Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Building Blocks 2008 Tuesday, August 5th 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Track IV: The Digital and Connected Home The NexGen Entertainment Home Experience - From the Smart & Connected TV to the PVR, Set-Top & PC Experience The home entertainment experience is about one basic idea - to deliver more and varied media-rich content to the consumer - giving consumers what they want, when they want it. But the battle for this consumer sector is about to assert itself as a competition of technologies, more complicated than the older battle of the home PC vs. the TV. This is a world containing a new generation of TV sets, HD and games devices, wirelessly connected homes with connected PCs as well as a host of set-top box and DVR options. The next generation of home entertainment hardware, software and services will come into battle delivering HDTV, Internet, music, games, movies, plus innovative two-way communication and telephony services. This battle for the home will be a tremendous victory for both the consumer, the technology industries as well as for the entertainment industry. It presents the simple proposition that offering the consumer more and richer services in a competitive environment is the perfect formula for success. JT Taylor, Director, Product Marketing, Cisco, Service Provider Video Technology Group Richard Carriere, SVP-Americas, Nero John Gildred, President, SyncTV and SVP, Pioneer Vic Odryna, Co-Founder and CEO, ZeeVee Michael Spilo, VP, Engineering, Multimedia Products, NETGEAR Jim Taylor, SVP and GM, Advanced Technology Group, Sonic Solutions David Adams, VP Business Development, RallyPoint Rick Doherty, co-founder and Director, The Envisioneering Group, Moderator JT Taylor, Director, Product Marketing, Cisco, Service Provider Video Technology Group: JT Taylor is responsible for defining key marketing strategies and objectives for all subscriber-facing products. His role includes direction of the Subscriber Networks’ product and industry marketing efforts, including trade shows, advertising, and public relations, as well as cooperative and consumer marketing initiatives. Taylor joined Scientific-Atlanta in 2000 as a strategic marketing manager in Subscriber Network Systems and played a key role in the development of Scientific-Atlanta’s cooperative and consumer marketing programs. Taylor has lead the company wide consumer research efforts for the last five years with particular focus on consumer attitudes and usage of DVR, HD and Connected Home services. Taylor also led Scientific-Atlanta’s retail trial, testing the viability of selling HD set-tops and service through retail outlets. Jim Taylor –General Manager, Advanced Technology Group, Sonic Solutions: Jim Taylor is Chief of DVD Technology and General Manager of the Advanced Technology Group at Sonic Solutions, the leading developer of DVD and CD creation software. He is the author of DVD Demystified, the best-selling book about DVD technology, published by McGraw-Hill. Called a "minor tech legend" by E! Online, Jim created the Internet DVD FAQ, writes articles and columns about DVD, serves as Chairman of the DVD Association, and sits on advisory boards of leading-edge companies in the DVD industry. Jim received the 2000 DVD Pro Discus Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry, was named one of the 21 most influential DVD executives by DVD Report, was an inaugural inductee into the 2002 Digital Media Hall of Fame, and was named one of the Pioneers of DVD by One to One magazine. He has worked with interactive media for over 25 years, developing educational software, laserdiscs, CD-ROMs, Web sites, and DVDs, along with teaching workshops, seminars, and university courses. Before joining Sonic in 2001, Jim was DVD Evangelist at Microsoft, and was formerly VP of Information Technology at Videodiscovery, an educational multimedia publishing company. Richard Carriere, SVP-Americas, Nero: Richard Carriere is Senior Vice President –Americas for Nero, leaders in the digital media industry. His role with Nero includes overseeing sales, marketing, operations, finance and business development teams in the United States, Canada and Latin America and leading them towards the company’s goals and targets. Carriere brings more than 20 years of high tech management experience, providing Nero with a holistic view of the digital media landscape and insight into the industry’s trends and future. Before joining Nero, Carriere was general manager at Corel Corporation, a publicly-traded application software company based in Ottawa, Canada. Previously, Carriere also served as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he was a member of the media and telecommunications practices and was a leader of the firm’s broadband initiative. Additionally, Carriere has worked for Ernst & Young in Montreal, Canada. Carriere earned an MBA from The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College. He also studied at the London Business School, and he graduated from the Université de Montréal with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. Carriere is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Carriere recently spoke at Digital Hollywood Media Summit New York 2008 on the demand for personalized media content. Vic Odryna, Co-Founder and CEO, ZeeVee: Vic Odryna is co-founder and CEO of ZeeVee, a company that is bridging the last fifty feet between the computer and the HDTVs in the home. Vic most recently served as executive director of strategic planning for Idearc Media, home of Superpages.com and marketing services for small businesses. Prior to Idearc (a Verizon spinoff), he served as president and CEO of Inceptor, a leading provider of search marketing technology and services. Inceptor helped clients such as the Home Shopping Network, CVS, Best Buy and Lawyers.com achieve success online. While at Inceptor, Vic also served on an advisory council to Google in search marketing. Inceptor was acquired by Verizon in 2006. Previously, Vic was a senior vice president of global marketing for Avocent, the world leader in datacenter management products. While there, he led the creation of the Avocent brand, the result of a merger of two public companies. Vic joined Avocent with the acquisition of PixelVision in 1999. He founded PixelVision in 1991, a pioneer in flat panel monitor technology whose products can still be