Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from Digital Hollywood Spring, 2006 For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Tuesday, August 15 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM Track I: Social Networking in Mobile: Content, Communications and Monetizing Michael Grossi, VP of Business Development, HELIO, Inc. Shawn Conahan, CEO, Intercasting Thomas V. Ryan, Senior Vice President, Digital & Mobile Strategy and Development, EMI Music Jed Stremel, Director, Facebook Chris Bull, Vice President, Marketing, AirPlay Bryan Biniak, General Partner, Providence Ventures Michael Wehrs, Chief Technical Evangelist, AOL Wireless Dorrian Porter, CEO, Mozes, Inc., Moderator Michael Wehrs, Chief Technical Evangelist, AOL Wireless: Michael Wehrs is the Chief Technical Evangelist for AOL’s wireless group. He serves as technical visionary, anticipating trends and outlining AOL’s development strategy for wireless products and services. Michael joined AOL from Microsoft Corporation, where he was responsible for driving industry adoption and business development opportunities in support of Microsoft’s products. He had previously held roles working on technology and standards, and directing market research and product planning, for Microsoft’s Mobile and Embedded Devices division. Between roles with Microsoft’s mobile group, Michael was a principal at Ignition Partners where he led business development for the firms’ portfolio companies, including securing and negotiating funding. Previously, Michael had been director of new technology at Samsung Electronics America and executive vice president for Orcatron Communications, Ltd. He has also held director positions at Sony Electronics, Inc. and Conner Peripherals, Inc. Michael graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Syracuse University. Michael Grossi, VP of Business Development, HELIO, Inc.: As the vice president of business development at HELIO, Inc, Michael Grossi is responsible for driving strategic relationships with the company’s carriers, handset partners and content partners to ensure a differentiated brand experience in the marketplace. Prior to joining HELIO, Michael was a vice president/partner at Adventis, a leading management consultancy to the converging telecom, computing and media industries. As the company’s wireless practice leader for North America, Michael was an early architect of the MVNO movement in the United States, helping develop or advise more than a dozen brand entrants, including several existing MVNOs, such as VirginMobile, Boost and OnStar. While at Adventis, Michael was managing director of Equity Ventures Practice where he worked with venture capital/private equity firms and their portfolio companies looking to launch wireless businesses. He provided strategic guidance to leading wireless and wire-line carriers, including Sprint, Nextel, SBC, British Telecom, Bellsouth and Bell Canada. Michael was a captain in the U.S. Air Force, where he led program management and financial functions for several technology-focused defense programs within the Intelligence and Space Commands. He received a BS/BA degree in finance from Villanova University and an M.B.A. degree with a concentration in finance from Bentley College. Thomas V. Ryan, Senior Vice President, Digital & Mobile Strategy and Development, EMI Music: Thomas V. Ryan is senior vice president of digital & mobile strategy and development at EMI Music. In this role, Tom oversees the company’s worldwide digital and mobile strategy and is responsible for growing its global digital revenues by defining new business models, negotiating partnership deals, and collaborating closely with EMI’s operating companies around the world. In his previous role as senior vice president of digital & mobile business development, Tom ran the digital business development group for EMI Music North America. Prior to EMI, Tom led mobile music strategy and business development as a full-time consultant for Virgin Mobile USA, the leading MVNO that is a joint venture between Virgin Group and Sprint Nextel. During Tom’s tenure, Virgin Mobile became the largest seller of mobile music products in the US on a per-subscriber basis and was named by Billboard as "the most aggressive mobile music marketer. In 1996, Tom co-founded and served as chief music officer of Cductive, one of the first Internet retailers of mp3 music downloads and custom CDs. In addition to driving the company’s overall strategy and growth, Tom managed Cductive's content acquisition efforts, which resulted in exclusive digital rights to over 400 of the world’s leading independent record labels. In December 1999, Tom sold the company to eMusic, which was subsequently acquired by Universal Music Group. He advised eMusic during 2000, when the company launched the world's first online music subscription service, and helped eMusic’s current owner, Dimensional Associates, re-launch the company in 2004. Prior to Cductive, Tom lived in Europe for five years, where he served as commercial director for an international trading company. A dual citizen of the US and Ireland who speaks five languages, Tom holds a BA in Government from Dartmouth College, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and also studied at Tunghai University in Taiwan. Jed Stremel, Director, Facebook, Jed Stremel oversees Facebook's mobile strategy transforming how individuals find and express information relevant to their life. Prior to Facebook, Jed played key partnership, business operations, and strategic roles at high-growth businesses. He spearheaded mobile initiatives for Yahoo! building the company's efforts to empower seamless communications across SMS, WAP, Java, BREW, and other mobile technologies. At Tellme Jed managed distribution, promotion, and licensing relationships with leading online and telecommunications partners. Jed holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree in economics and public policy from Duke University. Shawn Conahan, founder, Chairman and CEO, Intercasting Corporation: Shawn Conahan is an accomplished entrepreneur and skilled manager with a track record of success in the mobile industry and digital media space. Prior to founding Intercasting Corporation, Conahan was president and chief executive of Moviso, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vivendi Universal. Under Conahan’s leadership, Moviso grew into the largest ringtone provider in North America by the time it was sold in December 2003 for $25mm. From 1999 to 2001, Conahan was at MP3.com, first as the launch manager of the controversial my.mp3.com service and ultimately serving as vice president and GM of the MP3 Mobile division. During his tenure at MP3.com, he was responsible for successfully building the infrastructure and establishing the agreements to distribute MP3.com’s content to non-PC