Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Digital Hollywood, Santa Monica Monday, June 11th Track III. User Generated Media & Social Networks – Media, Communications and Entertainment Reinvented 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Session B: UGM, Social Networks and Traditional Media: Strategies in Content, Communications and Commerce, Part II In the past year, the YouTube - MySpace - Facebook experience has revolutionized the world of entertainment, information and communications. The world of social communities, once thought to be a thing of the past has exploded and is once again on the front pages of our newspapers and magazines. There are web pages and web experiences for every human nuance and niche. Every family communicates through photo sharing and movie sharing websites. The blogging and social networking worlds have become the new "major media networks." In this session we will explore user generated media as a phenomenon, as a business and as a communications and entertainment medium. Amy McDonough, Director, Webshots Services, CNET Networks Inc. Dmitry Shapiro, CEO, Veoh Greg Foster, Vice President of Corporate Development, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. Dr. Fred Kitson, Vice President and Senior Director, Applications Research, Motorola Labs, Motorola, Inc. Stephen Smyth, General Manager, Americas, Reuters Tim Chang, Principal, Norwest Venture Partners, Moderator Amy McDonough, Director, Webshots Services, CNET Networks Inc.: Amy McDonough, Director of Webshots Services, is responsible for all aspects of Webshots Services including premium subscriptions, The Webshots Store, Webshots Mobile, and Webshots Premium services & Application Programming Interface (API) services. These four areas combine to be a multi-million dollar services revenue stream today and are used and accessed by millions of users. In August 2004, she received the CNET Networks Excellence Awards, which acknowledge extraordinary contributions to the company by individuals who have performed at the highest level to move the business. Previously at CNET Networks, McDonough was the Director of Strategic Partnerships for CNET Networks where she oversaw a team of ten who supported more than 75 long-term strategic relationships with top companies such as MSN, New York Times Digital, and AOL. She was also responsible for increasing exposure of the CNET Networks brands through paid search, RSS distribution, strategic partnerships and mobile opportunities. Earlier, McDonough was the Managing Producer of Strategic Partnerships for ZDNet where she lead the team responsible for building exports of content, co-branded and private label website solutions, and balancing partner needs while maintaining branding and attribution with the highest possible quality. Also at ZDNet, she was the Production Manager where she managed a team of production editors who provided online support to international licensing efforts of Ziff-Davis publications. McDonough has a Bachelor's Degree in English and Elementary Education from Merrimack College in Andover, MA as well as a Professional Certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications from the UC Berkeley Extension program. Stephen Smyth, General Manager, Media, Americas, Reuters: Stephen Smyth is responsible for Reuters Americas consumer business, driving revenue and audience for the online, mobile, interactive TV, digital signage and online syndication services. In addition, Stephen oversees global business development as well as local programming and production, traffic and ad operations in the Americas. Prior to his current role, Stephen led Reuters mobile, video, and digital signage business globally. He was responsible for maximizing revenues and brand value from the company’s presence on these platforms and oversaw relationships with key technology providers and distribution affiliates across the globe. In addition, he headed up Reuters Labs, a public showcase of the latest consumer product innovations from Reuters. Previously, Stephen was responsible for media strategy and business development for Reuters. Before joining the company in January 2003, he was Director of Business Development for Bertelsmann, the media group. At Bertelsmann, Stephen worked for a number of divisions including the RTL Group, Bookspan and the firms E-Commerce Group. Prior to this he co-founded a number of software companies. He received his B.A. and B.A.I. from Trinity College, University of Dublin and his M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Greg Foster is vice president of corporate development for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.). In this capacity, Foster heads Turner New Media Investments, a team within the New Products Group responsible for guiding strategic investment and M&A activities supporting Turner’s product-development agenda. Among the group’s activity this year are investments in MicroOptical, Revver and Vitrue. Foster is based in Atlanta and reports to David Rudolph, senior vice president of Turner’s New Products Group. The