric’s Financial Management Program. Carol received her MBA from Columbia Business School and her BS in Business Administration from the Walter Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

fordeLeslie Forde is a member of Communispace’s Management Team and is responsible for developing strategic partnerships with customer-focused organizations including marketing consultancies, advertising and public relations firms.  She helps Communispace’s partner companies to effectively leverage customers by bringing them into the marketing conversation. Partners such as Ogilvy & Mather, Edelman and Digitas are using communities to deliver more value to their clients: to differentiate their brands, drive greater advocacy, foster loyalty, and overall, to improve marketing effectiveness. Leslie is a frequent speaker on hot topics such as: creating online customer communities, customer engagement, Web 2.0, social networking, and word of mouth. She sits on the Word of Mouth Marketing Association’s leadership committee.

Leslie is no stranger to creating effective partner alliances. Prior to Communispace, she was the Corporate Sales Director for Cook’s Illustrated and managed channel sales and marketing efforts across all products including: retail book distribution, sponsorship for the public television show ‘America’s Test Kitchen’, and alternate circulation programs for multiple publications.

Prior to Cook’s, Leslie was a Vice President at Northern Light Technology where she managed sales, marketing, and business development efforts in the US and abroad. She moved to London to launch the company’s International Division, where she lived for over two years and grew enterprise clients and alliances by over 300% within the first six months. Previously, she held marketing and brand management positions with Xerox, Bausch & Lomb, and Allstate Insurance.

Leslie also has a culinary degree, and loves everything associated with food and wine. In her spare time she is usually cooking, running, reading, or spending time with her family.

Francois GossieauxFrancois Gossieaux, Partner, Beeline Labs, is a lifelong tech marketing and media veteran. He led marketing, product management and strategy at eRoom Technology, is president and partner at MarketHum partner Corante, founded Synopia, advises numerous companies in the space, has developed and chaired industry events, and more. Francois has a long history with online media – having implemented an Intranet for a large multinational in the early 90’s and was the organizer of the first large scale virtual event – InterAct’96 – with Time Magazine and Infoworld. He has used blogs for grassroots political and environmental activities, and is currently blogging at emergencemarketing.com.

Bob GreenbergBob Greenberg is the CEO and Global Chief Creative Officer for R/GA Media Group Ltd. He has been a pioneer in the advertising and communications industry for three decades. He leads the vision for R/GA, forging a unique interdisciplinary approach to communications and speaking on developing new agency models for customer engagement. R/GA embodies Bob’s philosophy by emphasizing the importance of integrated strategies, creative excellence, and innovative technology.

R/GA has become one of the most successful full-service digital agencies, creating integrated marketing campaigns and experiences for the world’s most recognized brands. Most recently, R/GA was named Creativity’s Interactive Agency of the Year for 2007 and in 2006 R/GA was recognized by Adweek as the Interactive Agency of the Year and named on Advertising Age’s Agency Top 10 “A-List”.

To date, Bob has won almost every industry award for creativity including the Academy Award, Clios, Cannes Lions and the D&AD Black Pencil. Among his most notable awards are the 2007 BDA Lifetime Achievement Award, Clio Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Communications in 2003, and the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design.

Bob is on the Board of Directors of the Art Directors Club and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dean’s Council Advisory Board of Tisch School of the Arts, ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program), Parsons School, the Berlin School of Creative Leadership, and VCU Adcenter.

