3:50 PM - 5:00 PM
Track II:
Strategies in Wireless Devices and Services - from Audio & Video to Downloads: How Innovation Drives Avenues for Subscriber and Revenue Expansion
The wireless experience is merging with entertainment consciousness. What was thought to be absurd two years ago is now fait accompli. The mobile device is about to reinvent itself once again to include the full range of entertainment dynamics, from the functionality of a radio or MP3 player to the video quality of a DVD player. Video phones will be for watching TV, watching friends on vacation and for watching movies. Mobile devices will range from the mini, the micro to the mini-laptop, perfect for watching full-featured live sporting events. Music will be accessed via the mobile device. Video shopping will be become a factor in the marketplace. The parameters of the mobile audio and video experience are only now beginning to be understood.
Gilles Babinet, CEO and Founder, Musiwave
Ken Wirt, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, palmOne, Inc.
Louis K. Gump, Vice President, Mobile, The Weather Channel Interactive
Paul Werp, Mobile Connectivity Solutions Business Director, Wireless Terminals Business Unit, Semiconductor Group, Texas Instruments
Tom Parrish, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Content, Mobliss
Ian Blaine, Chief Executive Officer, thePlatform
Luis Ubinas, Director, West Coast Media Practice, McKinsey & Co, Moderator
Additional speakers to be announced
Louis Gump, Vice President, Mobile, The Weather Channel Interac
tive: Louis Gump, vice president of mobile at The Weather Channel Interactive (TWCi), has responsibility for all of the company’s branded offerings for mobile consumers, including downloadable wireless Doppler radar applications, multimedia offerings, messaging products, and wireless Web sites. During his tenure, TWCi has launched various products such as made-for-mobile video and on-demand messaging, and has continued to integrate mobile offerings into weather.com, the Web site of The Weather Channel. Previously, Gump served as director of business development and director of mobile products and services for TWCi. In those capacities, he had responsibility for distribution relationships for weather.com, as well as operating responsibility for wireless products and services. Prior to joining TWCi in 2001, Gump was director of business development at ExpoExchange and a product manager at 3MC. He also served as a business strategy consultant for Accenture. Gump serves as vice chairman and treasurer of The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and is active in other industry associations including the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) and the Online Publishers Association (OPA). A native of Johnson City, TN, Gump received his MBA from the University of Virginia and bachelor’s degree from Duke University. Ken Wirt, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, palmOne,
Inc.: As senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing, Ken is responsible for all palmOne marketing activities, including product marketing. Prior to joining the company, Ken was the founder and chief executive officer of Riffage.com, a venture capital?funded music media company backed by Mayfield Fund, Bertelsmann and AOL. The management team he recruited built Riffage into a popular music site on the Internet, with 1 million unique visitors per month, signing major sponsors including Sony, Sega, Lipton's and Telocity. Before founding his own company, Ken was vice president of corporate marketing for Diamond Multimedia Systems, a leading PC peripherals company, where he managed all worldwide marketing functions, tech support, customer service and Internet marketing. Ken also led the introduction of the Rio portable MP3 player, which established the MP3 market and maintains a leading share today after the entry of Sony, Compaq, Philips, Samsung and Intel, among others. Previously, Ken headed marketing for Apple Computer's PIE (personal interactive electronics) division, overseeing all Newton marketing programs. Ken also has held key marketing roles at NEC Technologies, Cognitive Systems and Atari. He holds a master of business administration degree from Stanford University and an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.Gilles Babinet, Chairman & Co-Founder, Musiwave: Gilles Babinet has
a history of creating, growing and managing successful businesses, and Musiwave is the fourth company he has founded. A provider of mobile music entertainment services such as full track music downloads, ringtones, ringbacktones and Pictones™, Musiwave has offices in seven countries and distributes its services in 18 countries through more than 30 mobile telecommunications operators and handset manufacturers. Prior to establishing Musiwave, Gilles founded Absolut, a consultancy firm specializing in product design and marketing. Under his aegis, the company became a major player in its field, and was eventually purchased by Euro-RSCG, a worldwide communications group, in 2000. Fascinated by the possibilities and rapid development in the mobile entertainment market, he founded Musiwave in 2000. Based in Paris, Gilles is an outspoken and passionate supporter of the issues surrounding the mobile and entertainment industries and serves as a member of several key organizations including the MEF, of which he is a director. He is a frequent speaker at industry events around the world.Luis Ubiñas is a Director in McKinsey & Company’s West Coast Media,
