Sponsored by:
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Track A:
Technology Infrastructure for the Delivery of Broadband Entertainment
As we move from narrowband to broadband delivery, the physical convergence of entertainment in the home requires a new technological infrastructure to be put in place. For a TV broadcaster to become an Internet broadcaster, an entirely new technological framework must be devised. Creating the new "Digital Hollywood" will not be possible without the framework to support the structure itself. The products and services that will redefine technology will require an infrastructure capable of supporting bandwidth intensive applications. In this session we will explore the capabilities of the systems in place today, understand what kind of content we can deliver, as well as investigate what alternatives the production community has in reaching its marketplace.
Laurie Shook, Director, New Media, Lucent Technologies
Michael G. Demko, Senior Director, Systems Engineering, PanAmSat Corporation
Tom Gillis, Vice President, Marketing, IBeam Broadcasting
Norm Sterrett, SVP Technology, Microcast
April Hodgson, VP Media Serv., Enron Broadband Services
Jon Brown, Vice President, Engineering, Activate
Peter Forman, President & CEO, Ligos Technology, Moderator
Michael Demko, Director of PanAmSat's Systems Engineering department, Michael Demko manages a team of engineers responsible for providing technical support services to the company's Business Development and Operations departments. The Systems Engineering department also establishes company-wide engineering standards, procedures and tools. Prior to assuming his present position, Mr. Demko served PanAmSat as a market support engineer, lending his technical expertise to the development of customer video and data distribution networks. In this capacity, he was responsible for integrating PanAmSat's South African customer requirements for current and future PanAmSat satellites covering the Indian Ocean Region. Additionally, Mr. Demko held various engineering and management positions over a seven-year period for the U.S. Army and private aerospace corporations. Mr. Demko holds both a Bachelors and Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University.
Tom Gillis, Vice President, Marketing, IBeam Broadcasting: As vice president of Marketing, Tom is responsible for all product management, public relations and outbound marketing efforts, including advertising and marketing communications. Prior to joining iBEAM, Tom was the product line manager for Desktop Workstations at Silicon Graphics. While at Silicon Graphics, Tom also was the product manager for SGI's Digital Media Streaming and Compression Hardware Products. At Raytheon Company, Tom was a senior hardware engineer responsible for wireless communications and radar systems design. Tom has an MBA from Harvard University, and Masters of Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University and BS in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University.
April Hodgson, Vice President, Media Services, Enron Broadband Services: As Vice President of the Media Services Division, Ms. Hodgson is responsible for managing the marketing and strategic development of the sales and channel management teams. For the past year, prior to becoming the Vice President of Media Services for Enron Communications, April served as a consultant to the Media and Entertainment group. Most recently, Ms. Hodgson co-founded Insight Telecommunications Corporation, a privately held company that provides domestic and international transmission solutions for the broadcast industry. April has accumulated over 15 years of sales management experience, in the fields of broadcasting and telecommunications. She previously held the positions of Senior Vice President, of U.S. sales for GlobeCast North America/France Telecom and Director of Sales for Vyvx/Williams Communications. Ms. Hodgson graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Speech and Communication.
Jon Brown, Vice President, Engineering Activate: As VP of Engineering, Jon Brown’s responsibilities at Activate include guiding the development of the network and system architecture as well as evaluating future technologies that may be applicable to Activate. Jon has over 14 years of experience in software development, most recently as vice president of product development for Atrieva Corporation. From 1991-95, Jon was the senior program manager at Evergreen Software Tools, developers of computer-aided software engineering tools. Prior to Evergreen, he was the product development manager at Phoenix Technologies, developers of software fundamental to the design and use of personal computers. Jon has also held software development management positions with Sunstrand Data Control, HDC, and several start-up software companies. He holds degrees from Georgetown and the University of Washington.
Peter Forman is president, chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Ligos Cor
poration, based in San Francisco, California. As CEO and COO, he is responsible for leading the process of formulating company strategy and managing all aspects of strategy implementation. In addition, he is responsible for ensuring the financial well being of the company and managing its key relationships with investors and strategic partners. Before joining Ligos, Peter was president at Intelligence at Large, Inc., a developer of internet telephony and IP videoconferencing technologies. Prior to at Intelligence at Large, Inc. he was vice president of Business Development at Image G, Inc., a special effects production house where he was responsible for developing Internet related strategy and business. Before that, Peter was founder, president and CEO of New Video Corporation, a pioneer in the development of video and audio codecs for personal computers for use in media authoring and training systems. He also held management positions with Deloitte and Touche Management Consulting and The J. Paul Getty Trust Art History Information Program. Peter holds an MBA from University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management and a BFA from California Institute of the Arts.