Saturday, January 7 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Session A - DH17: Personalized Consumer Media: From ITV and Broadband Advertising and Content to Blogs and Podcasting Within the world of the Broadband, TV, the Set-Top, Mobile and PVR experience, searching for content, making accessible the content and at the same time, offering an advertising and marketing experience is our challenge. Everything from blogging and Podcasting to Interactive TV is altering the user experience completely. The industry is finding a ready audience with an ever growing demand for better content and a better and a completely personalized experience. With the massive amount of content and technology being thrown at the consumer, navigating through that experience is not only difficult, it can be off-putting. We have entered the world of integrated user experience – the post-TiVo generation of consumers and viewers who are watching and listening to new forms of content on new platforms of technology. Tom Flanagan, Executive Director, Broadband Strategy, Texas Instruments Kevin Cohen, Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) Rafe Needleman, Editor, Buying Business Advice, CNET.com, Columnist, Release 1.0 Shawn Gold, President/Publisher, Weblogs, Inc Dan O'Brien, Chairman & CEO, Gotuit Media Ben Mendelson, founder & President, Interactive Television Alliance, Moderator Tom Flanagan, Director, Broadband Strategy, Broadband Communications Group, Texas Instruments: Tom Flanagan is Director, Broadband Strategy for Texas Instruments’ Broadband Communications Group. TI’s broadband communications business includes cable modems, digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, integrated access devices (IADs), Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, carrier infrastructure, and home and office wireless networking. Prior to this, Mr. Flanagan was Director, Business Development for Telogy Networks and Vice President Sales and Marketing for ADC Skyline. Mr. Flanagan also held various marketing, sales and business development positions during a 12 year career with Dynatech Communications. He holds a B.S. degree from James Madison University. Kevin Cohen is senior vice president of strategic planning for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.). Cohen is responsible for Turner’s corporate and new technology strategic planning. He is based in Atlanta and reports to Norman Bellingham, senior vice president of strategic planning. Cohen most recently served as senior vice president business development and general manager of interactive and enhanced television, where he was responsible for developing and managing the company's interactive and enhanced television efforts; coordinating all Turner network interactive TV initiatives; partnering with the networks in Turner’s interactive TV product creation and design; and exploring external partnerships and furthering distribution affiliate relationships. Cohen managed Turner’s relationships with Wink, AOL TV, Real Networks, Mystro TV, GoldPocket and Visionik, among others, as well as Turner’s interactive/enhanced TV, broadband and wireless distribution. Cohen also managed Turner’s VOD business, successfully launching CNN, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim and TCM VOD services. Previously, he served as vice president, business development, new media for Turner International Asia Pacific Ltd., where he managed Turner’s interactive business development in Asia. He was responsible for developing new interactive properties, including regional/local language versions of CNN Interactive and exploring strategic new media partnerships and equity investments. Cohen also oversaw Turner’s mobile phone and broadband licensing revenue streams. In addition to interactive responsibilities, Cohen worked on business development functions that included Turner’s on-air properties. He helped engineer Turner’s equity investment in the Korean animation channel Tooniverse and served on the Tooniverse board of directors. He also played a key role in planning, implementing and launching Cartoon Network Japan in 1997 and served on the network’s management committee. Cohen joined TBS, Inc., in 1996 as director of business development, responsible for identifying new business opportunities and leveraging CNN Interactive content across new distribution platforms. Prior to joining Turner, he served as administrator for the Asia Pacific Policy Center. From 1988 to 1991, Cohen worked with the story departments of 20th Century Fox Films Corp. and MGM/UA and assisted in the development of United Artists’ films from 1986 to 1988. Cohen holds a bachelor of arts degree in government and legal studies from Bowdoin College and a master of science degree in business administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Daniel J. O’Brien is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Gotuit Media Corp. Prior to joining Gotuit in April of 2005 O’Brien was the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Brief Original Broadcasts, a new 24/7 digital cable channel dedicated to short form content. Previously, Mr. O’Brien served as High Speed Access Corp.’