Mike Hemingway is the Global Managing Director for Ogilvy and Mather Worldwide. In 1979, Mike joined a start-up Agency owned by Michael Bungey.  There he won, and worked on Safeway, Wilkinson Sword, Polycell and Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.  In 1981, Mike was lured to Collett Dickerson Pearce to work on Hamlet, Heineken, Cinzano, Barclays Bank, British Telecom and Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, again.During that time, he was part of a team that created some of the most famous advertising of the period.  In 1985, the other great bastion of British advertising, Boase Massimi Pollitt, asked Mike to join them.  There he workedon Courage, owner of such famous brands as Fosters, Hofmeister, John Smiths, and Miller Lite; all award winning campaigns.  He also worked on Pimms and Martell Brandy. In 1989, Grey London asked him to join their management team as Vice Chairman and Client Service Director.  After restructuring the Agency’s Client Service departments, Mike took over Grey’s Procter and Gamble Healthand Beauty Care business, launching Cover Girl in the UK and other parts of Europe.  He also launched the Laura Biagotti, Hugo Boss and Otto Kern fragrance lines.  However, the biggest success of all was the launch of Pantene – a concept developed in London, which led the brand to Worldwide Market Leadership. In 1995, Mike led the pitch for the Worldwide Mars business, which was successful.  Mike ran the worldwide confectionery division of the $300 million account, based in London. Between 1995 and 2000, Mike developed and led an Advertising Training Seminar, sponsored by the Mars Family.  This week long Seminar, titled How to Create Award Winning Effective Advertising, was held in many countries around the world, including: Taiwan, Tokyo, Bangkok, Bali, Shanghai, Beijing, Sydney, Los Angeles, New York,Miami, Sao Paulo, London, Paris, Barcelona, Bremen, Warsaw, Prague, Moscow, Kiev, Istanbul, Johannesburg and Harare. In June 2000, Mike was invited to join Ogilvy & Mather in New York, to work on Kodak, as Worldwide Director,based in New York.  He led the team that created the successful “Share Moment. Share Life.” campaign. In 2004, Mike took over the WW Dove business, leading the team that created the campaign for real beauty. Within a year, the campaign was worldwide.

 

Marty Homlish

Marty Homlish is the Global Chief Marketing Officer for SAP AG; President & CEO of SAP Global Marketing, Inc.; and Corporate Officer of SAP Group.   Overall, Homlish is responsible for SAP's global and regional marketing; solution marketing; branding, advertising and web marketing; competitive intelligence; demos; tele-management; and direct marketing. He provides leadership that aligns the field and product organizations to ensure SAP delivers a best-in-class total customer experience to its clients.

In the very dynamic technology sector, SAP continues to expand its market share worldwide and many analysts credit Homlish's addition to the executive team as a key factor. Specifically, since Homlish joined the company in June 2000, both SAP's brand awareness and brand value have significantly increased. That year, Homlish spearheaded a strategic branding initiative to build a powerful global brand, and his efforts produced impressive results for the company in the ensuing years. According to BusinessWeek magazine's annual brand rankings, the value of the SAP brand in 2007 was U.S. $10.85 billion with a dramatic 77% growth (representing U.S. $4.71 billion) between 2000 and 2007. In addition, with an 8% growth in brand value in 2007, SAP was a leading performer among its software peers.

During Homlish's tenure, SAP has received numerous marketing awards. In 2004, Homlish was named "Chief Marketing Officer of the Year" by BusinessWeek Magazine and the CMO Council. This award recognizes marketing visionaries based upon the strategy, leadership and creativity employed to build value, momentum and uplift for their organizations. Homlish competed against top executives from leading technology companies, including: Cisco, Dell, IBM, Oracle, Sony and Microsoft. In addition, he was named a "Top Marketer" by B2B Magazine in its "Best of 2004" issue.

Other accolades for SAP's marketing efforts include the 2007 ITSMA Marketing Excellence Award; IMA’s Outstanding Achievement Award; the ACE Award; Forbes "Best of the Web"; the Business Week Architectural Record Award; and the prestigious 2001 International Web Page Award for Technology and Science. Homlish's achievements have been featured in prominent publications such as the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes and Business 2.0.

