Speakers: BRITE '09
- Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor of Economics at Columbia University, has served as an adviser to the UN and WTO, and is author of, most recently, In Defense of Globalization.
- Ross Buchanan is the director of digital and relationship marketing for Molson, where he uses the internet, social media, and mobile technologies to extend the reach of Canada's oldest beer brand.
- Lisa Honig Buksbaum, CEO & Founder, Soaringwords
- Aaron Cohen is Founding Partner at TechAviv, a global network of Israeli hi-tech entrepreneurs and investors. He has been CEO at MenuPages.com, Bolt.com, and Concrete Media.
- Leslie Dance is VP and Director, Worldwide Brand Marketing at Kodak. She was formerly CMO at Motorola’s mobile phone business and CMO for fashion brand Burberry.
- Jeff Fleischman, Senior VP, Customer Experience at Citibank, leads global efforts to measurably grow customer acquisition, deepen relationships, and drive self-service through online banking.
- Darryl Gehly, Executive VP, Isobar, partners with clients such as Reebok, Nikon, and Fidelity to develop digital strategies that engage consumers and drive business results.
- Seth Godin is the author of the most popular marketing blog in the world, and of 10 international bestselling books including Tribes, Purple Cow, and Unleashing the Ideavirus (2 million downloads).
- Scott Goodson is the CEO and Founder of Strawberry Frog, which develops Cultural Movement strategies for its clients.
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Francois Gossieaux, Partner, Beeline Labs, is author of the 2008 Tribalization of Business Study, examining best practices in online communities run by more than 140 organizations.
- Umair Haque is Director of the Havas Media Lab, a new kind of strategic advisor that helps investors, entrepreneurs, and firms experiment with, craft, and drive radical management, business model, and strategic innovation. He is author of the popular Edge Economy blog.
- Jeff Howe is Contributing Editor, Wired Magazine. He coined the term "crowsourcing" in a 2006 article on the topic, and is author of the new book Crowdsourcing.
- Lisa Hsia is Senior VP, New Media & Digital at Bravo TV, where she leads their award-winning programming in new media platforms, including mobile, digital, and home video. She was previously VP of NBC News and has won six Emmy awards.
- Jeff Jarvis, is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's new Graduate School of Journalism and author of the influential blog Buzzmachine.com. He also just released the book, What Would Google Do?
- Max Kalehoff, VP, Marketing, Clickable, and author of the blog AttentionMax
- Mark Kershisnik, is Executive Director of Market Research at Eli Lilly and Co.
- Alyson Meranze is VP, Digital Content & Strategy at American Express, where she heads overall digital brand strategy, including partnerships, cause marketing, and online communities.
- Freddy Mini is CEO of Netvibes and a leading expert on widget marketing strategies for global brands and publishers.
- Ed Moran, Director, Deloitte & Touche, is co-author of the 2008 Tribalization of Business Study.
- Adam Nash, Senior Director, Product & User Experience, LinkedIn, leads product strategy & design for the LinkedIn online network of more than 30 million professionals.
- Bonnie Nixon is Director of Environmental Sustainability at Hewlett Packard, where she works on the strategy, marketing, messaging and stakeholder relations program concerning sustainability issues at HP.
- Eli Noam, Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School, and Director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information
- David Rogers, Host of BRITE, is Executive Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, where he develops new strategies, research, and curriculum on branding, new media, and marketing.
- Avner Ronen is CEO of Boxee, an award-winning media platform that allows you to enjoy movies, TV, music, photos, and streaming content on your television, and share it with your social network.
- Steve Rubel, Senior VP, Director of Insights, Edelman Digital, is author of the award-winning PR blog Micropersuasion.com.
- Yaron Samid is the Founder of TechAviv, a global network of Israeli hi-tech entrepreneurs and investors; host of NY Video 2.0; and cofounder of Pando Networks, the leading commercial P2P company with 20 million users.
- Bernd H. Schmitt, Faculty Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership, is a Professor at Columbia Business School, CEO of the EX Group, and best-selling author of 7 books, including Customer Experience Management and Big Think Strategy.
- Don Sexton, Professor, Columbia Business School, is the Director of the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business.
