9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Track III:
Getting the Bling Bling: From Ringtones, Ringtunes, Advertainment to Games & Custom Branded Experience
The entertainment experience in the mobile environment is evolving from novelty platform to what will be nothing short of a fully realized world of games, music, video, advertising and branding experience. While the developing relationship between the consumer and content provider may be dependant on platforms, technology, standards and gateways, the goalposts are now in full view. And most importantly, the consumer is ready to embrace the relationship, both as participant and paying customer. In fact, the resistance of the consumer to mobile add-on fees has easily out-paced the early barriers experienced by the first generation broadband content pay packages. In this session we will explore the mobile entertainment experience, from product packages to the advertainment and branding experience.
Bryan Biniak, Senior Vice President/General Manager of Wireless, AGInteractive & President, Agmobile, American Greetings Corporation
Michael Pinto, President, CEO, mobZilla
Carolynne Schloeder, CEO, Moderati Inc.
Scott Jensen, Vice President, Licensing & Brand Partnerships, MFORMA
Tony Rovello, Product Marketing Manager, Danger
Ken Rutkowski, founder, KenRadio Broadcasting, Moderator
Carolynne Schloeder, President, Faith West: Carolynne Schloeder is responsible for directing Faith West's US operations, including its mobile content business and technology licensing for US customers. Carolynne's combined expertise in analytical marketing, digital music and wireless services gives her unique insight into the future of wireless audio content and technology. Prior to helping establish Faith West in 2002, she headed all online initiatives and strategic planning at Listen.com and helped build that start-up into a top-ten online music site. Carolynne was also responsible for market development for Visto, an early developer of Web-based applications for mobile access to enterprise data, and launched two-way paging while managing the customer base for SkyTel. Carolynne holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.Bryan Biniak is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the m
obile division of American Greetings Interactive (AG Interactive). Biniak is responsible for all wireless initiatives including technology and application development, content licensing and creation, content distribution, marketing and sales. As part of AG Interactive, Biniak recently created exclusive partnerships with high-profile brands such as Def Jam, Univision and Fuse TV and has overseen acquisitions of key content providers including MIDI RingTones and European powerhouse, K-Mobile. The division employs more than 120 people worldwide in the United States, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. AG Interactive is the digital subsidiary of American Greetings Corporation, a $2 billion a year, publicly traded company. It distributes its products through 700 retail stores and management of over 6 million linear square feet of retail space in over 115,000 retail outlets including Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Albertsons. American Greetings creates products for over 150 brands including Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon and Sports Illustrated among others. AG Interactive has over 127 million unique visitors a year and includes AmericanGreetings.com, Bluemountain.com, eGreetings.com and Beatgreets.com. The company also serves as the exclusive greeting card publisher for MSN, Yahoo, AOL and Earthlink, among others. American Greetings’ New Ventures division includes Create & Print, Instant Messaging and Email products and services. Formerly, Biniak served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Moviso, a wireless subsidiary of Vivendi Universal. Biniak was involved in the sale of Moviso to InfoSpace in January of 2002, which was acquired for $25 million. In addition, Biniak served as Chief Operating Officer of Premium Wireless Services, the predecessor to Moviso, which owned and operated YourMobile NetworksÑü a consumer Internet portal that has distributed over 100 million ringtones to over 15 million consumers in 85 countries around the world. Biniak negotiated its sale to Vivendi Universal for $15 million. Biniak founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of China-based MusicZone - a mobile media services company serving wireless carriers, device manufacturers, and media companies in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Additional positions include Vice President of the MIT Media Lab spin-off called Harmonix Music Systems based in Tokyo and Los Angeles; Director of Entertainment and Technology for Marlar International; Vice President of Business Development for the Motion Picture Corporation of America; and an executive at Trimark Entertainment. Biniak currently serves as a member of the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association’s (CTIA) Executive Committee, Chairman of CTIA’s Downloadable Content Committee, as well as the Co-founder of the Mobile Entertainment Institute at the University of Southern California. Biniak holds a bachelors degree in International Relations, Business & Economics from Boston University and attended the University of Ceara in Forteleza, Brazil.Michael Pinto, President, CEO, mobZilla: Mike has 15 years of entrepreneurial experience including 8 years of international business development. Most recently Mike entered the European wireless entertainment space in early 2000 leading a start-up team to profitability in 6 months. He is responsible for leading the overall vision of the company as well as planning the commercial distribution strategy. Prior to mobZilla Mike was the Managing Director of Sonar Telecom, a European-based wireless service provider which specialized in selling wireless entertainment products to major media properties. While at Sonar he successfully signed and led the national launch of the first branded interactive phone version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Prior to Sonar Mike was the Managing Director of Advanced Telecom Group, a European-based company specializing in premium billing and content aggregation. Mike led a team that aggregated premium sms billing with 23 operators in 6 countries, and formed strategic revenue partnerships with over 50 media and content companies, including major magazine, newspaper and television networks. A partial client list while at those companies includes; Monstermob, Lycos, Telegraph.co.uk, Cat Games, Stealthnet Interactive, TV5 Spain, Canal Sur, Grupo Correo, Bauer Group, The Phone House (60 independent shops), Active Media, Wicked Colors, RTL 4, Teletext (Valencia, Galicia, Canal Sur), Channel 25 Barcelona, DooYoo (bought by Yahoo!), and BattleMail.
Scott Jensen, Vice President, Licensing & Brand Partnerships, MFORMA: Scott Jensen manages MFORMA’s partnerships with brand owners and media companies and is primarily responsible for the acquisition and management of entertainment brands. Prior to joining MFORMA, Jensen was president of NuvoStudios, a leading wireless games developer. Previously, Jensen was a member of the management team that founded SportSkill, where he negotiated contracts with the NFL, MLB, and Fox Sports. Earlier Jensen was vice president of business and legal affairs at StreamSearch, where he helped launch the first online film and music festival. Jensen began his career as a practicing attorney, specializing in advising entertainment and technology clients.
Ken Rutkowski, founder, KenRadio Broadcasting: As a medi
a personality and industry figure, Ken has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, BBC, Wired, Business Week, The Red Herring, Internet World, Electronic Media, Online Journalism Review, Chicago Tribune, Chicago SunTimes, Boston Times, Asahi Shinbun, Bangkok Times, Finland Helsingin Sanomat, Yahoo Internet Life and dozens of other publications worldwide. He has been a featured presenter at over seventy industry conferences, including , CES, CTIA, NATPE, IBC, NAB, Digital Hollywood, Internet World, Streaming Media, COMDEX, N+I Interop, Radio Ink and MILIA. Ken has cultivated extensive relationships, ranging from the biggest tech companies (Microsoft, Sun, Nokia and IBM) to the motion picture studios. He has particular networking reach into the local software development and media companies, IT outsourcers and consultants. Ken stays in touch with a huge number of people via his daily newsletter (KenRadio's Daily Tech News Clicks - read by an audience of over 42,000 daily); a daily radio show ("World Tech Round Up" - commanding over 175,000 daily listeners) produced in LA and occasionally on location at big trade shows and other events, covering technology and entertainment topics; and most importantly, regular events to connect individuals and companies with key relationships they need in the entertainment and technology worlds.