Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from a previous Digital Hollywood event. For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Building Blocks 2008 Thursday, August 7th 12:50 PM – 2:00 PM Track I: The Broadband and Social Media Platform Social Networks & User Generated Media as a Technology Challenge: The Platform, the Content & the Network Social networks and user generated media are not always a success. Just like any innovation, the challenge is to be among those left standing after the race to be first is over. On a certain level, the era of the social networks and user generated media sites is just beginning. The technology is just starting to make a social network a living and breathing universe of communications and activity, but there is also the downside of getting up and running only to burn out and lose your momentum. In theory, every successful television show or community of users is a potential social network, but in reality, the translation process does not always take hold. In this session we will explore what it takes to create and maintain a successful social network and user generated media site. Pete Kocks, President, Truveo and Vice President, AOL Video Blake Cahill, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Visible Technologies Mike Sommers, SVP, Products, KickApps Edward Kim, Chief Executive Officer, Red Bricks Media Mike La Rotonda, CEO, Votigo Amra Tareen, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Allvoices, Kathy Sharpe, CEO, Sharpe Partners and VideoThang, LLC, Moderator Mike La Rotonda, CEO, Votigo: Mike La Rotonda is the CEO and Chief Product Officer of Votigo and is a seasoned product leader with over 12 years of experience creating and managing consumer internet services for companies such as Yahoo!, ConsumerReview, and PointCast. For the past 9 years, Mike has focused on online communities and user-generated media. Since co-founding Votigo, Mike has helped several leading consumer brands, including Victoria's Secret PINK, ConocoPhillips, and Gardenburger, as well as top-tier advertising and marketing agencies, like Fleishman-Hillard, MWW Group, and Fanscape, develop and implement innovative social media marketing campaigns. He is also a contributor to Adotas. Amra Tareen, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Allvoices: As founder and Chief Executive Officer for Allvoices, Amra Tareen is an innovator in citizen journalism and technology. With an extensive technology background, Amra spoke at the Vortex 2002 conference and the 19th Annual Venture Capital Investing Conference. In her more recent role, Amra has served as the master of ceremonies at Relief International’s Fundraiser and a featured speaker at Women 2.0, SVASE, Indus Women Leaders and SD Forum on Green IT. Pete Kocks, President, Truveo and Vice President, AOL Video: Dr. Pete Kocks, President, Truveo and Vice President, AOL Video: Pete Kocks oversees the ongoing development, growth and operation for Truveo, the leading video search engine. He joined Truveo shortly after the company’s founding in 2004. Prior to Truveo, Pete helped launch three software startups in the fields of video surveillance, database monitoring, and application hosting. At Presidio Technology, he led the development of a distributed video surveillance system with a unique approach to indexing video streams. As CEO and co-founder of BayGate, he led the development of a database monitoring system from inception to deployment in the mission-critical datacenters of dozens of large corporate customers. BayGate was acquired by Portal Software in 2001. As one of the first employees of Digitivity, a startup that developed and brought to market a Java application server, he guided the technical and business relationship with Citrix systems that ultimately led to its acquisition by Citrix in 1998. Pete holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University where his research focused on systems modeling and computation. He received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Blake Cahill, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, Visible Technologies: Blake Cahill is responsible for executing marketing strategies, thought leadership, and analyst relations to increase market and customer awareness for revenue growth. Prior to joining the company, Blake was the Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at SafeHarbor Technology Corporation, a Seattle based web-services firm, where he successfully reignited customer acquisition and retention programs, oversaw the launch of a new brand identity and significantly raised the profile of the firm with the analyst and media communities. Blake has more than 15 years of executive management experiences leading marketing, sales, product management, and customer support organizations both domestically and internationally in a variety of technology, consumer, and telecommunications companies such as AT&T, Belgacom, Qwest, SBC, and ServiceMaster.com. Through these diverse experiences Blake has witnessed the intersection that drives businesses and their results are uniquely conjoined to “listening to the customer” and he has developed some insights about the intersections of customer experience, brands, and technology. Blake holds bachelor's degrees in political science, history, and business from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. Mike Sommers, SVP, Products, KickApps: Mike oversees all of KickApps’ product management efforts. He has over 12 years experience building Internet products. Before joining KickApps, Mike was VP of Product Development for AOL Search. In his 7 years at AOL, he was also responsible developing a variety of rich media, search and community products. Prior to joining AOL Mike worked for a variety of Silicon Alley startups in New York City. Mike has a B.A. degree from Columbia University. Edward Kim, Chief Executive Officer, Red Bricks Media: Ed oversees Red Bricks Media client services, sales, marketing and operations. Ed’s vision and drive have been instrumental in growing Red Bricks Media into a performance marketing powerhouse. Prior to his role as VP of Client Services at Red Bricks Media, Ed served five years as Director of Sales and Services at Digital Impact, pioneering award-winning marketing programs for Fortune 500 companies like Apple, HP, Microsoft and Wells Fargo. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics, with a minor in Business Administration, and a Masters in Mathematics from UCLA. Kathy Sharpe, CEO, Sharpe Partners, CEO/Founder, VideoThang: One of the pioneers of interactive marketing, Kathy Sharpe saw the changes the Internet promised in 1994. She left 10 years of traditional advertising to join Ogilvy & Mather Interactive in 1995 and moved a year later to DDB NY as their first Director of Interactive Marketing. In 1998, Kathy founded Sharpe Partners as a full service digital marketing agency serving clients as diverse as Fujifilm, The MinuteMaid Company, Western Union, Fujifilm, Halo Pet Food, Matrix Direct, Circuit City and The ArchDiocese of NY. A sought-after commentator on issues surrounding the Internet by the media, Kathy is frequently quoted in national newspapers, business and industry trade publications. She is a regular contributor to OMMA magazine, the leading publication for online media, marketing and advertising. In addition, Kathy has been an annual guest at the Goldman Sachs Internet Conference speaking to investors at all tiers. Her insights on the industry can be read at www.sharpe-tangent.com. As early as 2005, Kathy identified a demand for easy-to-use online video editing and sharing application as social networks and user-generated grew in popularity, Kathy founded and developed VideoThang, a free video editing and sharing application that can be utilized by brands and consumers as a social media tool. Since its launch in 2007, VideoThang has been downloaded by thousands of users globally.