TBS, Inc. New Products Group develops next-generation businesses for emerging platforms to further leverage Turner’s brand and infrastructure strength. The group was instrumental in the creation of the new broadband networks GameTap, CNN Pipeline and ACC Select, and currently is managing a portfolio of projects in various stages of development. Most recently founder and CEO of Southern Direct, a developer of branded e-commerce extensions for linear cable channels, Foster joined Turner Broadcasting when the company acquired Southern Direct. Previously, he was a member of the management team of start-ups iXL and Silverpop Systems. He began his career at Deloitte Consulting, building internet strategies for corporate clients including Prudential Insurance and Sonoco Products, as well as the New York Transit Authority. Foster earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and an MBA at Harvard Business School. Dr. Fred Kitson, Vice President and Senior Director, Applications Research, Motorola Labs, Motorola, Inc.: As Motorola Labs Vice President and Senior Director, Dr. Fred Kitson leads a worldwide team of researchers attached to the Applications Research Center of Excellence and engaged in developing high-value future technologies that will enable Motorola to maintain leadership in applications and content solutions for seamless mobility. Dr. Kitson, who holds five issued patents, has recently led the Center’s team to successes in "Push-to-X" concepts; development of highly resilient MPEG4 encoder/decoders for use on Motorola cell phones; development of the liquid media concept and demonstrators to facilitate seamless media; and development of meta-data middleware for phones and home media servers to enable enhanced communications with auxiliary data for ease of use. Other areas of focus include user-centered solutions, multimedia, pervasive platforms, and architectures for personalization and knowledge. Dr. Kitson joined Motorola after more than 20 years of research and development experience at HP, where he had global responsibility for mobile and media systems research. He managed such projects as the HP Precision Architecture worldwide team that ultimately led to the Intel IA-64 architecture, and also contributed to developments for workstations, servers, and mobile devices. His experience also includes work with mobile systems, computer systems, consumer appliances, and specific technologies such as multimedia digital signal processing, communications, and computer graphics. Dr. Fred Kitson holds a bachelor of science degree with honors in electrical engineering from the University of Delaware; a master of science degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology; and a doctor of philosophy degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Colorado. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, as well as serves on the engineering advisory board. Dr. Kitson also serves on advisory boards of the University of California, Davis, and the University of Colorado. Additionally, he serves on the board of the wireless center at the University of California, San Diego; the telecommunications board of the University of San Francisco; the board of counselors at the University of Southern California’s integrated media systems; and the UCLA-WINMEC carrier advisory board. In 1991-92, Dr. Kitson was Clyde Chair visiting associate professor at the University of Utah’s computer science department, and he has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and Colorado State University. Dmitry Shapiro - Chief Executive Officer, Veoh: Dmitry started Veoh Networks in late 2004 with a short to-do list: Democratize. Open the business of television—once strictly a members-only deal—to a virtual community of indie broadcasters. Second, introduce them to their new, global audiences, hungry for a limitless world of compelling programming to fill every niche interest, and desire. As an accomplished engineer, he knew this was doable. As a creative soul, he knew it had to be done. Dmitry himself was one of those frustrated independent producers, shut out from participating in the TV game with his imaginative talk-show concept. (On "Hot Tub TV," politicians, celebrities and other newsmakers would all be in hot water—literally, working out global issues and swapping pop-culture dish. Think politically incorrect – in a hot tub). Before he imagined Veoh, Dmitry built Akonix Systems, one of the leading P2P network security companies with over 1.5 million deployed enterprise licenses in companies such as Viacom, Disney, Newscorp, and Cingular. Before that, Dmitry led the technology groups at CollegeClub, a 4 million member online college community and Fujitsu Telecommunications. During his youth in Atlanta, Dmitry learned English by watching lots of television, lost most of his Russian accent and gained a B.S. in electrical engineering degree from Georgia Tech. And if his name sounds oddly familiar, it’s probably from your setting up a free Veoh membership. Dmitry automatically requests to be your friend. Yes, that guy!