1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Session A:
Personalizing the Internet or ITV Experience
The key to success in the ITV or Net business, just like the brick and mortar trade, is to service your customer, create brand loyalty, a relationship that can last and hope that he or she will be coming back. In the case of ITV or the Net, the technology provides a huge opportunity in sophisticated personalization techniques to help satisfy the customer’s needs, from providing calendars, e-mail, local weather reports, personalized stock summaries, as well as personalized shopping aides such as those that secure the lowest price on a host of products and services that “know” your customer’s wants and needs. It not only makes good business sense to provide all of these useful “features,” it’s what makes the interactive experience so great. Customer satisfaction combined with continual technological innovation is the key to personalized success.
Dr. Ken Morse, Chief Technical Officer, PowerTV
Alex Thompson, CEO, Mixed Signals Technologies
Stephen Taylor, Managing Director, Media Markets, Wheelhouse Corporation
Paul Mitchell, Senior Group Manager, Interactive Television, Microsoft TV
Peter Karnig, CEO, Danilo Black USA
Russ Krapf, CEO, Keen Personal Media™
Patrick J. Sweeney, Vice President Marketing, Minerva Networks
Vincent Grosso, CEO, Into Networks, Moderator
Paul Mitchell, Senior Group Manager, Interactive Television, Microsoft TV Platforms: Paul Mitchell is the Senior Group Manager for Interactive Television, responsible for content and services for the Microsoft TV Platforms. He and his team manage a collection of evangelism and training programs for interactive content developers seeking to deploy their content and services on the new interactive television platforms, as well as for television programmers and executives looking for ways to expand their traditional businesses. He is also responsible for the development of developer tools for the TV Platforms. Mitchell was instrumental in the creation of the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF), an organization now involving over 70 companies worldwide, representing all aspects of television production, distribution, consumer electronics, and software, and is Microsoft’s Founder representative to the ATVEF. A veteran of Interactive TV, Mitchell formerly worked in Microsoft’s Advanced Consumer Technology group during the early experimentation with interactive technologies in the early 90s. Prior to that he worked in Microsoft’s developer division, where he launched several successful tools products, including Visual C++, and Visual C++ for Windows NT, the company’s first professional toolset for the Windows NT operating system. Recent speaking experience includes, Digital Hollywood and Convergence 2000.
Dr. Ken Morse, Chief Technical Officer, PowerTV: A co-founder of PowerTV, Ken M
orse is responsible for overall technical product strategy. At Kaleida Labs he was a joint architect of the Hardware Reference Platform, including the Malibu graphics/audio controller. He previously founded Multimedia Consultants, Ultra Digital Systems and MTL. Mr. Morse holds a B.Eng. in Electronic Engineering and a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool, England.Alex Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mixed Signals Technologies: Alex Thompson founded Mixed Signals Technologies in 1997, and currently serves as Presi
dent and Chief Executive Officer. Thompson's extensive experience in engineering and digital video processing crafted the vision for Mixed Signals’ innovative product line. With a background education in Electrical Engineering from The University of Maryland, Thompson was selected by Wright Patterson Air Force Base to lead a graduate program in Human Factors Engineering at The University of Dayton to develop next-generation equipment for advanced fighter aircraft. After leaving that project in 1988, Thompson began work in the film and television industry, creating custom physical, optical and digital effects systems for film, TV and the developing multimedia industry. In 1995, Power Computing, a leading provider of computer equipment for video editing and digital effects processing, recruited Thompson to lead the development and deployment of their high-end systems. After Apple Computer purchased Power Computing in 1997, Thompson relocated to Los Angeles from Silicon Valley and founded Mixed Signals Technologies. Thompson, a noted and respected industry speaker, was recently chosen by MIT's Technology Review as one of the Nations’ Top 100 Technology Innovators.Stephen E. Taylor, Managing Director, Wheelhouse Corporation: Stephen Taylor joined Wheelhouse Corporation as managing director in fall, 2000, after a 20-year career in senior management at the Boston Globe. Taylor, who has an extensive background in operations, information technology and new media, is expected to help Wheelhouse build its fast growing media practice, in addition to working with the senior management team to shape the company’s internal growth. Most recently Taylor was president of Boston Globe Electronic Publishing (BGEP), publisher of Boston.com during the first five years of that site’s existence. He was executive vice president of the Boston Globe from 1993 until he joined Wheelhouse. He had been vice president of the Globe since 1991 and business manager since 1988. Taylor was responsible for the newspaper’s operations, production, information