Prior to joining SAP, Homlish spent 15 years at Sony Corporation in several strategic roles, including: President of Sony's Media Solutions Company; Chairman of the Sony Recording Media Pan American Management Board; and the Head of the Sony Electronic Corporate Marketing Services division with responsibilities to advise Sony Corporation of America, Sony Pictures, Sony Music and PlayStation on corporate branding strategy. In 1995, New York Magazine voted Homlish as one of the top sixty "New Media Elite" for his contribution to the electronic gaming industry following his launch of the Sony PlayStation, a video game platform, which became the single most successful product introduction in Sony's history. During his time at Sony, he was also a board member of the influential Recording Industry Association of America.

Homlish earned his Bachelors of Arts degree in communications from Goddard College in 1974. He continued his education at Babson College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, focusing his studies in the areas of Strategy Formulation and Implementation, Leading Organizational Change and Renewal, and Competitive Marketing Strategy.

David W. HsiehDavid W. Hsieh is the Senior Director for Solutions Marketing of Emerging Technologies at Cisco Systems, Inc. He is a seasoned executive with over 20 years of experience in building and marketing software and services.  At Cisco he has marketing responsibility for Cisco's Emerging Technologies -- innovative new businesses created from an internal venture model. Prior to Cisco, Hsieh was a co-founder of FaceTime Communications, a leader in instant messaging solutions for large enterprises. He also served as an VP of Products at WebEx, entrepreneur-in-residence at Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Vice President of Product Marketing at Sybase and Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development at LBMS. Hsieh is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Paul IngramPaul Ingram is the Kravis Professor Business at the Columbia Business School, and Faculty Director of the Columbia Senior Executive Program.  His PhD is from Cornell University, and he was on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University before coming to Columbia.  He has held visiting professorships at Tel Aviv University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Toronto.  The courses he teaches on management and strategy benefit from his research on organizations in the United States, Canada, Israel, Scotland, China and Australia. His research has been published in a number of articles, book chapters and books. Ingram's current research projects examine the influence of intergovernmental organizations on bilateral trade and foreign direct investment; the structure and efficacy of managers’ professional networks in China and the United States; and the effects of networks and institutions on the evolution of the Glasgow shipbuilding industry.  He has served as a consulting editor for the American Journal of Sociology, a senior editor for Organization Science, an Associate Editor for Management Science and on the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly and Strategic Organization.  He recently completed a term as President of the College of Organization Science of the Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS).  Paul’s undergraduate degree is from Brock University where received the Governor General’s Award as the top graduating student.  In 2004 he received the Distinguished Graduate Award from Brock’s Faculty of Business and in 2007 he won the Dean’s Teaching Award at the Columbia Business School.  He has consulted on issues of organizational design and strategy to leading companies in the finance, health care and consumer products industries.

Lois KellyLois Kelly, a partner in Beeline Labs, consults, teaches and speaks about how to achieve business goals faster by operationalizing Marketing 2.0 strategies. Her book, Beyond Buzz has been praised for helping people understand how to move from a “talk at” to a “talk with” marketing world, and was rated one of the top 10 books in 2007 by WebWorkersDaily and syndicated business book reviewer Richard Pachter of The Miami Herald.

During her career Lois has launched a pioneering interactive marketing agency, managed crisis communications and issues management programs, helped position companies for IPOs, and led public relations agencies. Clients have included Sun Microsystems, FedEx, Dunkin’ Donuts, TJX, SAP, and Sapient. She is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and Harvard University.

Pamela KaufmanPamela Kaufman is the Chief Marketing Officer for Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. She is responsible for all of the marketing efforts for the many businesses of Nickelodeon, including television, digital, consumer products, Nick Movies, as well as MTVN Kids and Family Group brands The N; Nick at Night; Noggin; and Nicktoons Network.  Ms. Kaufman serves as Nickelodeon’s strategic liaison to all of its marketing partners as the network maintains its lead in pioneering new and innovative marketing solutions, and is responsible for finding new ways to bring the Nickelodeon brand to life.  Most recently, Ms. Kaufman reconnected kids with Nickelodeon’s trademark slime by bringing it across the country and into their backyards with the “Slime Across America” tour, leading up to Nickelodeon’s 20th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards.  The second rendition of the tour is currently taking place throughout the summer of 2007.