seen populating the NYSE trading floor. PixelVision quickly grew to be ranked #25 on Inc. magazine’s prestigious list of the 500 fastest growing private companies. Vic earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, as well as a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Connecticut. Michael Spilo, VP, Engineering, Multimedia Products, NETGEAR: As Vice President of Engineering, Michael Spilo is responsible for engineering and product development for all of NETGEAR’s multimedia products. Previously, Michael founded SkipJam Corporation, a multimedia and home networking vendor that NETGEAR acquired in 2006. Prior to founding SkipJam, Michael founded Helix Software, a security and utility software firm and managed its operations until its acquisition by Network Associates in 1997. Subsequent to the merger, Michael became Vice President of Engineering for Network Associates where he was responsible for the integration of its retail offerings as well as the $130 million acquisition of Cybermedia. With 18 issued patents and 8 pending in the area of digital media, Michael is a 32-year industry veteran and an expert in technology management. David Adams, VP Business Development, RallyPoint: David Adams is Vice President of Business Development for RallyPoint Systems. He brings extensive technical, financial, and business development skills to the RallyPoint team. He offers deep skills in building whole solutions that incorporate software, content and business elements. Mr. Adams started his career with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as a manager and technical architect in Andersen's strategic technology practice in Chicago and Sophia Antipolis, France. He was a leader in managing cutting-edge enterprise software projects, rapidly expanding Accenture's capabilities in implementing large-scale Internet architectures. Mr. Adams gained experience in planning, selling, and implementing large (>$10M) technology projects to multinational corporations. Mr. Adams has worked with including some of the largest companies in the world, such as Siemens, British American Tobacco, Manufacturers Hanover, Woolworths, Hoechst, Deutschebank, and Commerzbank, to define business strategy through the use of emerging technologies. In 1997, Mr. Adams transitioned from business and technology consulting to venture capital. Mr. Adams, along with Mr. Allen, co-founded Greenfield Technology Ventures, a small seed fund and venture catalyst firm focused on enterprise software companies, where he specialized in investing in and providing interim management assistance to seed stage companies. In 1999, Mr. Adams co-founded Rocket Ventures and raised over $75M for investment in early stage technology companies. Mr. Adams held Board level positions at Senforce Technologies, eTeamz (Active.com), eBoomerang, Financial Interactive and Harmony Software. Rick Doherty, co-founder and Director, The Envisioneering Group: a two-decade old Seaford, NY Technology Assessment and Market Research Corporation. Before that, for thirteen years, Doherty was the Senior Technology Writer for Electronic Engineering Times, where he remains a guest columnist. Doherty is an electro-physicist who has garnered more than a dozen U.S. patents in computing, communications, medical electronics, high performance tooling and consumer electronics industry sectors along with dozens of international patents. During Doherty's 32 year career he has been Director of the Urban Vehicle Design Group at Pratt Institute, an engineer for Data General Corp., Chief Engineer of Lourdes Industries, Inc., founder and President of Optronic Labs and since 1983, co-founder and Director of The Envisioneering Group. There, he directs laboratory testing of technologies, products and services, oversees publication of the Envisioneering Newsletter, market research reports and provides senior executive counsel on market development and intellectual property protection, portfolio management and licensing opportunities. Doherty's prime focus is on researching and articulating the impact of advanced digital technologies, services, products, industry initiatives and standards efforts on consumers, industry and society. Doherty is a 31 year member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and is active with its Biomedical Engineering, Solid State Circuits Society , Consumer Electronics Society, Broadcast Engineering, Magnetic Technology Society, Technology & Social Policy and other I.E.E.E. societies. This is his eleventh year as a planning director for the International Conference on Consumer Electronics. Doherty is also a member of the Society for Information Display, Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers and many other technology & professional business industry associations. In addition, Doherty has been a co-chair of, and presently sits on several cross industry standards associations and technical working groups, spanning consumer digital electronics, communications, digital media and computing architecture definition groups. He is called upon by the industry to organize and chair panels at trade conferences and technical symposia more than a dozen times each year. Amongst his many industry awards, Doherty has been cited by the International Television Association for his many years of technology coverage of digital video design and engineering trends, and is the writer most cited by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment for detailed features on the evolution of America's Digital TV system. Doherty also assisted Dr. Richard Feynman, NASA and Congressional researchers in the Shuttle Challenger accident investigation at the Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center and many NASA contractor sites. In 2003, Doherty was nominated to and accepted a multi-year position on the Presidential Medal of Technology Award Selection Committee, reporting to the White House and Department of Commerce. Acting as an independent resource on the impact of digital and internet technologies on the consumer, society and business, Doherty is quoted frequently for his opinions on new technologies by CNN, CNBC, Fox News and by numerous American and international industry trade and daily business publications, including the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Newsday and the San Jose Mercury News. Doherty is married and resides in Seaford, NY with his wife and two daughters.