9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
Track III:
Getting the Bling Bling: Mobile Ringtones, Ringtunes, Advertainment, 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
Jason Ford, General Manager, Wireless Games and Entertainment, Sprint
Bryan Biniak, Senior Vice President/General Manager of Wireless, AGInteractive & President, Agmobile, American Greetings Corporation
Gilles Babinet, CEO and Founder, Musiwave
Carolynne Schloeder, President, Moderati Inc.
Alex Conrad, President and COO, Dwango
Matthew Feldman, co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, Versaly Entertainment
Timothy Shey, Creative Director and co-founder, Proteus, Moderator
Jason Ford, General Manager, Wireless Games and Entertainment, Sprint: Mr. Ford currently serves as the General Manager of Games for Sprint and has since the start of this product in 2002. Sprint offers one of the largest collections of mobile games in the U.S. with more than 200 titles and more than 20 partners. Ford has responsibility for overall strategic product planning, marketing and management of wireless games and his efforts have helped to produce several million game downloads. During his years at Sprint, Ford has managed WAP partnerships, started the ringer and screensaver business and developed fundamental business relationships and agreements for the Wireless Web and PCS Vision content. Ford, born in Kansas, jumped into wireless in 1998 with one of the countries largest mutual fund companies, American Century Services Corporation. He served in key management roles for several divisional startups inside this established financial company. Ford obtained his Bachelor of Sciences in Broadcast and Film and his Masters in Business Administration from Baker University. Ford's favorite game of all time is the original 1983 Dragon's Lair from Cinematronics.
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.
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 mobile 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.
Matthew Feldman, co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, V
ersaly Entertainment, helped launch Star Trek into the mobile entertainment world. In addition to corporate duties, Feldman works directly with Versaly’s major brands. Prior to starting Versaly Entertainment, Feldman previously founded, managed and successfully sold two technology companies. In 1998, Feldman founded and served as CEO of Tufans Technology Corporation, a web-based file storage company, acquired by McAfee.com (NASDAQ:MCAF) in June of 2000. Feldman also co-founded Mosaic Information Technologies, a videoconferencing developer and manufacturer in 1992, and lead negotiations and preparations for the sale of the company to Intelect Communications in March 1996. Feldman holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University and a M.S. in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.Alex Conrad is the President and COO of Dwango North America. As a m
obile media expert, Alex has extensive experience working for high-profile mobile, media and entertainment companies on a global basis. At Dwango, Alex has led the company's strategy to focus on premium lifestyle brands in the marketplace. He has put a team in place that successfully developed, launched and promoted major lifestyle brand initiatives across all major carriers in North America. Alex is currently focusing on creating multi-party agreements and scaling Dwango to become the media company of the future. Prior to Dwango, Alex was the Vice President of Business Development at Over-The-Air Wireless (OTA), where he worked closely with DwangoÅfs current CEO. While at OTA, he focused on launching and promoting new carrier services across North America. Alex also managed the mergers and acquisitions process for OTA during the Dwango acquisition. Alex has also held a series of senior leadership positions in emerging technology companies including DocuTouch, a digital signature company, and eFunds, with initiatives promoting biometrics, authentication and wireless payment products. Alex has an MBA from Seattle University, and a BA from Carleton College in Northfield, MN.Timothy Shey, Creative Director and Co-founder, Proteus: As leader of Proteus' creative efforts, Timothy Shey has been responsible for the creative direction of hundreds of successful client engagements since 1996, integrating knowledge of user experience design, interface engineering, usability, and branding to create compelling interactive experiences. Clients who have benefited from Proteus’ services in web development, wireless applications, interactive television, and consumer electronics include Speedpass, ExxonMobil, FOX Sports, ABC, Sprint, AT&T Wireless, Sony, Ericsson, and Motorola, with whom Proteus produced the first-ever wireless interactive television experience for FOX Sports' Super Bowl XXXVI broadcast. Most recently, Proteus has developed wireless entertainment and enhanced television solutions for HBO ("The Sopranos") and Discovery Communications ("Trading Spaces: Home Free," "American Chopper"), and partnered with AT&T Wireless, McDonald’s, and NBC to produce the official wireless games and alerts for the 2004 Olympic Games, to be featured on over 320 million pieces of consumer packaging and NBC’s national television broadcasts. Mr. Shey's work has featured by media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Wired, The San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Wireless Week, Advertising Age, TechTV, and the Gartner.com website, and has earned Proteus an American Advertising Award as well as two International WAP Award nominations, the first ever for a U.S. company. In 2004, their work for Gibson Music earned several industry honors, including International CES 2004’s Best in Show. Since 2001, Proteus has served as lead mentors for the AFI Enhanced Television Workshop, where they produced innovative new prototypes for ITV such as the first interactive long-form commercial, for Callaway Rule 35, and an enhanced AFI Life Achievement Award broadcast. Proteus also worked with ABC to develop wireless interactive television experiences for The View: His and Her Body Test in 2003 , which was nominated for an Emmy for interactive television, and to produce multiple seasons of interactive television with FOX Sports, including the popular Sprint Virtual Manager (MLB on FOX) and Sprint Virtual Coach (NFL on FOX). Mr. Shey was profiled by Washington Techway's 2002 "Young Lions" issue as one of the D.C. area's ten leading technology executives under age thirty. Prior to co-founding Proteus, Mr. Shey was a National Merit Scholar, and graduated with Honors from The George Washington University, where he studied English and Fine Arts. He serves as co-chair of the AIGA D.C. Experience Design community, which promotes advancement of the practice of user-oriented design, and regularly speaks at national and local industry events such as AdTech, CES, and AFI’s eTV Creative Showcase.