Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from the last Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood Fall 2006 Monday, October 23 4:10 PM – 5:15 PM Session A: Blogs, Mashups, Social Media, Wikis, and RSS as Mass Media – Blog Movements as Agents of Change David Hyman, CEO and founder, MOG Howard Kaushansky, founder and President, Umbria Tom Gerace, CEO, gather.com Louis Moynihan, Director of Strategy and Development, Pheedo Chase Norlin, CEO, Pixsy Corporation Mike Brown, Principal, Partech International Michael Raneri, CEO, MeeVee, Inc. Tom Merritt, Editor, CNET.com, Moderator Howard Kaushansky, founder, President and CEO, Umbria: Howard Kaushansky is a serial entrepreneur and data mining authority who brings 20 years of experience in starting and operating emerging growth companies. Prior to founding Umbria, Howard co-founded and served as CEO, secretary and vice president of business development for Athene Software, which developed enterprise predictive analytics software. Among other things, his expertise was key in opening vital market segments for Athene, including Internet and cable television;. Howard successfully guided the sale of Athene to CSG Systems (NASDAQ: CSGS) in 2001. From 1992 to 1997, Howard was VP of Strategic Planning, General Counsel and Secretary of Coral Systems, Inc., which developed fraud detection software for the telecommunications industry. His work with Athene included establishing distribution channels with industry-leading infrastructure providers, generating 70% of the company's revenues. Coral Systems was sold to Lightbridge (NASDAQ: LTBG) in 1997. Prior to joining Coral Systems, Howard was an attorney representing numerous public and private companies. He holds several patents and has spoken and written frequently in the areas of data mining, customer relationship management, and predictive analytics. Howard received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and received his J.D. (Order of the Coif) from the University of Southern California. Tom Merritt, Editor, CNET.com: Tom Merritt connects with CNET’s audience by showing them how to get the most out of their consumer electronic and personal technology purchases, whether it’s through the top-rated podcast "Buzz Out Loud", CNET newsletters, or help and how-to videos. With 20 years of experience in journalism and media, Tom is an expert at demystifying tech jargon, and helping consumers find the excitement and usefulness in their tech gear. Before CNET, Tom worked at TechTV where he was the executive Web Producer and a radio host. Other projects at TechTV included co-hosting an instructional videotape called, "How to Build a Website" and producing "TechTV's Top 20 Gifts" TV show in November, 2002. Tom Gerace is the founder and CEO of Gather.com, the place to share and find the best user-generated content online. As CEO, Tom is responsible for providing the overall strategic direction of the company. Tom Gerace served for two years as Senior Vice President, Marketing, for National Leisure Group (NLG), a $1 billion annual seller of travel. He developed brands owned by the company and managed brands licensed by the company. Tom was the Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Be Free, Inc., a publicly-traded, on-line marketing services company. He was responsible for creating new and existing products and services, overseeing mergers and acquisitions, corporate and product communications, and customer acquisition. He was awarded two U.S. Patents (5,848,396 and 5,991,735) for profiling computer users and targeting advertising based on that profiling. He raised more than $200 million and launched both U.S. and European operations. Chase Norlin is the CEO of Pixsy Corporation and was most recently a Senior Business Development Executive at ValueClick (NASDAQ:VCLK) focused on publisher distribution and emerging technologies for the ValueClick Media Ad Network and other divisions including PriceRunner and Search. Previously, Mr. Norlin was a Senior Business Development Consultant to InfoSpace (NASDAQ:INSP) focused on publisher distribution and emerging applications. Mr. Norlin created Sony's first online photo sharing venture, the web's first video sharing company, and was a Strategy Consultant to Boeing where he launched Boeing's online photo and video licensing division. Mr. Norlin received his BA from UC Berkeley and MA from The University of Chicago. Michael Raneri, CEO, MeeVee: As MeeVee’s CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, Michael Raneri oversees all company operations and investor relations. Michael came to MeeVee from Charles Schwab & Co. where he served as Senior Vice President of eCommerce, managing Schwab’s $500M, 400 employee Electronic Brokerage business through a significant growth cycle. While associated with Schwab. Michael was a key player in Schwab’s venture investment arm, driving several successful investments in the