Ms. Kaufman is key to helping Nickelodeon grow its music brand, spearheading all the marketing efforts for music-related initiatives.  The network recently entered into a partnership with Sony Music Label Group where the two companies will co-develop, co-produce, and jointly finance television and music projects over the next four years.

Ms. Kaufman's marketing responsibilities also include: oversight of the Nickelodeon Research group, both its consumer insights group and ratings team; securing global partnerships for the various networks; and property planning for top kid shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dora the Explorer, and Go, Diego, Go.  She oversees promotional partnerships for The N, Noggin and Nicktoons Network, MTVN Kids and Family Group’s digital channels, as well as the advertising and multicultural marketing efforts for all of the networks.  In addition, Ms. Kaufman partners closely with Nickelodeon International to bring the best marketing practices to the rest of the company on a global basis. 
 
In her former role as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Worldwide Promotions, Ms. Kaufman created innovative multi-platform marketing campaigns and multi-million dollar sponsorships for Nickelodeon’s key properties, from SpongeBob SquarePants, to Dora the Explorer,to the Kids’ Choice Awards.  She has received several industry awards for her efforts including Advertising Age’s Entertainment Marketer of the Year in 2002, Brandweek’s 1999 Grand Marketer of the Year, and the Marketer of the Year in 1998 and 1995 from Promo Magazine. Ms. Kaufman also serves as a diversity leader at Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, and is a board member of the Bottomless Closet organization.

Before joining MTV Networks, Ms. Kaufman held the position of Vice President, Promotions at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., where she established the Promotions Group within TBS’s Licensing & Merchandising division.  She led the promotional efforts for such corporate initiatives as The Flintstones and Johnny Quest, and established the first worldwide Burger King Kids Meal Promotion with Scooby Doo.  Kaufman was also responsible for developing a sponsorship deal for the Cartoon Network Wacky Racing Nascar Team. Ms. Kaufman began her career as Senior Director, Account Services at Equity Marketing, Inc., where she created, developed and sold comprehensive premium programs to domestic fast food, packaged goods and beverage companies.   She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Communications from American University. 

Mark KershisnikMark Kershisnik is the Executive Director of Eli Lilly and Co. Market Research and US Marketing Services.  Before joining Lilly in 1983, Mark worked in hospital pharmacy and as a Technical Securities Analyst.  He has held numerous positions in marketing at Lilly including sales, marketing planning and strategic planning.  His background also includes international assignments in Germany as Director of Manufacturing and as the Managing Director of Lilly Australia and Pacific Area.  Mr. Kershisnik returned to Lilly Corporate Center in 1998 to lead the redesign and reorganization Lilly Market Research and US Marketing Services. Mark is a member of Pi Beta Kappa Business Fraternity, a past member of the American Diabetes Association Midwestern Board, The European Distributors Forum and a former Board Member for the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.  He served as Chairman of the Board of AZA Corporation, a joint venture company with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and was a member of the joint working council of the Australian government/industry for the Phase III of the Factor-F Program.

Banz LedinBänz Ledin is the Creator & Managing Director of Spotme. Bänz invented Spotme when he was sitting in a park, observing how two dog owners got introduced to each other through their pets. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) liked his idea and invited him to turn the concept into a product. Together with Rémy Blank and Roger Meier, masters in micro-engineering, he co-founded Shockfish SA in 1998. Shockfish designs and builds a complete wireless communication system specifically for meetings and events from 200 to 5'000 participants. The centerpiece of the system is a wireless "Spotme" device with unique functions such as "People Radar" or "Spotting".

Over the years, Spotme's unrivalled utility and ease of use have made it a success with organizers and participants. Shockfish's revenue comes from providing Spotme as a service to corporations, commercial conference organizers and associations such as FT Conferences, Siemens, IIR, IMD, Fortis, Allergan, Nestlé, the European Venture Capital Association and Deloitte. Today, Bänz is in charge of the Chicago office which is bringing the latest generation Spotme to the US.