- Sanjay Sood is Associate Professor of Marketing, UCLA; Faculty Director, Entertainment and Media Management Institute; and an expert on how Hollywood markets entertainment brands.
- Carsten Wierwille is the General Manager for frog design in New York, a global innovation firm.
- Mark Yolton is Senior VP, SAP Community Network at SAP, where he leverages online user forums to share insights, improve service, test products, and accelerate adoption in the market.
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Jagdish Bhagwati, is University Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been Economic Policy Adviser to Arthur Dunkel, Director General of GATT (1991-93), Special Adviser to the UN on Globalization, and External Adviser to the WTO. He has served on the Expert Group appointed by the Director General of the WTO on the Future of the WTO and the Advisory Committee to Secretary General Kofi Annan on the NEPAD process in Africa, and was also a member of the Eminent Persons Group under the chairmanship of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso on the future of UNCTAD. Five volumes of his scientific writings and two of his public policy essays have been published by MIT press. The recipient of six festschrifts in his honor, he has also received several prizes and honorary degrees, including awards from the governments of India (Padma Vibhushan) and Japan (Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star). Professor Bhagwati's latest book In Defense of Globalization was published by Oxford University Press in 2004 to worldwide acclaim.
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Ross Buchanan is the director of digital and relationship marketing for Molson Canada. In this role, he is responsible for identifying and managing relationship marketing and internet opportunities for Molson at a national level. In seven years of employment with Canada’s oldest beer brand, Ross has held many progressive positions in sales, field marketing and now digital and relationship marketing.
Buchanan actively demonstrates leadership and strategic thinking at Molson. He works with Molson’s stakeholders to use the internet, new technologies and mobile to extend the reach of brand and market development campaigns and promotions. He also manages Molson’s social media protocol, moderation guidelines and escalation procedures.
Ross is part of the Molson’s National Mentoring Program, volunteering his time and knowledge to students enrolled in the Queen’s University Corporate social responsibility programs.
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Lisa Honig Buksbaum is a passionary (a visionary driven by great passion and action). Three experiences with death and illness in her family motivated to Lisa to create Soaringwords, a global community devoted to inspire millions of ill children and families to “Never give up!”
Lisa has won national awards from A&E Television, Cisco, and the Points of Light Foundation and USA Weekend. She has been featured in USA Weekend, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Fortune Small Business, Working Mother, Fox and Nickelodeon, and was a columnist for Inc.com. Soaringwords has secured millions of dollars of support through Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives with JetBlue, Lilly, Aetna and many others.
Lisa is a popular inspirational speaker at leading companies including Verizon, American Express, Goldman Sachs, MetLife and Starbucks. Lisa founded and ran Boxtree Communications, a successful marketing firm whose clients included NTT, Equitable, Chase, Scholastic, Colgate, and Dannon. Lisa is an honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from Columbia. She is also a graduate of the Birthing of Giants program run by M.I.T. She is the author of Soaringwords the Power to Heal: 10 Ways to Conquer Life’s Pain and Obstacles which will be published in 2009. Lisa lives in Manhattan with her husband Jacob and has two wonderful sons.
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Aaron Cohen is Founding Partner of TechAviv, a global family of successful entrepreneurs and investors that have come together to mentor and back the next generation of Israeli hi-tech leaders. TechAviv Seed, our financial arm, is an idea-stage investment company bringing extraordinary Israeli entrepreneurs to New York for 90 days of inspiration and focused development.
Cohen was recently the CEO of MenuPages, the leading company at providing up-to-the minute Restaurant information with a particular focus on comprehensive, current menu content. He played a central role in bringing the company to a successful exit, selling the business to Bruce Wasserstein's New York Magazine.
Cohen co-founded Bolt in 1996, spun it off to new shareholders in 1999, and returned as its CEO a year ago. Bolt is High School/College-aged Internet Media company. Today Bolt reaches 3.5 million people a month (about the same as MTV.com). The company arguably knows more about its consumers than any media company on Earth. Marketers buy our services so they can form deep, authentic relationships with this elusive, highly brand conscious audience.
Cohen writes: "My goals are the same as they have always been since I joined the Digital Media industries: 'to participate in the Internet revolution.' I still feel it's happening."
