IC2013 NYC Participants

PARTICIPANTS [A - L] [M-Z]

PARTNERS

SPEAKERS

James MacGuire

Executive Education Program Director
IESE Business School

James MacGuire is the executive education program director at IESE Business School, which was rated by the Financial Times as the second best business school in the world in 2013. MacGuire has held senior executive positions in major publishing, television, and new media companies, including Time Inc., Macmillan, The Health Network and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. MacGuire has also been a senior-fellow at the Center for Educational Innovation and the Center for Social Thought, researching and writing on education reform. MacGuire’s journalism and poetry have appeared in many national publications, and he is the author or coauthor of ten books. MacGuire earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Johns Hopkins University and completed additional post-graduate research at the University of Cambridge. MacGuire is a life-long New Yorker and has two sons named Pierce and Rhoads.

Derick Mains

Facebook

Derick Mains leads the communications efforts for Facebook's products, partnerships, and internet.org, the Facebook-led alliance focused on driving affordable internet adoption globally. Prior to leading the communications efforts for Facebook, Mains held various communications roles at companies such as AOL, Palm, and Apple, where he was responsible for working with labels, networks, and studios in order to promote digital content available on iTunes. Mains began his career in Washington, DC, working on Capitol Hill and within the Clinton administration. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona.

Christie Marchese

Executive Director
Picture Motion

Christie Marchese is the founder and executive director of Picture Motion, where she leads a team of impact producers in developing grassroots marketing and social action campaigns for films. Working with filmmakers, distributors, funders, and nonprofits with stories that have the potential to inspire action, Picture Motion campaigns educate and inspire audiences to think critically and drive lasting change. Current projects include Inequality for All, The Crash Reel, God Loves Uganda, and American Promise. With a background in using online platforms and connective technologies to create social change, Marchese has worked on a range of films and nonprofit campaigns. Previous to Picture Motion, Marchese was head of engagement and campaign development at Righteous Pictures, working on narrative and documentary films including Detachment, Terri, Deaf Jam, To Catch a Dollar: Mohammad Yunus Banks on America, and The Last Survivor. During her time at Participant Media, Marchese led digital strategy for the social action team and worked on the films Waiting for “Superman,” Food Inc., The Cove, Countdown to Zero, and Casino Jack, among many others. Prior to a career with documentary film, Marchese ran online campaign development for Norman Lear’s Youth Civic Participation (nonprofit), Declare Yourself, and spent time at the Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee. She has spoken around the world to diverse groups, ranging from Sundance and SXSW to the Peruvian government and the youth in Pakistan. She has written for Mashable, concerning connective technology and storytelling in attempt to promote democracy and create social change. Marchese attended San Diego State University, where she double-majored in International Security and Conflict Resolution (ISCOR) and Comparative Religions, with a concentration Arabic and the Middle East.

Joe Marchese

Chief Executive Officer
true[X] media

Joe Marchese is the founder and chief executive officer of true[X] media, which has created the commercial-break for interactive media. Part media and advertising executive, all entrepreneur, Marchese’s passion is innovating media businesses…and running, politics, sports, his dog, and his wife (in no particular order, of course). Known as a pioneer with an extensive expertise in engagement advertising, he has evolved true[X] media from an idea to the market-leading advertising company it is today. true[X] works with the world’s largest publishers, content creators, agencies, and brands to solve the problem of adverting in an on-demand and interactive world. Along the way, he has raised over $44 Million in capital from top venture capital firms such as Redpoint and Norwest Ventures. As svp marketing and digital at the cable network Fuse, Marchese lead the channel’s development as a cable leader in multi-platform content, and spearheaded original partnerships with Twitter and YouTube that changed the way the network approached content creation and syndication. Always forward thinking and provocative, Marchese believes that interactive storytelling will save advertising, and is focused on perfecting what he calls "the commercial break for new media." He speaks frequently at conferences and in the press on trends and issues that affect the new media and advertising landscape, and has been featured in MediaPost, AdAge, AdWeek among numerous others.

Hilary Mason

Data Scientist in Residence
Accel

Hilary Mason is a data scientist in residence at Accel, scientist emeritus at bitly, cofounder of HackNY, cohost of DataGotham, and member of NYCResistor. After four years as chief scientist at bitly, she now holds the title scientist emeritus, advising an amazing team that studies attention on the internet in realtime, doing a mix of research, exploration, and engineering. She cofounded HackNY, a nonprofit that helps talented engineering students find their way into the startup community of creative technologists in New York City. Mason is an enthusiastic member of the larger conspiracy to evolve the emerging discipline of data science. She is a native New Yorker and loves this city and the technology community here. Mason advises a few organizations that she adores, including Mortar, knod.es, collective[i], and DataKind. She is a mentor to Betaspring, the Providence, Rhode Island–based startup accelerator, and TechStars New York. Mason is also a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Technology and Innovation Advisory Council, which has been a fascinating way to learn how government and industry can work together. Honors include the TechFellows Engineering Leadership award, the Forbes “40 under 40 Ones to Watch” list, and Crain’s New York “40 under 40” list. Mason has appeared in Glamour, Fast Company, Scientific American, and more, which has made her mother very happy.

Duncan McCall

CEO and Cofounder
Place IQ

Currently CEO and cofounder of PlaceIQ, at the intersection of advertising, location, and big data, Duncan has a passion and background in early stage companies. Prior to PlaceIQ, Duncan founded and led a venture backed consumer Internet business with the goal of enabling and empowering users of location aware devices, which built upon time spent working on RFID and universal positioning startups. Before that Duncan led the operations of a rapidly growing retail organization, and also built and led IS Solutions INC, a premier Silicon Valley–based System Integrator. Outside of the startup environment Duncan has also made an impact for one of the world’s largest organizations in working for ExxonMobil, in the UK and Asia.