Patia McGrath is the Global Director of Innovation and Strategic Connections at General Electric Co. Patia reports to Dan Henson, GE’s Chief Marketing Officer, as part of his Corporate Marketing team.  The objective of this group is to accelerate the establishment of a more market-focused culture in GE and to drive growth across the company.  With GE since 2004, Patia’s focus has been on innovation and strategic marketing.  She has worked on a number of key company-wide projects, including the organic growth targeted Imagination Breakthroughs and the GE strategy framework CECOR.  She has also collaborated with GE’s businesses on a variety of growth initiatives, such as the assessment of market opportunities in Africa for GE’s Rail business and the design of a strategic plan for GE’s Global Research Center.  Patia is a frequent invited speaker at GE’s Crotonville education facility.

Patia joined GE Corporate from Harvard Business School, where she was a Research Associate for Professor Michael Porter. In this role, she spearheaded Porter’s “New CEO Workshop” initiative, which brought together newly-appointed CEOs of major public companies to address issues ranging from strategy execution to investor communication.  Prior to a stint as an investment banker with CSFB’s Technology Group, Patia helped lead sales and marketing at WhiteLight Systems, a business intelligence software startup headquartered in Palo Alto.  Patia also spent several years with J.P. Morgan’s Private Client Group.  During her years in engineering research, Patia worked for Ford Motor Company, the Sloan Automotive Lab at MIT, and the Gas Turbine Lab at MIT.  Patia holds a MBA from Harvard Business School, a MS in Aeronautics & Astronautics from MIT, an Engineer's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia.

Andrew MillerAndrew Miller is the Chief Executive Officer of Quattro Wireless Inc. Prior to co-founding Quattro, Andy was a member of the senior management team at m-Qube, where he served as SVP of Business Development & Strategy. While at m-Qube Andy was instrumental in setting strategy and driving revenue for what became North America's dominant mobile aggregator. m-Qube was acquired by VeriSign for $250 million in April of 2006.

Andy has also held the position as CEO of WatchPoint Media, an MIT Media Lab interactive TV spin-off, that was sold to Goldpocket/ Tandberg Television in 2003. Andy holds a J.D. from Boston College Law School and a Bachelor's degree from Union College.

Craig NewmarkCraig Newmark is the Founder and Customer Service Rep for Craigslist Inc. Craig is by training a senior web-oriented software engineer. He now spends his days working as a customer service rep at craigslist. He has spent the last thirty years working in the IT field with companies such as Bank of America, Schwab and IBM. In 1995 while Craig was working at Schwab, he started craigslist as an email list he sent out to friends and their friends about events going on in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1999, Craig left his IT consulting work to work full-time on craigslist. What started as a fun side project on a desktop computer in Craig's living room  has since grown into one of the most known sites on the Internet. craigslist helps people with basic day-to-day needs such as finding a job, an apartment and a date, all within in a culture of trust.  Craig continues to embrace his inner nerd though he no longer wears thick black glasses that are held together with tape, and he retired the plastic pocket protector some years ago.  Craig is involved with a variety of community efforts and is particularly interested in organizations promoting public diplomacy, mideast peace and new forms of media such as participatory journalism. He's on the boards of Sunlight Foundation, OneVoice, FactCheckED, and VotoLatino.  Craig graduated from Case Western University.

Mark PetersonMark Peterson is a Director in Procter & Gamble’s External Business Development organization and has responsibility for technology transfer (in and out) for, Family Care, Snacks and Beverage, Household Care, Pet Care and Baby Care Business Units, as well as the Glad JV.  His team leads P&G’s commercial Open Innovation effort to fulfill the company’s stated goal of “…sourcing 50% of its innovations from the outside.”  Mark also has responsibility to explore New Business Models that maximize value creation for P&G and its partners.  This work includes, but is not limited to, taking equity positions in technology spin-outs and joint ventures. 

