Wednesday, October 1 11:05 AM - 12:20 PM Session B: Interactive TV/DTV Middleware Enabling Solutions: from Interactive Guides to Interfaces As consumer offerings via the set-top, from broadband, interactive TV and DTV emerge, the choices in "middleware," that solutions that make the content useful and dynamic for the TV viewer become more vital. Whether it is called DTV, ETV, TVs with Interactive Programming, on-demand TV viewing, or customized or Personalized TV, there are a group of companies who have set the stage for this next TV generation, and we are pleased to have them represented at this session. Ruston Panabaker, Microsoft Corp. Dalen Harrison, President, CEO and Director, Ensequence Scott Newnam, CEO, Goldpocket Jack Perry, President & CEO, Decisionmark Vincent Dureau, Chief Technical Office, OpenTV Bow Rodgers, CEO, MyDTV Ben Mendelson, founder & President, Interactive Television Alliance, Moderator Jack Perry, President & CEO, Decisionmark: Jack Perry is Decisionmark Corporation's President and CEO. Mr. Perry is a recognized media technology visionary known for his work with high-growth, technology-based companies such as Powercore, CE Software and Interactive Resources, for his innovative electronic program guide (EPG) work in the digital TV sector, and for his groundbreaking work on issues surrounding the SHVIA. He is also a respected figure inside the beltway for having educated legislators and members of the FCC on digital and satellite broadcast issues. Mr. Perry has been the lead inventor in the development of Decisionmark's growing number of patented technologies: the first regarding household determination of broadcast signal area coverage, the second being the key to solving issues related to Internet streaming of local content and the most recent advancing the EPG to the household level. The Company's online TitanTV guide product boasts membership approaching 250,000 users and placement on over 800 TV station web sites. Mr. Perry was recently named Mr. Perry was recently named as one of Dealerscope Magazine's '40 under 40' young industry leaders as well as a member of CEA's Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. A resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mr. Perry earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree from the University of Iowa. Dalen Harrison, President, CEO and Director, Ensequence: Over the past two years as President and CEO of Ensequence, Dalen Harrison has been responsible for the development of the world's first truly cross-platform, interactive television development environment known as on-Q Studio. The on-Q Solution Suite, of which on-Q Studio is key component, allows content production teams to author enhanced television applications with unprecedented efficiency and distribute them to any digital television platform. Prior to Ensequence, Mr. Harrison completed a 10-year tenure at Intel Corporation where he held a variety of key positions. While Director of Worldwide Market Development for Intel's Home Products Group, Mr. Harrison oversaw Intel's digital television marketing strategy and sales teams. In 1995, as a Director of Business Development, Mr. Harrison started a series of content deals that served as the impetus behind the formation of Intel's Content Group. During this time, Mr. Harrison completed over 50 content and technology deals in support of Intel's Broadcast Products Group. These efforts were key in launching Intel's Intercast® Technology which was the industry's first broadly available interactive television product for the PC supported by 12 national cable and broadcast networks including NBC, CNN, MTV, and QVC. In 1998, Dalen oversaw the formation of the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF), which brought together 12 key industry players including Microsoft, DIRECTV, The Walt Disney Co, Warner Bros., CNN Interactive, Tribune, and others. Today the ATVEF industry group has over 100 member companies and is a major force in setting specifications for interactive television. While at Intel, Dalen was also a financial controller, engineering manager, product manger, for a variety of Intel products. Mr. Harrison has a master's degree in international management and finance, a BA in math/economics, and a BS in computer science. Scott Newnam, President and CEO, GoldPocket: As President and CEO of GoldPocket Interactive, Scott Newnam drives the company’s strategy and overall vision. He is a recognized expert in building efficient and strategic organizations and the economics and development of nascent industries, specifically iTV. Newnam has a proven track record of identifying and implementing technology trends in emerging industries. Under his direction, GoldPocket has attained 75% market share and produced more than 6,000 hours of iTV programming for shows including CSI, Friends, Greed, and Survivor. Before founding GoldPocket, Newnam was Treasurer at IAC, a billion-dollar, publicly traded company based in Southern California. Prior to serving as Treasurer, he ran the company’s Corporate Finance and Strategic Planning group and was responsible for design and implementation of its information technology strategy. Newnam has also founded and managed a private hedge fund that consistently outperformed the market. Before that he worked in the Corporate Finance Group at Merrill Lynch in New York, covering private equity and technology companies. Newnam is the Chairman of the Board of GoldPocket Interactive and has been on the board of several privately held companies. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal and has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, CNNfn, MSNBC, and other technology news programs. He regularly speaks at major media and technology events and conferences. Newnam has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Davidson College. Vincent Dureau, Chief Technical Officer, OpenTV: Vincent Dureau is responsible for developing technologies and business relationships that will bring integrated, cost-effective solutions to equipment vendors, network operations and content and service providers. He has been with OpenTV since the company's inception and has been responsible for developing a world-class engineering organization. With more than 17 years of technical expertise, Dureau launched his engineering career in 1984 with Thomson's research department in Paris, France. He later joined Thomson's research lab in Los Angeles. For the past eight years, he has led technical developments in the field of multimedia, consumer user interfaces, video compression and interactive television. Dureau holds an engineering degree in economics from the Institute National Agronomique and master's degrees from Universite Paris VII in applied mathematics and Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications in computer science. Bow Rodgers serves as MyDTV's chief executive officer and is responsible for managing general expansion efforts and developing operator alliances for the company. Rodgers was formerly COO at Big Band Networks and prior to that was COO and General Manager at Power TV, a Scientific Atlanta subsidiary (SFA). Rodgers helped build PowerTV from 12 employees to 150 and launched PowerTV’s Operating System software deployments into millions of Cable TV households. Rodgers has also held executive positions with Apple Computer, Interactive Network and Sprint Telecommunications; where he was a Group President managing operations in the western United States with over 1000 employees and $350 million in annual revenues. Bow Rodgers is a recognized expert in the cable industry and a frequently sought commentator on industry issues. He has spoken at a wide variety of industry conferences and trade shows including NCTA, the Consumer Electronic Show, Japanese National Cable Show and numerous Kagan conferences on topic such as "The role of Middleware in delivering Interactive Applications," "The next wave of Interactivity - Interactive Networks," and "The Future of Interactivity in Cable." 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.