Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from Digital Hollywood Spring, 2006 For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Thursday, August 17 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM Track III: Building Brands & Social Networking- Word of Mouth and Community Marketing Ian Schafer, CEO and Founder, Deep Focus Hank Pronk, Senior Enterprise Sales Representative, GOT Corporation Greg Wilfahrt, Executive Vice President, co-founder, SMS.ac Michael Monello, co-creative Director, Campfire Shital Mehta, Chief Creative Officer, Shanth Interactive Anthony Batt, CEO and co-founder, Buzznet Ira Becker, Senior Vice President and General Manager, 1UP Network, Moderator Anthony Batt is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Buzznet. A true visionary who is able to transform ideas into leading technologies, Anthony has helped grow Buzznet into a vibrant social media experience that enables a global community of pop culture enthusiasts to communicate through media based on shared interests, aspirations and passions. Anthony brings a successful track record to the company in developing and designing interactive multimedia content and technology for some of the country’s leading publishing brands. After working as a worldwide consultant on Internet publishing and interactive content design, Anthony joined Time Inc. to manage Internet publishing and production for its various properties, including Fortune.com, Time.com, People.com, Teenpeople.com, Money.com and ET.com. In 2000, Anthony and partners founded Metapa Inc. (www.metapa.net). Metapa’s software product provided media publishers a powerful platform to store, secure and share static and streaming media files over the Internet. Anthony currently resides in Los Angeles. Hank Pronk, Senior Enterprise Sales Representative at GOT Corporation, is charged with delivering advanced email marketing solutions to arts, entertainment and new media companies. At GOT, Hank helps to bridge the gap between technology and business communication for his clients, enabling one-to-one dialogue with customers and infusing the power of viral and word-of-mouse email marketing into their communications programs. Hank has spent over 32 years in the software industry, solving business problems and delivering better B2C communications through technology. Hank was integral in delivering communications solutions while at (NRC Comten) for several key client accounts, including Microsoft and IBM. As co-founder of Kontentsu Corporation, a XML/SGML systems development company, he was responsible for all phases of business development, delivering interactive multimedia technology that met with business strategy to organizations like GE and IEEE. Hank has a passion for communications and expertise in using your existing customer base to get the message out there. Greg Wilfahrt, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, co-Founder, SMS.ac: Greg Wilfahrt serves as Executive Vice President, Office of the Chairman, and is a co-founder of SMS.ac. His duties include leading corporate communications and public relations initiatives and developing the company's strategic roadmap. Prior to SMS.ac, Greg was vice president of public relations at MP3.com, a public company acquired by Vivendi Universal in 2001. He also served as senior vice president of communications at another publicly traded company, Ubrandit.com. Earlier in his career, Greg founded WWC, an award-winning advertising, public relations and marketing agency. Greg has addressed members of Congress on several occasions regarding online and mobile distribution of digital content. Greg is an alumnus of San Diego State University’s journalism program. Ira Becker, Senior VP and General Manager, 1UP Network: Ira Becker is charged with ensuring that the 1UP Network is competitively positioned to provide gamers the most authoritative gaming-related content via the channels that are most efficient for marketers. His efforts expand the group's quarter-century legacy of editorial leadership into new channels so that marketers can tap the lucrative core of the gaming market. Ira brings 17 years of media and business experience to his position. Prior to joining the Game Group, he served as VP of Business Development for Ziff Davis, overseeing strategic alliances and mergers and acquisition opportunities for the Company. Before working at Ziff Davis, he developed and managed strategic corporate partnerships as Vice President of Strategic Alliances at E-centives, Inc. He also held management positions at content delivery solution PointCast, Inc. and at IT search engine inquiry.com. Ira began his career at Ziff Davis in 1989 in sales positions at brands including PC Magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University. Ian Schafer, CEO and Founder of Deep Focus, has consistently redefined the way entertainment properties are marketed online. As former VP of New Media at Miramax/Dimension Films, Ian conceived and oversaw execution of their most popular online campaigns. In 2002, Ian founded Deep Focus to bring a holistic suite of digital marketing and promotional solutions to the entertainment industry. Deep Focus' current clients include The Weinstein Company, AOL, HBO, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Music Group, Sony/BMG Records, Atari, Rockstar Games, FUSE Networks, and many others. Ian has been featured as an expert in online entertainment advertising and marketing in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, AdWeek, Advertising Age, iMedia Connection, Media Magazine, and on CNN. He currently pens a bi-weekly column as the Rich Media & Streaming Video Expert for ClickZ Network. Michael Monello, co-creative Director, Campfire: Michael Monello has been experimenting with the internet since 1992, when he discovered USENET and EMAIL at his college Macintosh Lab. As marketing director for Enzian Theater and The Florida Film Festival, Michael learned how to use the power of narrative advertising to drive business for the burgeoning film festival (today cited as one of the top 10 in the country). He developed a website for the theater and film festival at a time when websites were so novel that news of the launch warranted coverage in the Orlando Sentinel (with color screen grabs, no less). In 1998, Michael left the Florida Film Festival to co-produce "The Blair Witch Project" with his partners Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, and Robin Cowie at Haxan Films. Rather than just make a movie, Haxan created an integrated, interactive narrative experience and developed a community around the film's mythology resulting in a popculture phenomena and over $240 million dollars in world-wide box-office. The Blair Witch universe included the feature film, a one-hour television "documentary" produced and edited by Michael, a book, a comic book series, posters, and a soundtrack, all integrated inside the Blair Witch narrative. Most recently, Michael has used his experience in online narrative and storytelling with his partners in Campfire to develop, produce, and direct campaigns such as Creativity Magazine’s campaign of the year - Audi Art of the Heist, Sharp More to See, and Sega Beta-7, winner of the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair, a silver Andy, a Gold Pencil, and two Clios. Shital Mehta, co-founder of Shanth Interactive, is an untraditional marketing and communications strategist. An active proponent of breaking down boundaries between traditional and new media and using an interdisciplinary approach to develop cutting edge marketing and communications strategies, she has worked with both emerging companies and market leaders to establish thought leadership, launch companies and products and shake up industries. Shital holds a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in communications and persuasion strategies from the University of California at Berkeley.