Entertainment and Technology Practice, dividing his time between offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles and also overseeing the practice in Seattle and Denver. Since joining the Firm in 1989, he has focused on serving media, communications and technology companies undergoing major change –entering or exiting businesses or redesigning core processes. Luis has extensive experience in the telecommunications and cable industries: helping build consumer high-speed data businesses; introducing advanced digital set-top boxes and services; and, now, helping design the early VOIP trials. In cable operations, he has worked with MSOs across a broad range of activities, including channel line-up standardization, rebuild prioritization, and purchasing. Luis’ work for other media companies has been operations-focused, helping several newspapers improve circulation and advertising sales and working with content companies to improve international distribution and developing digital distribution strategies. For technology companies, Luis has worked with early entrants in the home networking, digital set-top box manufacturers and other hardware providers. In addition, he has served a large number of technology start-ups as part of his work with venture capital firms. Before joining McKinsey, Luis worked at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, concentrating on marketing and strategy assignments. He also worked briefly as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and as assistant to the CEO of the Honduran beer and soft drink (Coca-Cola) monopoly. Luis has an A.B. in government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College, and an M.B.A. (Baker scholar) from Harvard Business School. He currently serves on the Boards of the Digital Coast Roundtable in Los Angeles and the SteppingStone Foundation in Boston.Paul Werp, Mobile Connectivity Solutions Business Director, Wireless
Terminals Business Unit, Semiconductor Group, Texas Instruments: Paul Werp is the business director of Texas Instruments’ Mobile Connectivity Solutions Group. He is responsible for the overall MCS business line, including GPS, Bluetooth, mWLAN, and DTV. In this role, Mr. Werp drives the business strategy, the MCS product solutions roadmap, and customer relationships. Previously, Mr. Werp was the Worldwide Director of Marketing for TI’s Cellular Systems group. In that role, he managed the OMAP software platforms roadmap, software-system strategy and implementation, as well as the OMAP Ecosystem of partners and developers. During his nine-year tenure at TI, he has been instrumental in driving the company’s success with wireless equipment manufacturers, such as Ericsson and Motorola. Prior to joining TI in 1995, Paul was a product marketing engineer for Hewlett Packard’s RF semiconductor division, now part of Agilent. In this role, he focused on RF products that played a critical role in the emerging digital cellular market. Werp earned a master’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas.Tom Parrish, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Conten
t, Mobliss: As Senior Vice President, Business Development and Content, Tom Parrish heads up partnerships, alliances and licensing deals with leading brands, entertainment properties, and wireless carriers. He has been an integral member of the Mobliss leadership team for over two years, from its early days as a small start-up to its current position as a major player in the US mobile content market within the Index Group, which acquired Mobliss in 2004. He previously served six years at AT&T Wireless Services in product and business development roles, notably in the Mobile Multi-media Services Group, where he was responsible for a broad set of third party content, portal services, and messaging applications.Ian Blaine, Chief Executive Officer, thePlatform: Ian Blaine is a software industry veteran with experience at large software companies as well as successful start-ups. He has a strong background in product development, having spent over nine years at Aldus/Adobe Systems as a senior manager in the publishing division. In addition, he has proven entrepreneurial experience, having co-founded two successful start-up companies. In 1998, Ian founded an online personal information management company, Uniplanet, which he led as CEO from startup to acquisition by NBCi in 1999. In 2000, Ian co-founded thePlatform, and has successfully guided the company through two rounds of financing, and two mergers. He is a director of thePlatform and in addition to managing day-to-day activities, he sets long- term strategy for the company. Ian holds a B.A. in business administration from the University of Washington.