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and was a director of the company. He was responsible for all functions of the Company as well as producing the best financial return in the sector through a sale of the company assets to Charter Communications. Prior to HSA, Mr. O’Brien served as the President and Chief Operating Officer of PRIMESTAR, Inc. where he oversaw the company's growth to 2.2 million customers, culminating in a sale to DirecTV. He previously served as President of Time Warner Satellite Services, which marketed and installed PRIMESTAR services, and served on the board of PRIMESTAR Partners, LP. Prior to that, Mr. O’Brien was Vice President of Operations in Time Warner Cable’s Cincinnati division and served as Vice President of New Business for Warner Cable Communications, Inc. in Dublin, Ohio. Prior to Time Warner, Mr. O’Brien worked for Jones Intercable as General Manager of properties in Alexandria, Virginia and Chicago, Illinois. He began his cable career with Jones in finance in Denver, Colorado in 1982. Rafe Needleman, Editor, Buying Business Advice, CNET.com, Columnist, Release 1.0: Rafe Needleman has over 15 years of experience covering technology and business, and is currently Editor for CNET.com. He focuses on creating content that addresses the challenges people face when purchasing technology for work or business. He also writes Rafe’s Radar, a bi-weekly column about technology startups, for Release 1.0. Before joining CNET Networks in 2004, Needleman held several editorial leadership positions at a number of industry publications, including InfoWorld, PC/Computing, Red Herring, and Byte Magazine, establishing himself as one of the industry’s leading tech journalists. At Red Herring, he wrote Catch of the Day, a column about startups, which was emailed to over 150,000 subscribers every weekday. Needleman is a recipient of several Computer Press Awards, including best hardware review, best software review, and best online review. He has also hosted two event series: Under the Radar, in which startup company CEOs give their best pitches to a panel of expert venture capitalists; and Sector Watch, a strategic view at emerging technology markets. Shawn Gold is President/Publisher of WeblogsInc, the largest publisher of professional blogs on the web with over 7 million monthly readers. Among his 74 Blogs are www.Enadget.com, www.Luxist.com, www.AutoBlog.com, & www.joystiq.com. Before Joining WeblogsInc, Shawn was president of publicly traded Internet entertainment company Intermix.com (AMEX:MIX), steering it to profitability in the dotcom downturn. Prior to Intermix, Shawn served as vice president of marketing and communications for ecommerce company WHN, providing ecommerce service to entertainment brands, including The 2002 Olympics, ABC, NBC, Comedy Central, MTV, and Fox. Prior to WHN.com, Shawn served as head of strategic planning at Rare Medium where he created the inaugural interactive communication strategies for P&G, General Foods and Nestle. In 1995, Shawn served as GM and Founder of Icon New media's Advertising Division. There created the first interstitial ads on the web and an industry-leading advertising integration system based on time rotation and contextual integration. He started developing interactive content in 1992 as a partner with TouchTunes Interactive, a telecommunications music marketing service in the USA, Japan and New Zealand. He is a founding board member of the Producers Guild of America's New Media Council. Ben Mendelson is the founder and president of the Interactive Television Alliance, an independent trade association representing the broad interests of the entire iTV industry. He is also the co-founder and sr. partner in 2degree Partners, a management consultancy involved in iTV, Direct Response TV, and integrated online services. Ben has been an innovator in developing interactive "t-commerce" applications and has been involved in New Media marketing from its earliest days. He was a founding member of Digital Bayside and the Addressable Media Coalition and has held leadership positions in various organizations, including the Electronic Retailing Assoc. (ERA) and the Assoc. of Interactive Media (AIM). In January 1994, he started one of the first commercial Internet companies, where his clients included Sony Pictures, HBO, House of Blues, Philips Media, and Graham Nash. In 1996, Ben created the Internet Services Division for Curtco Freedom Publishing, where he designed online versions of various magazines including HomeTheater, Entertainment@Home, and Mobile Computing. In 1999, he developed the Internet division for Williams Direct, a full service Direct Response TV (DRTV) advertising agency. Later that year, Ben was hired to head the Internet program for the Electronic Retailing Association, the primary trade organization for the DRTV industry. In April 2000, Ben became VP of Business Development for the Winterberry Group, a research based consultancy that specializes in Direct Marketing; his focus was integrating iTV / DRTV and developing new business models. Prior to his Internet experience (from 1982 - 1991), Ben was the owner and director of LAPA (L.A. Art Photographers Association), an art gallery and resource center for commercial and fine art photography. In 1992, he founded PhotoSource, a showcase, service bureau, and training center for digital imaging. Ben has long established relationships with EarthLink, Netscape/AOL, and WebTV/MicrosoftTV along with Liberate, OpenTV, Wink, QVC, HSN, and Guthy-Renker. He has taught at the American Film Institute(AFI), UCLA Extension, So. CA Institute of Architecture(SCIArch), L.A. Internet Group, and the Learning Annex. Ben writes a regular column for Response Magazine and has been published in MediaTrends, Digitrends, Retailing.org, and Entertainment@Home. He is on the advisory board of the American Film Institute (AFI) Enhanced TV Program and is a familiar speaker at many iTV, Internet, and Direct Marketing conferences.