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Jeff Fleischman, is currently working in Citi's Global Consumer Group as the SVP of Customer Experience for Global Direct Banking. Jeff's role is to define and execute a strategy to grow Citi's consumer online channel primarily focused on growing acquisition, deepening customer relationships, and driving self-service. His responsibilities also include crafting a global approach that will measurably transform the online banking experience and engagement model enhancing Citi's reputation as a leader in online banking.
Prior to Citi, Jeff was GM/SVP, E-Business for Monster.com focused on leading the development of the e-Business segment and managing the e-Business P&L. His responsibilities also included developing a drive to web strategy and online experience to expand market reach, increase revenue, drive sales and cross-sell, and improve site satisfaction.
Before joining Monster, Jeff was with American Express in various roles in Finance, Risk Management, and American Express Interactive. His most recent position was Vice President, US Interactive Group, where he was responsible for developing and managing the online channel for US businesses resulting in significant growth in online enrollment and usage. Prior to American Express Jeff held a variety of marketing and finance positions with Advanta, JP Morgan Chase, and Bankers Trust. Jeff earned a BS in Finance from Syracuse University and an MBA from Hofstra University.
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Darryl T. Gehly, Executive Vice President, Isobar, is passionate about understanding how to connect with consumers online. In his role as Executive Vice President, Gehly partners with world renowned clients such as Reebok, Nikon, Talbots, Yankee Candle, and Fidelity to drive the vision and execution of integrated digital marketing solutions. He brings unique insights and experiences, as well as a zeal for implementing digital strategies that engage consumers and drive business results. Gehly is equally adept at developing innovative go-to-market strategies that accelerate company growth and profitability. He joined Molecular’s executive team in 1995 and now manages a team of professionals chartered with driving the company’s growth.
Prior to Molecular, Gehly held management positions for a publishing firm focused on military electronics. While at the Journal of Electronic Defense, Gehly was responsible for online initiatives spearheading and implementing JED On-line in 1994. Gehly also produced and directed two films focusing on the manipulation of the electromagnetic spectrum and its effect on the battlefield.
Gehly received both Journalist and News Writer of the Year awards as a US Air Force journalist. He studied computer science at the Florida Institute of Technology and Keene State College.
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Seth Godin writes the most popular marketing blog in the world, and is the founder of Squidoo.com, a fast-growing recommendation website.
Godin is author of ten books that have been bestsellers around the world and changed the way people think about marketing, change and work. His books have been translated into more than 20 languages, and his ebooks are among the most popular ever published. He is responsible for many words in the marketer's vocabulary, including permission marketing, ideaviruses, purple cows, the dip and sneezers. His irrepressible speaking style and no-holds-barred blog have helped him create a large following around the world.
Seth's latest book, Tribes, is a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter. The Miami Herald listed it among the best business books of 2008.
Unleashing the Ideavirus is the most popular ebook ever written. More than 1,000,000 people downloaded the digital version of this book about how ideas spread. Featured in USA Today, The New York Times, The Industry Standard and Wired Online, Ideavirus hit #4 on the Amazon Japan bestseller list, and #5 in the USA. The Big Red Fez, Godin's take on web design, was the #1 ebook (worldwide) on Amazon for almost a year before it was published in paperback in 2002. The Miami Herald called it one of the best business books of the year. Survival is Not Enough has made bestseller lists in Germany, the UK and the United States. With a foreword by Charles Darwin, this breakthrough book redefines what change means to anyone who works for a living. Tom Peters called it a, "landmark." The book was first excerpted in Fast Company, where Godin is a contributing editor. His book Purple Cow was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. It's all about how companies can transform themselves by becoming remarkable.
Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne, the industry's leading interactive direct marketing company, which Yahoo! acquired in late 1998. He holds an MBA from Stanford, and was called "the Ultimate Entrepreneur for the Information Age" by Business Week.
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Scott Goodson is the Founder amd CEO of Strawberry Frog. In the early 90s Scott heard something about the ‘Internet’ through the old fashioned grape vine. He got connected and immediately recognized the Internet for what it would become: one MASSive medium for media. In Stockholm, Scott was owner of an ad agency that focused on building brands by taking advantage of all these ever-new possibilities and in the process the agency won numerous awards for effectiveness, design, international and cultural relevance. In the late 90s, Scott sold his agency and moved over the pond, serving as Executive Creative Director for JWT Canada.
