2:30 PM - 3:45 PM
Session C:
Gen Y on the Net - Teen Sites Strategies for Entertainment and Commerce
Everybody’s talking about Generation Y. Teens have got more disposable income than any group of kids have ever had. So the bad news is that we may be spoiling our youth,, but the good news is that we are becoming experts at figuring out how to service their marketplace. Teen sites are the perfect mixture of entertainment, services, and e-commerce, and they present a great challenge. This is an audience that is demanding and can’t be fooled, but at the same time, it will reward it’s favorites with more than loyalty - massive word of mouth. In this session, we bring together the experts on Generation Y, and they can tell us what it’s all about.
Laurel Wells, Vice President and Strategy Director, iTurf.com
Michael Dowling, President & Chief Operating Officer, iFUSE
Teresa Crummett, Vice President Marketing, Snowball.com
Brad Beckerman, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Thirsty.com
Carol Kruse, VP Marketing, RocketCash
Tim Campbell, President & COO, iHigh.com
The Romp, speaker to be announced
Heidi Sinclair, Senior Vice President Marketing, drdrew.com, Moderator
Michael Dowling is president and chief operating officer of iFUSE. He co-founded the company in 1999 with colleague Rich Battista. He is brings nine years of entertainment industry experience to iFUSE, primarily through his career as a motion picture talent agent at the William Morris Agency and Endeavor Agency. Dowling joined the William Morris Agency in 1991, and rose from the mailroom to become the youngest agent in the Talent Department at 25. From there, he quickly became a senior level agent, representing the agency’s top-tier clients, including Alec Baldwin, Danny Glover, Dylan McDermott, Chris Rock, Phil Hartman and Angelina Jolie, among others. Dowling oversaw all management aspects of clients' careers, from procurement of employment to negotiating deals to advising and guiding clients on all major decisions. Dowling was also very instrumental in client branding strategies and helping to position his clients in other mediums and businesses. Dowling holds a BS in economics from Hobart College. He resides in Westwood, Calif. with his wife Gia and their son Patrick John.
Teresa Crummett, Vice President, Marketing and Product Management, Snowball.co
m: As head of marketing and product management, Teresa manages all public relations, marketing and product development efforts. One of her primary initiatives is to develop opportunities which leverage snowball.com's brand across the participating networks. Before joining snowball.com, Teresa lead marketing initiatives for a number of Internet start-ups, including BuyDirect.com, allapartments.com and NetSage. She is well versed in all aspects of marketing and public relations, including positioning, branding and strategic market development. After stints with The Walt Disney Company and American Express, Teresa was director of corporate marketing for CyberCash and vice president of direct marketing for Interactive Network, Inc. Teresa holds an MBA from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Harvard University. As a guest lecturer, she speaks frequently on "Marketing in the Digital Age" at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.Brad Beckerman, Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing, Thirsty.com: Brad Beckerman has over a dozen years of experience setting the youth market’s commerce agenda. He is charged with establishing Thirsty as a leading lifestyle brand and developing marketing and sales strategies for the company. From 1994 to 1999, Beckerman served as president and CEO of Groove Track Productions (GTP), an entertainment consulting company that shaped the youth market strategies for clients such as Universal Studios, Disneyworld and the Hard Rock Hotel. He also created a strategic partnership with multi-platinum recording artists Boyz II Men to launch the group’s first branded clothing collection, GROOVE. Prior to GTP, Beckerman spent five years as the general manager of Starter Corporation, a $300 million licensed sportswear company. Beckerman was responsible for sales, brand development, marketing, advertising, athlete and celebrity endorsements and creative services. In his first year alone, Beckerman generated in excess of $30 million in sales and dramatically increased brand awareness through aggressive product placement. Beckerman received a BS from the University of Florida where he played football for the nationally ranked Gators.
Tim Campbell, President and COO, iHigh.com: Prior to joining iHigh, Campbell served as President of Host Communications’ Electronic Media divisions, managing Internet, radio and television properties including the Host Broadcast Center, the Total Sports College Network, h2o Internet and MainStreet Productions. His thirteen-year career at Host included managing broadcast properties such as the NCAA/ CBS Radio Network, and numerous regional radio and TV sports, news and entertainment programs. Campbell has served as Executive Producer of NCAA Football’s “The Slant” on Fox SportsNet, “NCAA Today” on ESPN, “Sooner Century” with James Garner and numerous live productions for broadcast and pay-per-view. Campbell spent the past five years helping to develop Host’s Internet presence by organizing official collegiate athletic sites starting in 1995. In 1996, Mr. Campbell managed the company’s audio distribution relationships with AudioNet (now Yahoo! Broadcast.com). In early 1997, after developing numerous official collegiate sites for the University of Texas, Tennessee and others, he and iHigh CEO and partner Rick Ford managed Host’s efforts to merge its collegiate Internet assets with Total Sports. The partnership also developed the NCAA’s official FinalFour.net site and sites for all 81 NCAA Championships. Campbell began his tenure at Host Communications in 1986 and exited in 1999 as a member of the company’s Senior Management Committee.