internet and eCommerce space. Prior to Schwab, Michael served as Assistant Vice President of Online Trading & Marketing at Quick & Reilly, Inc. where he founded their electronic trading business which ultimately was acquired by B of A securities. In total, he has more than 18 years of experience developing and delivering on long-term technology product and business strategies, with particular expertise in product development and marketing. Over the last few years, Michael has distinguished himself as a thought leader in the eCommerce, digital media and the next generation television and video content space, as reflected by his frequent presence at key industry events and his association with several promising startups. Michael received his bachelor's degree in economics and sociology from Fairfield University. David Hyman is the CEO and Founder of MOG (www.mog.com), an online community where music lovers can quickly and easily show the world what they’re listening to, express their musical tastes, and discover people through music and music through people. A digital media pioneer who started the first music website and sold one of the first ads on the Internet, Hyman has presented at countless digital media conferences, including Ad:Tech, CMJ, Digital Hollywood at CES, Digital Music Forum, and Plug.IN. The media often turn to Hyman as a charismatic, knowledgeable, and insightful expert resource. Recent media coverage of Hyman and MOG has included Billboard, Hollywood Reporter, MTV.com, Newsweek, Red Herring, Reuters, and Spin. Prior to MOG, Hyman held various roles (CEO, Executive VP, and Chief Strategy Officer) at Gracenote, the world's largest music database and music identification service. His successes included raising venture capital from Sequoia Ventures and bringing the company from $50,000 in annual booked revenue to over $20 million in four years. He was responsible for all aspects of the business, including the creation and development of Gracenote's formidable consumer electronics business, which is now responsible for approximately 50% of the company's revenue. Hyman played an integral role in the build-out of Gracenote's international business, including the creation of Gracenote Japan KK, and established sales offices in China, Korea, and Europe. Hyman created new businesses for Gracenote including song identification and state-of-the-art playlist management services. As SVP-Marketing at MTV Interactive, the digital holding company for all of MTV's online properties, Hyman oversaw all marketing activities for MTV.com, and VH1.com. His successes included leading an innovative 30 person guerilla marketing team and production of a highly successful $30 million television campaign. Hyman came to MTV through its acquisition of SonicNet, where he had been SVP, Sales & Marketing. At SonicNet, Hyman broke new ground in the online music arena, creating bleeding-edge products for ad sponsorships, including the development of the Web's first “Video-On-Demand” (V.O.D) platform, Streamland, the premiere website for music V.O.D. Before SonicNet, Hyman was co-founder of Addicted To Noise, the Web's first online music website. There, he was instrumental in shaping the perception that the Web is a place to build a brand for online marketers. Hyman brought many major brands online for the first time including Levi's, Coca Cola, Microsoft and Ford. Hyman forged the merger between Addicted To Noise and SonicNet, creating the largest online music website at the time. Hyman began his Internet career in 1994, when he pioneered the concepts of online advertising at Hotwired, the first online site that displayed advertising. While at Hotwired, David and the sales team sold the first online ads and developed many of the formats and metrics that are still used today, including the "ad banner", and "click-through rates." When Hyman is not thinking about online music experiences, he enjoys listening to music, obsessing on his stereo equipment, cooking, eating, snowboarding and spending time with his family. Mike Brown, Principal, Partech International : Mike joined Partech International in 2001. He has been active in a number of Partech's investments in the software and Internet sectors, including mSnap Interactive, Perenety, InQuira, Meiosys (IBM), PentaSafe Security Technologies (netIQ), and Ingrian Networks. Prior to joining Partech, Mike was the second employee at Bluefire Systems, an enterprise software start-up in the supply chain management software sector. During his tenure at Bluefire, Mike was Client Services Manager, leading the deployment of Bluefire's advanced inventory management and pricing software at major retail and consumer goods clients. Prior to joining Bluefire, Mike served as a Business Analyst with McKinsey & Company. Mike has a BA in Economics and East Asian Studies from Yale University. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was named an Arjay Miller Scholar.