In 1999, he returned to Europe to found StrawberryFrog, a company that would grow into the voice of a new generation of innovative modern agencies. StrawberryFrog's DNA is Cultural Movements. StrawberryFrog develops Cultural Movement strategies for its clients. StrawberryFrog has become a global company doing business where its clients do business.
Scott has worked internationally for some of the world's most iconic brands such as Coca Cola, Google, Heineken, Frito Lay, Morgan Stanley, Mitsubishi Motors, Microsoft, Old Navy, and Smart. Scott served as Chairman of the Global Future Marketing Summit in New York and London. He has given keynote addresses in New York and around the world, such as GoaFest in India. He has received numerous international awards and acted on many juries including the Cannes Lions Titanium jury and DA&D. Scott was on the board of the Art Director’s Club of America and has lectured at the Cambridge University School of Business.
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Francois
Gossieaux, Partner, Beeline Labs, is a lifelong tech marketing and media veteran. He led marketing, product
management and strategy at eRoom Technology, is president and partner at
MarketHum partner Corante, founded Synopia, advises numerous companies in the
space, has developed and chaired industry events, and more. Francois has a long
history with online media -- having implemented an Intranet for
a large multinational in the early 90's and was the organizer of the first large
scale virtual event, InterAct'96, with Time
Magazine and Infoworld. He has used blogs for grassroots political and
environmental activities, and is currently blogging at emergencemarketing.com.
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Umair Haque is Director of the Havas Media Lab, a new kind of strategic advisor that helps investors, entrepreneurs, and firms experiment with, craft, and drive radical management, business model, and strategic innovation.
Prior to Havas, Umair founded Bubblegeneration, an agenda-setting advisory boutique that helped shape the strategies of investors, entrepreneurs, and blue chip companies across media and consumer industries. Bubblegeneration’s work has been recognized by publications like Wired, The Red Herring, Business 2.0, and BusinessWeek, and in Chris Anderson’s Long Tail, to which Umair was a contributor.
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Jeff Howe is a contributing editor at Wired Magazine, where he covers the media and entertainment industry, among other subjects. In June of 2006 he published "The Rise of Crowdsourcing" in Wired. He has continued to cover the phenomenon in his blog, crowdsourcing.com, and is currently writing a book on the subject for Crown Books to be published in July 2008. Before coming to Wired he was a senior editor at Inside.com and a writer at the Village Voice. In his fifteen years as a journalist he has traveled around the world working on stories ranging from the impending water crisis in Central Asia to the implications of gene patenting. He has written for U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, Mother Jones and numerous other publications. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Alysia Abbott, their daughter Annabel Rose and son Phineas and a miniature black lab named Clementine.
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Lisa Hsia is Senior Vice President of New Media and Digital Strategy, Bravo. She oversees its broadband properties, BravoTV.com and TelevisionWithoutPity.com, as well as Bravo's initiatives in emerging media -- wireless, interactive TV, gaming and multiplatform programming. Under her watch, Bravo's team has garnered a list of accolades that include the Technology and Engineering Emmy, the Webby Award, two ITVT Awards for leadership in interactive television and three Prime Time Emmy nominations in interactive.
Previously, Hsia was Vice President of NBC News, where she supervised the TODAY show, Dateline and NBC News Productions. She is the recipient of seven news Emmy Awards. Lisa is also currently a student in the EMBA program at Columbia Business School.
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 | Jeff Jarvis blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com. He is associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's new Graduate School of Journalism. He is consulting editor of Daylife, a news startup, he writes a new media column for The Guardian, and he consults for media companies. Until 2005, he was president and creative director of Advance.net, the online arm of Advance Publications.
Prior to that, Jarvis was creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly; Sunday editor and associate publisher of The New York Daily News; TV critic for TV Guide and People; a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner; assistant city editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune; reporter for Chicago Today. His new book is What Would Google Do?
