Monday, January 8 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM DH24: Session B: Content Acquisition, Licensing and Syndication on the Net From the start, as much as TV industry, the Net has been about aggregating viewers, gaining market share, and monetizing the user experience. To that end, the concept of licensing, content acquisition, and syndication have become a growing Net business phenomenon. While the content may not function in quite the same way as TV syndication, the value of “site features” from stock information, news updates, and ASP like add-ons to actual “programming,” which might be a pay-per-view event or a long term “content partnership”, syndication and licensing is very much at the core of E-commerce and Net success. Jeffrey A. Stern, CEO, Lineup Technologies Andrew Fry, CEO, Lariat Bruce Eisen, Executive Vice President, CinemaNow Russell P. Reeder, President & CEO, Rightsline Scott Harrison, Vice President Business Development, ScreamingMedia Rick Bender, CEO, CyberStrategies Josette Bonte, Principal, New Media Strategies, Moderator Jeffrey A. Stern: As founder and CEO of Lineup Technologies, Inc., Jeffrey A. Stern oversees all operations, partnerships and strategic alliances of the next-generation broadband syndication company. After graduating from Harvard University in 1980, Stern founded City Limits, a Boston-area entertainment magazine, and spent the next twenty years in the upper management levels of several high-profile publishing companies prior to starting Lineup Technologies, Inc. Following the launch of City Limits, Stern launched Newsweek On Campus in New York before he was appointed business manager of Newsweek magazine. He was then recruited by Ziff Davis to be general manager of their Special Markets Group, where he oversaw all operations of Unique Homes magazine and University Communications. In 1986, Stern was named president and publisher of Details magazine, where he worked closely with venture capitalist Alan Patricof to lead the troubled monthly into the black and establish the brand as a major twenty-something lifestyle publication prior to its successful sale to Conde Nast in 1988. In 1990, Stern moved back to his native Los Angeles and founded the JSA Group. Among the company’s diverse interests, JSA Group published the entertainment guides for Ticketmaster. Eventually, JSA Group expanded its operations into the publishing and direct marketing arenas of the burgeoning Hispanic market, and in 1999 launched InternetMercado, a website that works in tandem with JSA’s other direct marketing ventures. Earlier this year, Stern observed that much of the great online content being developed was going unobserved. As a result, Stern founded Lineup Technologies to develop a company that would match viewers with personalized content, offering a one-stop shopping syndication program to enable both content creators and distributors to monetize their assets. Stern continues to reside in Santa Monica with his wife, their two daughters and a chocolate lab named Coco. Andrew Fry is founder, CEO and Chief Strategist for Lariat. His primary focus at Lariat is setting the vision and strategic plan for the Company. Lariat grew from Andrew Fry's excitement with new technology, innovative work with early Web tools and successful leadership of Free Range Media, a pioneering Web solution provider, where he was also a company founder. Mr. Fry founded Free Range Media in 1994 and FreeZone, LLC in 1995. FreeZone, a successful community web site targeted to adolescents, was operated within Free Range until 1998 when it was sold to Thomson Newspapers. Luminant Worldwide acquired Free Range Media in 1999. Mr. Fry has participated in World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) conferences, including presentation of "Publishing in the New Mass Medium" at the first U.S. W3C conference in 1994, "Temporal Design" at the 1996 W3C conference, and submission of "Statistical Analysis and Reporting as Applied to the Unique Characteristics of Streaming Media" at the W3C Web Characterization Workshop in 1998. He is also co-author or How to Publish on the Internet in 1995. Mr. Fry speaks frequently on the national and international Internet circuit. Appearances include "Extending the Internet" at Seybold Seminars in 1996; "The Future of Web Communities" at WebINNOVATION in 1997; "Future of the Internet" at Society for Internet Advancement in 1998; and as a panel speaker addressing "Eyeballs, Bits & Clicks: The Language and Metrics of Web Audience Measurement" at The Kagan Streaming Media Summit in New York City in April 2000. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO of Lariat, Mr. Fry is actively involved in industry and educational activities. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Software Alliance. He also participates in University of Washington Education and Technology Initiatives, is a member of Governor Locke's Council on the Internet, and serves on King County Executive Ron Sims' Committee for High Tech Learning Centers. Russell P. Reeder, president and CEO, founded RightsLine after identifying a process to converge the sophisticated technology of Silicon Valley with the valuable content of Hollywood. Prior to founding RightsLine, Reeder spent 12 years in information technology, both in sales and software development. Reeder led the sales teams for several ERP and point solution vendors, including executive positions at Oracle Corporation. Reeder spent several years leading the development of financial and manufacturing applications for Fortune 50 companies including Mobil Oil Corporation, Bank of America and CoreStates Bank. After creating the e-commerce strategy for companies varying from the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Reserve and Applied Materials, Reeder moved into an executive position with RightWorks, a Sequoia Capital-backed startup, where he established B2B Web strategies for some of the most cutting-edge dot com startups including Embion.com, Fasturn.com and Silicon Valley Bank's eSource.com. Reeder holds a bachelor's degree of science in computer information systems from James Madison University. Reeder is a member of the Board of Directors for RightsLine. Josette Bonte, is the Principal of New Media Strategies, a boutique consulting firm specializing in advising corporate clients on interactive television and broadband Internet content deployments. Ms. Bonte most recently, worked with the PanAmSat Net/36 team, where she concentrated on broadband content strategy and customer acquisition. Prior to rendering services for PanAmSat, she headed the Entertainment and New Media Practices of the San Francisco-based telecommunications consulting firm RHK, a position she held from 1996 to 1999. Ms. Bonte is an interactive television pioneer. In 1994, she joined US West as Head of Strategic Marketing, Entertainment and Interactive Services band participated in the company’s early interactive multimedia trials. She is the author of the best seller book "La Television a la carte aux Etats-Unis," published in Paris in 1995. Prior to her new media career, Ms. Bonte's extensive experience in the film and television industries included producing and directing award-winning documentaries, as well as motion picture development. In 1989, she founded Euroscreen Partners, Inc., a production company capitalized by European cable operators, where she served as the company's CEO until 1991. Prior to Euroscreen, she founded the Los Angeles office of Unifrance Film, where she worked as Executive Director for seven years, representing the French film industry in Hollywood. Ms. Bonte received her M.F.A from the UCLA School of Film and Television in 1981, and her Ph.D. in Telecommunications and New Media from the Sorbonne in 1996. Rick Bender is CEO of CyberStrategies, a digital media consulting company focused on strategic issues and business development for both start-up and established companies. Using strategy, technology, distribution, marketing/advertising, commerce, content aggregation and syndication deals, CyberStrategies exercises increased value and profitability for its clients in the convergence of technology, media, and telecommunications industries. Prior to heading up CyberStrategies, Mr. Bender directed the creation and business development of profitable digital media business ventures for the American Film Institute (AFI). This included initiatives involving Internet, Broadband, and Wireless distribution channels, and creation of compelling and immersive, enhanced interactive experiences based on sound hybrid business models. Previously, Mr. Bender developed Cedars-Sinai Health System’s Internet and Intranet initiatives and worked at both the RAND Corporation and Princeton University. Mr. Bender holds a Bachelors degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a Masters degree from Princeton University. SCOTT HARRISON, VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, Scott Harrison graduated from Carnegie Melon University in 1991 with a degree in Industrial Management. His work then took him to Japan where, where he joined IBM in Tokyo. At IBM, Scott worked on enterprise resource planning applications in the Asia Pacific region. Returning to the United States he entered the Anderson School at UCLA, where he graduated with honors, receiving a Masters of Business Administration in 1998. After spending several years as Program Manager for Electronic Commerce Solutions at Hewlett Packard, Scott accepted a position with ScreamingMedia as their Vice President of Business Development. He is also a black belt in Aikido, and enjoys snowboarding in his free time. .