Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Building Blocks 2008 Thursday, August 7th 11:05 AM – 12:20 PM Track III: The Broadband and Social Media Platform Broadband as a Strategic Technology Entertainment Platform: Content, Advertising and Branding Content is a function of broadband. Content across platforms is by definition the future of the entertainment and information industries. Studios, networks, games companies – entertainment and information providers of all stripes – must gage their future not by their primary delivery system, but by a comprehensive understanding of how their content will be delivered and monetized across all platforms, from computer to mobile to TV. Even in the case of the TV platform, in a very near future scenario, broadband and TV will merge capabilities and features. As content and video become one and as multiple broadband platforms become part of a comprehensive distribution strategy, the industry will only then begin to come to grips with a full understanding of its future. Ted May, VP of Content and Value Added Services, Synacor Janice P. Anderson, Chairman and CEO, Muze Inc. Jill McNabb, Marketing Director, Naming Services, VeriSign, Inc. Pip Smith, CEO, Butterfly Communications Global Inc. Marc Scarpa, CEO, SimplyNew Mike More, CEO and Founder, Nabbr Markus Almer, President and co-founder, Almer/Blank, Moderator Jill McNabb, Marketing Director, Naming Services, VeriSign, Inc.: Jill McNabb, marketing director for the Naming Services business unit of VeriSign, Inc. is responsible for global marketing and strategic planning for VeriSign’s naming products including .com, .net, .tv and .cc. An expert in the domain name industry, McNabb conducts primary and secondary market research on topics related to domain names and the Internet. She also publishes the VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief, a series of reports on the key trends in the domain name industry and has spoken to various audiences in the US and overseas. McNabb has received awards for designing and launching several innovative and highly successful marketing programs that directly impacted the company’s bottom line. Prior to serving in her current position, McNabb worked as a VeriSign product manager for several products including Internationalized Domain Names, a wireless Internet navigation product and a consumer Web site building tool. In addition to VeriSign, McNabb previously worked as a product manager for Bank One within their wingspanbank.com group, where she managed credit products for the first online-only bank. Previously, she also worked in fundraising and membership programs for the University of Virginia Alumni Association and as a secondary school teacher in Western Japan. Markus Almer, President and co-founder, Almer/Blank: Manages the external face of the company including business development, marketing and PR. Markus brings valuable entrepreneurial experience combined with proven leadership and international business skills. Building an interactive media agency over the past 8 years, he gained extensive experience in Internet technologies. As an Inventor of a patented Graphic User Interface he knows the market opportunities of Rich Media Applications. Markus is a Mentor at the Digital Content Lab of the American Film Institute and speaks frequently at events and conferences including Digital Hollywood, FITC Hollywood and the American Marketing Association. Markus is also co-founder of the Rich Media Institute in Los Angeles. He began his career in digital media in 1998 by introducing patented digital business card technology to the US market. Markus earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Zurich. He grew up in Switzerland and currently resides in Southern California. Janice P. Anderson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MUZE, Janice Anderson is an experienced business leader, strategist, and entrepreneur with an impressive track record in technology marketing and global operations. Her extensive career includes executive management positions in communications and enterprise software, with Onyx Software, Lucent Technologies, and Lucent's predecessor organization AT&T Corporation, as well as with two technology startups. In her most recent role as chairman and CEO for Onyx Software, Anderson and her team were able to deliver record profit, introduce new product lines, and reposition the company as a solutions provider to medium and large companies. As vice president of Lucent's CRM solutions business unit, Anderson led a team of nearly 2,000 employees that were focused on developing and delivering a broad range of solutions and services to customers across multiple industries. Under her leadership, revenue more than doubled and the unit attained the number-one market position in every major global market. Anderson has a BA in Commerce from the University of Toronto and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from York University. Theodore May, Vice President, Content & Value Added Services, Synacor: Ted May recently joined Synacor as vice president of Content and Value Added Services. He currently oversees the acquisition and management of portal and premium online content from key content providers, premium package integration, and day to day content publishing through online portals deployed by service providers using Synacor’s platform. May has extensive experience creating digital media products and engineering business strategies for entertainment and media Fortune 500 companies. Most recently, May served as vice president of AOL Broadband and worked on key initiatives for DSL, Satellite, Home Networking and "Beyond the PC" digital services. Additionally, May has held executive positions at Cablevision Systems Corp., Drexel Burnham Lambert and the CBS Television Network. May holds an MBA from New York University and a BFA from The Juilliard School. Marc Scarpa, CEO, SimplyNew: Marc Scarpa is a pioneer in directing / producing live interactive media events and broadband programming networks. With development of media communities as his focus, he is among the top progressive media architect in the industry. His most recent credits include the Green Apple Festival, which was the largest Green Festival gathering in history. Over eight simultaneous locations throughout the United States, which included a 2-hour program for MySpace, Iclips Network and the Discovery channel. MySpace LIVE! a seven hour live High definition broadcast on the MySpace network that celebrated community through individual expression. The transmission featured recording artists Linkin Park along with 10 additional artists on the Projekt Revolution tour and was watched by over 1 million MySpace members. A ground breaking first, the program incorporated mobile phones used by fans to capture content from a 1st person perspective which were mixed live into the HD broadcast. Ogilvy branded entertainment group and Diversion Media strategic advisory engagements focused on the development of web/mobile based video broadband networks. These engagements included the hiring and management of specialized teams in development, content creations, content syndication, platform analysis and overall site development. Engagement also included creative design, strategic direction, content development, budgeting and identifying technology partnerships. During the last four years he has produced a monthly salon series for the Producers Guild of America sponsored by the New Media Council east of which he is founding chair. The series is captured and distributed online and released as an annual DVD for PGA membership nationwide. This conversation series has featured such prominent speakers as Al Franken (US Senator candidate/Humorist), Kevin Ryan (CEO DoubleClick), Alan Patricof (co-founder Apax Partners), Herb Granath (Chairman Emeritus, ESPN), Jeffrey Dachis (founder Razorfish & current chair PGA NMC), Michael S. Simon, (Chief Strategic Officer, Harry Fox Agency), Eric Wachtmeister (Chairman and Founder, A Small World), Bob Berenson (Vice Chairman and General Manager of Grey Global Group), Chris Wedge (Academy Award winning producer Ice Age) and Peter Becker (President, Criterion Collection) among a few top through leaders in the industry. Mike More, CEO and Founder, Nabbr: Mike More is a serial entrepreneur with over 18 years experience in the music industry. Prior to founding Nabbr, Mike founded a highly successful music production and publishing company. Mike's companies worked with a wide range of artists such as Don Henley, Britney Spears and Garth Brooks selling over 20 million CDs worldwide. Mike is a voting member of the Producers & Engineers wing of NARAS. Bill Cromie has been with Nabbr since its inception. Typical of his Gen-Y generation, Bill is an early adopter and lives and breathes all things Web 2.0. A graduate of NYU, he brings over 10 years of software development experience, having started programming while still in high school. At Nabbr, Bill leads the software team in its continual development of the core widget platform. Previously, Bill designed software systems for the real estate development market.