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Mark Kalehoff is vice president of marketing at Clickable, whose mission is to make advertising simple. His prior experience includes marketing roles at Nielsen BuzzMetrics and comScore Media Metrix. In addition to authoring the blog AttentionMax, he also pens a weekly column in MediaPost. He focuses on new marketing and media, and has considerable experience building the reputations of early-stage companies. Kalehoff’s formal education includes a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, a diploma from the French Culinary Institute, and a Merchant Marine Master License from the United States Coast Guard. He lives in Pelham Manor, New York, with his wife Laura and two kids, Julian and Celeste. His interests include sailing, writing and cooking.
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Alyson Meranze, Vice President, Digital Strategy & Content, American Express Global Advertising & Brand Management. Alyson is an accomplished senior marketing executive with 14 years of experience in brand management and consumer, entertainment and digital marketing. Alyson is a proven leader in building brands for both Fortune 500 companies and start-ups. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, financial management, creative and web development, on both agency and client sides. In her current position, Alyson is responsible for driving the digital strategy for the American Express brand and developing strategic partnerships to create, source and distribute content. Alyson works cross-functionally both internally and with agency partners to drive all digital initiatives supporting integrated communications plans and American Express business goals.
Prior to American Express, Alyson spent 7 years at Nickelodeon and was responsible for overseeing the development and execution of all brand strategies and marketing plans for the Nickelodeon brand, animated franchised properties such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Rugrats, and live action shows such as Zoey 101, and Drake and Josh. In addition, Alyson led the marketing efforts for all new show launches, as well as, annual events such as The Kids Choice Awards. Alyson began her career on the agency side with J. Walter Thompson in Chicago. She has held brand management positions at Radical Communications and consulted for Sony/BMG and Lifetime. Alyson received her MBA in Strategic Marketing from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in American History and African-American Studies from Harvard University.
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Freddy Mini, CEO, Netvibes. Netvibes is the leading personalized startpage and widget marketing platform, serving more than 1,000 of the world's top agencies, brands and publishers. Freddy is a leading expert on widget marketing strategies for global brands and publishers.
Prior to Netvibes, he was the co-founder of musicMe (the first music search service), the CEO of Ziff-Davis (France), and the Senior VP and Managing Director of CNET Networks Europe where he was responsible for creating and building their operations to over 150 people while exceeding all profitability goals
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Ed Moran, Director, Deloitte & Touche LLP. Ed is a Global TMT subject matter expert for Technology, and he provides TMT companies with consultative assistance in securing financing, strategic planning, product innovation, market segmentation, competitive positioning, and industry analysis.
Ed also is also a Tri-State leader of the venture capital practice, and leads the Nanotechnology Industry Practice and Convergence teams in New York. Ed is a member of the
National Academies' National Nanotech Initiative (NNI)
Review Committee, which was chartered by Congress to
evaluate the National Nanotechnology Initiative program.
Specifically, Ed and the committee have been asked by
Congress to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of the
multi-agency NNI program, to recommend new or revised goals
and metrics, to analyze the relative position of the United
States in this growing field, and to analyze the impact of
nanotechnology on the U.S. economy.
Ed is also a member of the World Economic Forum's
Technology Pioneer Selection Advisory Committee, and the
Nanotech Working Group of the US Council for International
Business.
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Adam Nash, Senior Director, Product and User Experience, LinkedIn. Adam is a seasoned technology executive and general manager with experience across engineering, product management, product strategy, and venture capital. He focuses on identifying business opportunities around emerging technologies and leading teams to design great products to address them. He has a strong passion for innovation and entrepreneurship with an affinity for public speaking and product evangelism.
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Bonnie Nixon, Director of Environmental Sustainability, Hewlett Packard. Bonnie Nixon and her green team of dedicated sustainability experts are responsible for the short and long term vision, strategy, marketing, messaging and stakeholder relations program for Hewlett Packard.
Over the last decade at HP, Ms. Nixon has worked with top level management on environmental, health, safety and social polices and procedures and designed and implemented a world class supplier relationship management program. She has played a strong lead in an effort of major competitors and suppliers on a common industry code of conduct that helps raise the bar in the electronics industry. In addition, Ms. Nixon has led audit trainings and supply chain social and environmental trainings and audits in Mexico, South America, Eastern Europe, India, China and Southeast Asia.