Mark began his career with the Company in 1977 as a Sales Representative in Commercial Products.  Prior to moving into EBD, Mark ran the Supervalu Customer Team and the Canadian Customer Business Development organizations.  In these roles, Mark was responsible for direct sales of up to $2.0 billion a year and multi-functional organizations numbering 600.

Jeff PulverJeff Pulver is the Chairman and Founder of pulver.com, and one of the true pioneers of the VoIP industry and a leader in the emerging TV on the Net industry. Leveraging more than a decade of hands-on experience in Internet/IP communications and innovation, Mr. Pulver is a globally renowned thought leader, author, investor and entrepreneur. His blog is well read within the IP Communications Industry and in high-tech communities around the world. He is the publisher of The Pulver Report and creator of the Voice on the Net (VON) events, where all sectors of IP communications come together to discuss, debate, and advance the Internet Communications Industry. Additionally, Mr. Pulver is the founder of:
pulver.com, Pulvermedia, FWD, the VON Coalition, pulver.tv, pulverRadio, Vivox and is the co-founder of VoIP provider, Vonage.

Mr Pulver has been profiled in: The Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Business Week, Boston Globe, National Post, and the Washington Post.

David RogersDavid Rogers is the organizer of BRITE, and the Executive Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, where he develops new branding research, curriculum, and conferences.  Rogers has worked on strategic projects for brands in the IT, telecom, pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods, entertainment, and media industries, addressing issues such as brand positioning, market strategy, and customer experience. He speaks on marketing at conferences in the US, Europe, and Asia, and has been interviewed on CNNfn and national radio. He is the author of blogs, articles, and case studies on marketing in new media, and is the co-author, with Bernd Schmitt, of There's No Business That's Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture, and co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook on Brand and Experience Management (Elgar, 2008).

Rogers is also a composer and musician whose music ("Rhythmically vital!" - The New York Times) is heard from jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall.

Steve RosenbaumSteve Rosenbaum is the CEO and Founder of Magnify.net.  Steven Rosenbaum has been at the forefront of emerging media technologies and storytelling styles since he founded his media company in the early '90s. Always focused on empowering emerging filmmakers, and providing tools and outlets for new voices, Rosenbaum is acknowledged as one of the early innovators in both Video Journalism and User-Generated Video. Steven Rosenbaum has been at the forefront of emerging media technologies and storytelling styles since he founded his media company in the early '90s. Always focused on empowering emerging filmmakers, and providing tools and outlets for new voices, Rosenbaum is acknowledged as one of the early innovators in both Video Journalism and User-Generated Video.

Magnify.net is Rosenbaum's launch -- a video publishing platform that allows web sites, media companies, and content entrepreneurs to empower their communities to embrace User-Generated Video. Currently Magnify.net powers over 2,000 channels of User-Generated Video, and is working closely with a wide variety of media makers, communities, and publishers in evolving their content offerings to include content created by, sorted and reviewed by community members.

Prior to launching Magnify, Rosenbaum was involved in a variety of initiatives supporting the development of user generated content. In 1995 he Created MTV UNfiltered, a program that put the very first user-generated video on MTV. During his career in mainstream media, Rosenbaum produced films for A&E, Discovery, TLC, The History Channel, National Geographic, Court TV, Trio, HBO, VH1, MSNBC, and CNN. As a feature Director, he is best known for his film "7 Days in September", which chronicled New York's reaction to the 9/11 attacks.

Yaron SamidYaron Samid is the Co-founder of Pando Networks. Yaron has designed products and built companies that have empowered millions of people to create, consume, distribute and monetize digital media. Yaron started working on the business and product vision behind Pando after co-founding DeskSite TV, the Internet's first PCTV network which he grew to over 2 million viewers. Previously Yaron held senior Marketing and Product Management positions at Zend, BackWeb and Register.com. Yaron is the founder and organizer of NY Video 2.0 and NY-Israel Tech. He sits on the advisory boards of several startups and is an executive committee member of Tevel.org.