technology and administrative services. Taylor joined the Globe in 1980, and entered senior management in 1986. He was a member of the management labor negotiating team and served on the Executive Committee and Budget Committee. From 1983 to 1986, Taylor was director of information services, responsible for corporate computing, publishing systems and telecommunications. In addition to his duties at Wheelhouse, Taylor serves as a director of Merdian Audio, Ltd., a UK manufacturer of very high-end digital audio and home theater products and software, and as a member of the board of advisors to Incogno Corporation and Coola Corporation. Taylor has served on the board of directors of the Globe Newspaper Company, a subsidiary of Affiliated Publications before its merger with the New York Times Company in 1993. He is a trustee and chair of the audit committee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and serves as vice-chair and director of the Greater Boston Food Bank. He is a director of the American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia and a member of the board committee on industry development for the Newspaper Association of America. Taylor also is a member of the corporation of Partners Health Care, parent of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Taylor won several world & national sailing championships and worked in the marine industry until joining the Boston Globe. He is treasurer and a trustee of the Yale Sailing Associates and served on the executive committee of the U.S. Olympic Yachting Committee from 1980-1984. Taylor is a member of the board of governors of the Cruising Club of America, and a member of the New York Yacht Club and the New Bedford Yacht Club. Taylor was born in Cambridge, U.K. and is a U.S. citizen. He graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, in 1969 and received a B.A. degree in psychology from Yale University in 1973.
Russ Krapf is the CEO of Keen Personal Media™ (Keen PM). Keen PM provides interactive broadband products and services for TV and Internet content management and T-commerce. Keen PM is dedicated to becoming the leader in personal media technology solutions for the home entertainment market. Keen PM's first product, TV4me™, is a next-generation Personal Video Recorder (PVR) technology that is designed specifically for cable operators. Keen PM's premier investment partner is Western Digital Corporation. Russ started working in the disk drive industry in 1974. At Nashua Corporation, he was in charge of operations for the disk and disk pack division. Russ was VP, General Manager of Memorex's rigid media business in 1981 and he was President, CEO and Chairman of Grenex, one of the first sputtered media businesses. He sold that company to Seagate and it became Seagate Magnetics in 1985. Russ was President, CEO and Chairman of Lapine Technology, one of the first 95mm drive companies, and President of Censtor, developing vertical recording heads and media. In 1997 Russ became VP, General Manager of Western Digital's Media Division. After selling that division to Komag, he took over Western Digital's business unit dedicated to the AV market. Russ served as President of IDEMA, the association for the data storage industry, for four years and is a Member Emeritus of IDEMA's Board of Directors.
Vincent (Vinnie) Grosso, Chief Executive Officer, Into Networks: Vincent Grosso is a telecommunications and entertainment industry veteran. An early proponent of interactive television at AT&T, he has been widely recognized as a pioneer on the forefront of new media for more than two decades. At Into Networks, Grosso is again breaking new ground, delivering on the promise of broadband content for high-speed Internet subscribers. Under his leadership, Into Networks has launched its’ PlayNow‘ interactive software service, and is securing distribution agreements with broadband partners around the world. Most recently, Grosso was Vice President and General Manager of NBC Interactive. As general manager of NBC Television Network’s Interactive Neighborhood, Grosso extended NBC’s leadership into the local Internet marketplace by creating a network of more than 100 local affiliate Web sites. Previously, he was with AT&T for nearly two decades in a variety of executive positions, most recently, as president of AT&T’s Downtown Digital Solutions division, where he developed leading-edge software applications, programming, and custom Internet hosting. Grosso is credited with initiating the first two-way interactive television trials in Chicago in 1990. Later, he led AT&T’s interactive television trials with Viacom, GTE and PacTel. Grosso received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Loyola University in New Orleans.
Patrick J. Sweeney, Vice President of Marketing, Minerva Networks, Inc.: Mr. Sweeney joined Minerva as Vice President of Marketing in October of 1999. Mr. Sweeney has over 12 years experience in the fields of product marketing, product management, corporate marketing, technology licensing, and sales development. His most recent positions include, Director of Worldwide Sales & Marketing for Articulate Systems, Senior Product Line Manager for Apple Computer, and Senior Manager of Product Marketing & Solutions Marketing for Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mr. Sweeney's educational experience includes a degree in Marketing from Tulane University, and extensive graduate work at Santa Clara University.