Prior to joining HP, as Vice President of an Environmental Planning and Communications Firm, Bonnie Nixon managed more than 200 public and private sector projects with business, community and agencies. She has spent more than 20 years working with business, government and non-governmental entities on environmental and social impact assessments. Her experience spans across several industries including technology, biotech, hazardous waste, financial, infrastructure and utilities, food processing and transportation.
Bonnie has particular expertise in sustainability and stakeholder outreach including providing strategic management for communication activities including negotiation, supplier relationship management, organizational development training and change management. Ms. Nixon is published in Navigating Rough Waters – Ethical Issues in the Water Industry.
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Eli Noam, is a Professor of Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School and Director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information. Professor Noam focuses on the economics and management of media, Internet, and communications, both in America and around the world. He served as New York State's Public Service Commissioner, regulating the telecommunications and energy industries, and on a White House Presidential Board on electronic technology. His 27 books and over 400 articles cover telecom, film, TV, e-finance, e-commerce and IT.
His forthcoming book is Media Ownership and Concentration in America (Oxford University Press, 2009), in which he provides a comprehensive survey of media concentration in America, covering everything from the early media empire of Benjamin Franklin to the modern-day cellular phone industry.
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David
Rogers is the Executive Director of Columbia Business School's Center on Global Brand Leadership, the leading global forum on branding issues for researchers and executives. He is the host of the center's BRITE conference, a global series of conferences and CMO summits on branding, innovation, and technology.
Rogers blogs at www.BRITEblog.net and is the author of articles and case studies on marketing and digital media. He is the co-author, with Bernd Schmitt, of the book There's No Business That's Not Show Business: Marketing in an Experience Culture, and co-editor of the Handbook on Brand and Experience Management. Rogers has advised and developed marketing and digital media strategies for clients in consumer packaged goods, electronics, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, IT, telecom, hospitality, non-profit, and media industries.
Rogers teaches in Columbia Business School's Executive Education program and speaks at conferences worldwide on the ways that digital media and innovation are transforming communications and branding. He has appeared on CNNfn, national radio, and in various international business magazines. Rogers is also a composer and musician whose music ("Rhythmically vital!" - The New York Times)
is heard from jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall.
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Steve Rubel is a digital marketer with over 15 years experience. He currently serves as SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman - the world's largest independent PR firm. Steve is charged with helping Edelman clients identify key insights, trends and emerging digital platforms that can be applied in marketing programs. He also explores these topics on his well-read Micro Persuasion weblog and in a bi-weekly column for AdAge Digital.
In addition, Steve is often sought out as a speaker and appears frequently in the press. He has been named to several prestigious lists, including: The Forbes.com Web Celeb 25, PC Magazine's 100 Favorite Blogs, Media Magazine's Media 100, the AlwaysOn/Technorati Open Media 100 and the CNET News.com Blog 100. Prior to joining Edelman in 2006, Rubel worked in a variety of communications positions in corporate, non-profit and small/mid-sized PR firms.
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Yaron Samid is Founder of TechAviv, a blog covering Israeli hi-tech startups and a global network of Israeli hi-tech entrepreneurs and investors that meet monthly in Israel, New York and Silicon Valley to showcase, discuss and help Israeli startups succeed.
Yaron Samid is an Internet entrepreneur, a veteran of five startups and an active hi-tech community leader. Yaron most recently founded Pando Networks, the world's leading commercial P2P company with over 20 million users and Fortune 500 customers such as NBC. Prior to Pando, Yaron co-founded DeskSite, growing the PCTV network to over 2 million viewers and sustained profitability. Yaron previously held senior Marketing and Product Management positions at Zend, BackWeb and Register.com.
Invited regularly to speak at industry conferences, in 2006 Yaron founded NY Video 2.0, an organization bringing 2,500+ entrepreneurs and professionals together to showcase and discuss emerging web video startups and trends. In the summer of 2007 he created TechAviv to connect and help fellow Israeli entrepreneurs succeed worldwide.
Yaron serves on the board of directors at Aprigo and Pond5, the advisory boards of Boxee and Flixwagon and the executive committee of the Tevel.org Angel Group.
