Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood Fall 2006 Monday, October 23 2:35 PM – 3:45 PM Session C: User Generated Content - Part II: An Internet, Communications and Advertising Transformation What’s the real future of entertainment, user generated media or traditional TV comedies or sitcoms? What, in greater number of hours per week, will capture the consumer’s interest and committed time, traditional entertainment or user generated media? These are questions that entertainment, media and advertising executives are very much asking themselves. In the past year, the MySpace web experience has revolutionized the world of entertainment, information and communications. The world of social communities, once thought to be a thing of the past has exploded and is once again on the front pages of our newspapers and magazines. There are web pages and web experiences for every human nuance and niche. Every family communicates through photo sharing and movie sharing websites. The blogging and social networking worlds have become the new “major media networks.” Is it a fad or is it the future of our collective lives? In this session we will explore user generated media as a phenomenon, as a business and as a communications and entertainment medium. Robert Levitan, CEO, Pando Keith Richman, CEO, Break.com Steve S. Jang, VP, Marketing and Business Development, imeem, inc. Anthony Batt, CEO and co-founder, Buzznet Bruce May, SVP of Corporate Development, WhiteBlox Robert C. Raciti, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, GE Commercial Finance _ Global Media & Communications (GM&C), Moderator Robert Levitan, CEO, Pando: Pando Networks is Robert Levitan's fourth start-up. Prior to founding Pando, Robert was the cofounder of iVillage, the largest community Website for women; Flooz.com, an online gift currency and corporate rewards company; and YearLook Enterprises, a publisher of video yearbooks for high schools and colleges. In between starting companies from scratch and some adventures in world travel, Robert has also been a marketing advisor and executive coach with several companies. Levitan was a strategic marketing advisor for Oddpost, an innovative Web-mail service company acquired by Yahoo. He has helped Pearson LLC launch a television series in China and AT&T Wireless set up its Internet operating division. Robert serves on the Board of Directors of Mobius Management Systems, a leading provider of software that supports content intensive e-business applications, the Executive Council of New York, a trade association and industry catalyst representing senior executives, and New York Cares, a service organization that coordinates volunteers who work with children, the homeless and the elderly. Robert also enjoys mountain climbing with his two brothers. Keith Richman, CEO, Break.com: Keith Richman, a recognized industry leader and successful entrepreneur, is chief executive officer for Break.com (formerly Big-Boys.com). Keith is responsible for providing the company’s overall strategic direction and leading the company in the areas of business development and marketing. Since launching Break, Keith has grown the site to one of the world’s most trafficked online entertainment destinations with more than 13 million unique visitors and 600 million page impressions each month. He was a pioneer in enabling the use of video content on user-generated sites and was also the first to develop the paid content model for the user-generated market. Prior to co-founding Break.com, Keith was the Director of Business Development for Billpoint Inc. Keith was integral in developing the business plan and raising venture funding, which ultimately led to the company’s successful acquisition by eBay in 1999. Previous posts also include Business Development Manager at Excite and Classifieds2000, as well as director of Corporate Planning at the Walt Disney Company, where he focused on consumer products, cable and emerging media. A sought-after panelist at top industry conferences, Keith is considered an leading expert in marketing to the coveted young male demographic; he was recently included in TV Week’s 2006 Hot List and recognized in the prestigious annual "40 Under 40" by Multichannel News. Keith holds an MA and a BA from Stanford in International Policy Studies and resides in Los Angeles with his wife. Thomas McInerney is the co-founder and CEO of GUBA®. Mr. McInerney began his professional career as an engineer/scientist for Apple Computer's Worldwide Research and Development Group in Cupertino, CA. While there, he helped to develop Apple's early Intranet in 1996. He left Apple to join Sony, where he was involved in designing the first VAIO laptop computer. An early believer in the promise of the World Wide Web, Mr. McInerney left Sony at the end of 1997 to become an entrepreneur and co-founded GUBA in January of 1998. Under his leadership, GUBA became profitable in less than a year after it was founded and has grown at a 67% compound annual growth rate over the late 8 years. He holds a degree in Computer Science from Arizona State University. Steve Jang, VP, Marketing and Business Development, imeem: With experience in helping to build several internet startups and to execute digital media strategy at large companies, Steve focuses on strategic alliances, product planning, and consumer marketing for the imeem service. Prior to joining imeem, Steve was Director of Digital Business Development at EMI Music, where he worked on global digital partnerships and new platforms strategy. Over the course of his career, Steve has worked in business development, marketing and research roles