SchmittBernd H. Schmitt is a Columbia Business School professor and best-selling author of Experiential Marketing and Big Think Strategy. Bernd Schmitt is Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School in New York where he directs the Center on Global Brand Leadership, the leading global forum on branding issues for researchers and executives.

He is widely recognized for his major contribution to branding, marketing, and management through his unique focus on the customer experience. Schmitt has authored or co-authored more than 50 articles and six books which have been translated into 14 languages. In his acclaimed Experiential Marketing he provided a framework for an integrated marketing approach that moves beyond the functional features and benefits of a brand. His book Customer Experience Management provides a five-step process for connecting with the customer at every touchpoint.

Schmitt has consulted and developed brand and experience strategies for clients in consumer package goods, automobile, electronics, software, financial services, pharmaceuticals, beauty and cosmetics, hospitality, and media industries. He is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences worldwide. He has been profiled on CNNfn's "Business Unusual" and has appeared on BBC, CNBC, CNBC-Asia, NHK and on The Daily Short with Jon Stewart.

Pall Smith-MeyerPaal Smith-Meyer is head of the New Business Group of LEGO Group, where he leads efforts to innovate new business models for LEGO through an open platform model.  Previously, as Creative Director, Paal led customer-driven product innovation through projects such as the Mindstorms Users Panel and product customization via the online Lego Factory.

 

 

Stephen VoltzStephen Voltz is co-founder of Eepybird.com – creator of the world famous Diet Coke and Mentos videos which won the TV Week “Viral Video of the Year” Award and two Webby Awards.

The Los Angeles Times refers to Eepybird as “not just stars, but phenomena” and Advertising Age called Eepybird's original Diet Coke and Mentos video “the most important commercial content of 2006. ”

Eepybird's  commercial video projects include work for Coca-Cola, Google, Perfetti van Melle, and a custom video created for Blue Man Group’s “How To Be a Megastar 2.0” arena tour.

Stephen and his partner Friz Grobe have been nominated for two Emmy Awards for their work in online video.

Yuval ZukermanYuval Zukerman brings to Molecular over eight years experience in developing innovative technology solutions. He has a broad knowledge base which not only includes Web engineering but also how to best use today’s latest technologies and solutions to best achieve business and marketing goals. Yuval has utilized this unique skill set to provide solutions for world renowned clients including Coca Cola, PC Connection, media giant Belo and Rentokil Initial, which is one of the world’s largest business services companies. Currently, Yuval is leveraging his Web 2.0 expertise to help client Sprite develop a next-generation web experience for its US site. While servicing client PC Connection, Yuval worked on incorporating dynamic interaction while accommodating the client’s requirement to meet accessibility standards. Also, Yuval took a leading engineering role in helping to create a site redesign for client Belo. On this project he, developed XML/XSLT based system for menu and navigation management, as well as created XHTML and JavaScript templates for usage and repurposing across 22 company sites.

Prior to joining Molecular, Yuval worked at Digitas, working on projects for eBay and General Motors. Prior to Digitas, Yuval worked for a string of small boutique shops, giving him the ability to work on the entire application stack, a unique experience that helps him approach solution architecture in a cross-disciplinary approach. Yuval credits his first job with then budding consultancy Razorfish with the passion to create cool things from seemingly boring technology.

Yuval holds a BS in Computer Sciences from UCLA and is a graduate degree candidate from Harvard University’s Extension School, in Information Technology. His technology skill set includes a mastery of Java, PHP, XML, Javascript, and Macromedia Flash, as well as several databases, packages and operating systems. In addition, Yuval has expertise in Web 2.0 technologies including social networks, widgets, and a focus on open source technologies, and applications for mobile devices.