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Bernd
H. Schmitt is a Columbia Business School professor and best-selling author of Experiential Marketing and Big Think Strategy. Bernd Schmitt is
Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business
School in New York where he directs the Center on Global Brand Leadership, the
leading global forum on branding issues for researchers and executives.
He is widely recognized for his major contribution to branding, marketing,
and management through his unique focus on the customer experience. Schmitt has
authored or co-authored more than 50 articles and six books which have been
translated into 14 languages. In his acclaimed Experiential Marketing he provided a framework for an integrated marketing approach that moves beyond
the functional features and benefits of a brand. His book Customer
Experience Management provides a five-step process for connecting with the
customer at every touchpoint. In Big Think Strategy, he shows managers how to leverage bold ideas and leave small thinking behind.
Schmitt has consulted and developed brand and experience strategies for
clients in consumer package goods, automobile, electronics, software, financial
services, pharmaceuticals, beauty and cosmetics, hospitality, and media
industries. He is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences worldwide. He has
been profiled on CNNfn's "Business Unusual" and has appeared on BBC, CNBC,
CNBC-Asia, NHK and on The Daily Short with Jon Stewart.
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Don Sexton is a Columbia Business School professor and Director of The Jerome A. Chazen Insititute of Internation Business, the focal point for Columbia Business School's major international programs and initiatives.
His research concerns successful global product and brand strategies and is based on both empirical work and his considerable experience with companies throughout the world. A recipient of the School’s Distinguished Teaching Award, Sexton has taught a wide variety of courses in the fields of marketing, international business and management science.
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Sanjay Sood is a UCLA Anderson School of Management professor and Faculty Director of The Entertainment and Media Management Institute, which brings together industry, students and researchers to embrace new ideas on how companies and executives can manage and thrive in the face of transforming entertainment and media business models.
Dr. Sood specializes in research into marketing management, brand management, advertising and consumer behavior. Some of his most recent topics of study include: the effects of branding strategies and product experience on brand evaluations, competitive anticipation in marketing decision-making, and sensitivity to losses and negative changes. Dr. Sood is an ad-hoc reviewer for Journal of Marketing Research and Journal of Consumer Research.
In 2003, Dr. Sood was honored as the MSI Young Marketing Scholar. Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA Anderson in 2001, Dr. Sood was an assistant professor at Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University. Along with his Ph.D., he also earned a minor in psychology from Stanford University.
At UCLA Anderson, Dr. Sood teaches the core course in marketing to full-time and fully employed MBA students. He also teaches a doctoral seminar on behavioral research in marketing and in executive education programs. In addition, he serves as assistant director of the Behavioral Research Lab.
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Carsten Wierwille is the General Manager for frog design in New York, a global innovation firm. He has more than 10 years of experience in digital design, technology and innovation strategy, and has worked extensively with clients in a variety of industries including mobile / wireless, automotive, and CPG. At frog design, he focuses on helping the world’s leading companies to create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences.
Prior to frog design, Carsten worked as Managing Director at R/GA, a digital agency, where he oversaw a broad portfolio of clients including Verizon Wireless, Nokia, Subaru, etc. Previously, he worked as Vice President Client Service at Thinkmap, a New York-based Internet services and data visualization company backed by Motorola Ventures, and as a management consultant for Accenture in Germany.
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Mark Yolton, Senior Vice President, SAP Community Network, leads SAP's network of Web 2.0 communities oriented around the company's platform, products, and technologies. These include the SAP Developer Network (SDN), the Business Process Expert (BPX), and the Business Objects (BOC) communities, totalling more than 1,500,000 individual members interacting around the clock and around the world in 200+ countries and territories.
SAP Community Network members engage online at http://sdn.sap.com and http://bpx.sap.com and http://boc.sap.com and at global events including SAP Tech Tour (50+ cities worldwide) and SAP TechEd (four major conferences on three continents).
In addition, Mark is responsible for SAP's Standards Management and Strategy activities – which focus on engagement in technology, industry, and open-source standards groups, including leadership and participation in independent standards bodies, and the subsequent adoption of technology and business standards in SAP's product portfolio.
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