devices. Prior to MP3.com Conahan was the global program manager at Universal Music Group to assist with the Polygram post-merger technical integration. Conahan’s other previous positions include senior manager at BDO Seidman Management Consulting, where he focused on the growth and management challenges of middle-market public and private organizations; and he was the associate consultant at The Warner Group, a consulting firm where Shawn excelled in the communications infrastructure practice deploying regional wireless communications systems. Conahan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge. Chris Bull, Vice President of Marketing, AirPlay: As Vice President of Marketing at AirPlay, Chris brings over 12 years of experience marketing award winning consumer technology software and hardware products. Chris has worked in various marketing and general management roles at Logitech, Microsoft, and Namco, and has launched over 100 market leading products in both console gaming and PC peripherals. At AirPlay, Chris directs all product and outbound marketing efforts to build a community of users who play along against live TV from their mobile phones using AirPlay. Most recently, Chris was general manager of Logitech´s digital writing business. Chris built the business from the start-up phase into a global marketing and engineering organization to launch the category. Prior to that, he was Director of Marketing for Logitech´s core mouse and trackball business, where he drove revenue increases of over 40% by delivering a number of innovative products. While managing this flagship consumer business for Logitech, revenues for Chris’s category grew to more than $300 million. At Microsoft Chris was the Lead Product Manager for the SideWinder game device line which achieved a greater than 50% market share under his leadership. He launched numerous products for Microsoft, including the Game Voice, an innovative headset with multiplayer connectivity that became the headset for xbox Live. Prior to Microsoft, Chris led Namco´s North American marketing, with a focus on print and broadcast advertising and public relations to raise awareness of Namco’s game brands. At Namco, Chris launched and managed some of the top game brands in the industry, including Tekken, Ridge Racer and Pac-Man, helping the company achieve a leading position on the first PlayStation platform. Chris holds a Masters of International Management from the Garvin School of International Management (Thunderbird), as well as both a B.S. in Economics and B.A. in Political Science from Arizona State University. BRYAN BINIAK, Managing Director & Founder, Provenance Ventures, LLC: Bryan is Managing Director (MD) and Founder of Provenance Ventures, LLC.,a venture capital firm focused on the advancement of society through investments in social technologies and early stage companies. Provenance’s first fund, a $10 million fund, is focused on Media and Communications-centered seed investments. Bryan has led and managed numerous investments in US , Asia, and European companies across a diverse technology spectrum including interactive music, video game, internet, messaging and wireless communications. An active participant in industry associations, Bryan currently serves as a member of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's (CTIA) Executive Committee. He is co-chairman of CTIA's Downloadable Content Committee where he is working to establish a cross-carrier super distribution network as well as industry policy on downloadable media, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and a content rating and classification system for North America. In his capacity as CTIA Executive Committee member and industry expert, he has recently testified before the FCC on issues relating to DRM. He has also served as a Board Member of the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) and co-founded of the Mobile Media Institute at the University of Southern California. Prior to founding Provenance Ventures, Bryan served as senior vice president and general manager for AG Interactive’s Gen M division. AG Interactive is the new media division of American Greetings Corporation (NYSE), a $2 billion dollar publicly-held company and one of the world's leading manufacturers of self and social expression products. Bryan was recruited by AG to start the division where he acquired two companies and managed a team of 160 people; developing, distributing and marketing cross platform mobile and messaging products targeting 16 – to 30 year olds. The division’s product portfolio includes MSN Messenger’s Kiwee, Univision Movil, Def Jam Mobile, Sports Illustrated Mobile and Midiringtones. The division sells its products through over 45 wireless carriers and 25 web sites around the globe. Bryan has also served as chief operating officer and executive vice president of sales and marketing for Vivendi Universal's wireless subsidiary Moviso. He participated in the sale of Moviso to InfoSpace in November, 2003. Biniak previously served as Chief Operating Officer of YourMobile and Premium Wireless Services, where he led its sale to Vivendi Universal in January, 2002. He also served as founder and CEO of China-based MusicZone, and was a founding member and vice president of MIT Media Lab spin-off Harmonix Music Systems, a leading video-game developer and publisher of titles such as Guitar Hero, Amplitude, and Frequency. Bryan is a frequent speaker and author. He has spoken at global venues ranging from industry to mainstream business events and seminars. Bryan holds a B.A. in International Relations, Business and Economics from Boston University and attended both The Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Ceara in Forteleza, Brazil. Bryan resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Dorrian Porter is the founder and CEO of Mozes, Inc., a mobile search company based in Palo Alto, California that connects consumers with information at the point of inspiration. Previously, Dorrian was a co-founder of HigherMarkets, Inc., where he helped pioneer the concept and delivery of on-demand, multi-tenant software applications. As CEO in 2002, Dorrian guided the company to its acquisition by SciQuest, a Nasdaq listed company, and through June 2005 led SciQuest's sales & strategy for the university market. Prior to co-founding HigherMarkets, Dorrian practiced corporate and securities law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California where he represented a wide range of technology companies. Prior to joining WSGR, he worked in Canada as a corporate associate at McCarthy Tetrault, an analyst at Harrowston, Inc. (now TD Capital) and at the Canadian Parliament, including the Prime Minister's Office. He received a law degree and an MBA from the University of Toronto and Bachelor of Social Sciences from the University of Ottawa.