at Kyocera Wireless, Xuma (Dell and Intel venture), WR Hambrecht & Co., and Salon.com. Steve holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and an MBA from the University of Southern California. For fun, Steve programmed in Pascal as a child, but now spends his free time seeking out surf breaks in California and Hawaii and producing live music shows. Anthony Batt is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Buzznet. A true visionary who is able to transform ideas into leading technologies, Anthony has helped grow Buzznet into a vibrant social media experience that enables a global community of pop culture enthusiasts to communicate through media based on shared interests, aspirations and passions. Anthony brings a successful track record to the company in developing and designing interactive multimedia content and technology for some of the country’s leading publishing brands. After working as a worldwide consultant on Internet publishing and interactive content design, Anthony joined Time Inc. to manage Internet publishing and production for its various properties, including Fortune.com, Time.com, People.com, Teenpeople.com, Money.com and ET.com. In 2000, Anthony and partners founded Metapa Inc. (www.metapa.net). Metapa’s software product provided media publishers a powerful platform to store, secure and share static and streaming media files over the Internet. Anthony currently resides in Los Angeles. Robert C. Raciti, Ph. D., Senior Vice President, GE Commercial Finance _ Global Media & Communications (GM&C): Robert C. Raciti, Ph.D. is a Senior Vice President with GE Commercial FinanceÅfs Global Media & Communications business, specializing in marketing & technology risk. In his current position, Dr. Raciti focuses on the impact of innovative new technologies in order to gain a richer understanding of the sectorÅfs competitive landscape. He has over 19 years of operational experience in the science and technology fields, most recently spending the last five years serving as a Vice President of Risk for GE Commercial Finance. Before joining GE, he was Director of Networks and Telecommunications for Pitney Bowes, where his organization was responsible for enterprise-wide voice, data and e-commerce applications. He has also held senior positions in the Engineering and Sales organizations of MCI Telecommunications and Loral Electronic Systems. Dr. Raciti holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Nova Southeastern University's School of Computer and Information Sciences, as well as an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (BEE) from Manhattan College. His continuing research focuses on the use of technology and its contribution to the competitive profile of organizations. Most recently, Dr. Raciti published a paper entitled "Reducing Uncertainty in Converging Markets: Media & Communications" in the March/April issue of the Commercial Lending Review (2006). He is also an experienced presenter who has shared his expertise at key events including TeleManagement World 2005 where he was a keynote panelist discussing innovation in telecommunications with Lynne Russell, CNN news anchor. Bruce May, SVP of Corporate Development, WhiteBlox: As an interactive media expert experienced in business development within the IPTV industry, Mr. May holds the title of Senior Vice President of Corporate Development with WhiteBlox. He brings his many years of video production, broadcast and creative media development to Continental Vista Broadcasting Group, Inc. In the last two years he has grown with the company helping to guide the development of the business models in a highly dynamic business environment. Mr. May has helped develop the business solution for The Texas Music Café, a premier WhiteBlox client, and continues to help expand WhiteBlox into new media markets. Mr. May began his broadcasting career with Quanah Productions in 1996, selling, writing and co-producing television commercials, marketing videos and training videos. He founded New Light Productions in 2000 working on a variety of projects including film, video and multimedia productions. He completed Dreaming of Tokyo, his first film script in 2001. He also contributed to the production of, Primal, a full-length movie produced by Gold Spur Entertainment, (2003). Mr. May’s other clients over the years have included a number of local production companies [including Quanah Productions, 3D Texas, MGA Productions] and individual businesses [including Compaq, Jim Will Ph.D. and Associates, The Texas Real Estate Show and many others]. Mr. May is also a member of the American Society of Training and Development. He completed the ASTD certification course offered by the University of Oklahoma in 2001. Combining his experience in marketing and training, Mr. May authored The Value Based Marketing Process‘, in 2001 which offers a systematic method to marketing that focuses on putting core values into marketing strategies. Mr. May also authored Market Yourself‘ in 2002, a seminar designed to teach individuals how to better market themselves. Over the last five years Mr. May has focused his attention on interactive media gaining expertise in interactive broadcast solutions. Mr. May has developed rich media projects and is expert in multimedia production. His experience with Continental Vista Broadcasting Group and now with WhiteBlox, during a time of industry incubation, combined with his creative experience and video centric world view, has given Mr. May valuable insight into an Industry that is growing expertise from the inside out. Bruce May graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.