11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Workshop Sponsored by:
Session B:
Technology Behind the Webcast - Encoding, Compression, Video Storage, Networking & Media Asset Management
The technical talent base that is forming in support of webcasting is as critical to the success of the enterprise as is the traditional in-front-of-the-camera talent, perhaps even more so. What good does it do to webcast the “Rolling Stones Live from Mustique” if the Internet network crashes and the picture that does get through looks like a moonscape. Luckily the technology is catching up to the needs of the programmers. In this session, Digital Hollywood brings together some of leading technology players in the field of webcasting. They are on the front lines everyday, inventing and perfecting new ways of delivering Internet audio and video.
Todd Sawicki, Director of Business Development, LoudEye, formerly encoding.com
Brian Kenner, CTO & co-founder, INTERVU
William Mutual, President & Chairman, POPcast Communications
Joe Gaucher, Chief Technology Officer, ClearBand
Tim Carruthers, President, Webcasts.com
Jon Brown, VP Engineeering, Activate.net
Hal Feldman, Executive Producer, Virage Interactive
Rimas Buinevicius, CEO, Sonic Foundry, Moderator
Brian Kenner is Chief Technology Officer of INTERVU Inc. and is responsible for shaping the company’s strategy and direction. Mr. Kenner’s responsibilities include foreseeing future trends in the streaming media industry, developing the economic models and business strategies for INTERVU and a number of its customers, and ensuring that INTERVU’s use of technology is collaborative with the goals of its customers. Mr. Kenner has also been responsible for writing 10 patents for INTERVU covering a range of inventions dealing with the complexities of multimedia management and delivery within a digital network to enhancement of multimedia playback during end-user playback. INTERVU has been granted 2 of these patents. Mr. Kenner has more than ten years of experience in developing and implementing innovative technology applications in digital video imaging. From 1989 to January 1996, he was a senior electrical engineer at Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), a multibillion-dollar advanced technology research and development organization. As project engineer, Mr. Kenner had responsibility for products ranging from advanced hand-held instrumentation to devices that digitize, compress and transmit both moving and still images over public and private communications networks. Mr. Kenner co-founded INTERVU in 1996. Mr. Kenner obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of California, San Diego.
Todd Sawicki, Minister of the Medium, a.k.a Director of Business Development
Leading Loudeye’s business development efforts, Sawicki brings experience at new and traditional media companies like SimplyTV, an online streaming company he founded, and the Disney Channel, where he focused on expanding the Disney Channel's market share and interactive initiatives. Prior to Disney, Sawicki worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a business consultant in the firm's business turnaround services group. Sawicki is a graduate of Duke University.
Joe Gaucher, CTO of ClearBand is the former VP of Technology for Viacom New Media. While at Viacom, he helped develop the technology for Viacom's interactive television test with AT&T. Before Viacom, Gaucher was VP of Technology at ICOM Simulations, where he led the development of the award-winning "Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective" on CD-ROM. The full-motion video technology he helped create for the game was the first commercial PC product to utilize digital video.
Tim Carruthers, President, Webcasts.com, served as Senior Vice President of The William Carruthers Company, a live and video tape production company established in 1969. During his tenure at the Carruthers Company, the international and interactive program areas grew substantially. Since 1989, Mr. Carruthers has been involved in developing uses of interactive television (ITV), the Internet and CD-ROMs. From June 1994 to January 1998, Mr. Carruthers worked as a consultant for GTE Mainstreet-Interactive Television. During this time, he created and produced interactive designs for "Jeopardy", "Press Your Luck", "The Joker's Wild" and a new game entitled "PowerCube", which makes use of Virtual Studio technology. Mr. Carruthers created stable and efficient multimedia engines for the ITV division at GTE. Prior to taking his position at webcasts.com, he was Vice President of Programming for "The Computer Television Network" cable channel dedicated to technology and learning. His experience as a broadcaster and interactive designer has earned him awards in the cable, network and interactive industries.
Jon Brown, Vice President, Engineering, Activate.net: Mr. Brown 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, Jon 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.
William H. Mutual, President & Chairman, POPcast Communications. William Mutual is one of the leading pioneers in the streaming media industry, and founded one of the first Webcasting companies in 1995, ITVnet. Mr. Mutual then began POPcast Communications, which Webcasts some of the largest events around the world such as, the Grammys, the Tony Awards, U2 World Tour, the Summer Olympics, and the Cannes International Film Festival. Mr. Mutual's leadership has allowed POPcast to rapidly expand their ASP video sharing service, which is licensed to many of the top Web portals today. A film composer by trade, Mr. Mutual has over 15 years experience in digital media. Mr. Mutual owned and operated a post-production and music composition studio for the film industry prior to started ITVnet and POPcast. An expert in networking, video technologies, and audio engineering, he is a sought after speaker on the subject of Webcasting. Mr. Mutual is a founding Board Member of the IWA ( International Webcasting Association), and has completed the highly acclaimed Julliard Creative Music Studios Masters Program.
Dave Girouard, Vice President & General Manager of Virage Interactive: Dave Girouard has overseen the delivery of Campaign 2000 a service created by C-SPAN and Virage to allow users to search from archives of unedited C-SPAN footage of the 2000 U.S. Presidential campaign race, changing the way Americans follow and practice politics. Other sites using Campaign 2000 include top news sites like the Washington Post and the Associated Press. Prior to campaign 2000, Girouard oversaw the searchable, online release of President Clinton's deposition on Altavista. Within hours of going live, over half a million users logged onto the site, using the President’s and prosecutor’s own words to find and play back only the segments of video testimony of interest to them. The Red Herring, San Francisco Chronicle and Wired News described the convergence of the President’s testimony with the breakthrough video search technology as a “watershed event” for the Internet. Girouard came to Virage from Apple Computer's Worldwide Product Marketing organization. Girouard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering Sciences and a Bachelor of Engineering from Dartmouth College. He also holds an MBA from the University of Michigan.