John McMahon

Principal
Strongside Media Limited

John is a principal and cofounder for Strongside Media Limited, a London-based consultancy and advisory company providing expertise on creating, branding, and monetizing content across all media platforms. Prior to founding Strongside Media, John spent over twenty-one years in a variety of executive positions with Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). McMahon has served as managing director of Europe for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which is responsible for the distribution of SPE’s movies and television series on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital transactional platforms throughout Europe. McMahon played a vital role in the transition of SPE, from a primarily manufacturing and physical product oriented business into a forward thinking and digitally focused organization more adaptable to the future. McMahon has also served as president and managing director, Europe, for Sony Pictures Television International, overseeing all aspects of SPE’s television business in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. McMahon helped transform the European television division from a predominantly distribution focused operation to a fully diversified television business with local production, network, and licensing capabilities across the region. During his last six years leading the division, overall revenues were more than doubled to over $1.2 billion. McMahon has also severed as a nonexecutive director of various media companies including Shine Group, one of the top global television production businesses and now part of 21st Century Fox, and FilmFlex Movies Ltd, the &UK’s leading video on demand film service. He is has also been a board member of a number of professional industry organizations, a frequent speaker, and competition juror for media conferences and festivals. Prior to joining SPE, John was a corporate lawyer at Paul Hastings’s Los Angeles office specialising in mergers, acquisitions, and venture capital work. John received a Juris Doctor degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Southern California and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Heidi Messer

Cofounder and Chairman
Collective[i]

Heidi Messer is cofounder and chairman of Collective[i], the first network using data and technology to provide business users with enterprise-wide analyses developed and curated by the world’s leading data scientists. Collective[i] answers essential questions about marketing, sales, services, and support through proprietary algorithms and technology delivering answers to business users directly and on demand. Prior to Collective[i], Messer, along with her brother, Stephen Messer, founded, built, and managed LinkShare Corporation, which provided technology and a global network for publishing and commerce sites to partner, until its sale in 2005 to Rakuten for $425m. Messer received her B.A. from Brown University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. She received her Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude again. Messer is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, digital marketing, technology, analytics, business intelligence, and the future of the internet. She has been cited in various publications including, Inc. Magazine, The Nikkei, Women’s Wear Daily, Chief Executive Magazine, and The New York Times. Ms. Messer has also appeared on NBC’s Today Show, Fox News, Rock Center with Brian Williams, CBS’s Morning News, and The Fox Morning Show. Messer has received several honors, including her selection as one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs in 2012. Ms. Messer serves on advisory boards for Dell Computers, NBC Universal, and American Express OPEN.

Jonathan Miller

Partner
Advancit Capital

Jonathan Miller is a partner at Advancit Capital. He was the chief digital officer and chairman and CEO, Digital Media Group for News Corporation, a role in which he drove the company’s overall digital strategy in conjunction with various operational heads, while also directly overseeing all of News Corp.’s standalone digital businesses. He also acted as News Corp.’s principal executive for Hulu. Previously, Jon was chairman and CEO of AOL, where he led the company to a record annual profit growth of 21 percent, and increased online advertising growth—the centerpiece of its new business model—by 46 percent in 2006. He also led AOL’s investment in Kayak which was sold to Priceline. Earlier in his career, Jon was CEO and president of USA Information and Services—now IACI and Expedia—and also served as managing director of Nickelodeon International, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks. From 1987–93, he was vice president, programming and cogeneral manager of NBA Entertainment, where he was responsible for league-wide brand management and programming. Jon has also been an active investor for many years. Jon was a founding partner of Velocity Interactive Group, an investment firm focusing on digital media and the consumer Internet space. He is a cofounder of Fuel Media Commerce, which focused on early stage investments. Jon is on the board of Trip Advisor (audit), Shutterstock (nominating and governance), Open X (chair), and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. In addition, he serves as a nonprofit director/trustee for the American Film Institute, BBC Global News, International Emmy Association, Independent Film Project, and The Paley Center for Media. Jon has been awarded the Inaugural Pioneer Prize, Producers Guild of America, 2005; the Inaugural Vanguard Award, International Emmy Association, 2006; the Digital Power Player of the Year, Hollywood Reporter, 2009; and the Monaco Media Festival, Interactive Pioneer Award, 2010. Jon holds a BA with honors from Harvard College.

Pat Mitchell

President and Chief Executive Officer
The Paley Center for Media

From network correspondent and producer to president and CEO of PBS to her current position, Pat Mitchell’s career is characterized by her focus on media as a powerful force for social change. Her work has been recognized with forty-four Emmy Awards, five Peabody’s, and two Academy Award nominations. Mitchell has received numerous honors including the Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Leadership, the Women in Cable and Telecommunications Woman of the Year Award, and was a 2008 Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Honoree. Mitchell serves on the boards of the Sundance Institute, the Mayo Clinic, VDAY (a movement to end violence against women), Human Rights Watch, and the Jordan River Foundation’s U.S. board. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Women’s Forum, Mitchell was named to Newsweek's 2011 list of "150 Women Who Shake the World." 

Hany Nada

Partner
GGV Capital

Hany Nada is a founding partner of GGV Capital, an expansion stage venture capital firm that invests in the US and China. He has worked as a long-term partner with more than 150 companies in the US and China over the past decade to build businesses that can succeed in today's global marketplace and has become a trusted resource to digital media, music and gaming company CEOs and management teams on global market development, customer introductions, and M&A/IPO guidance across US and Asian markets. He made his first investment in China in 2001 and counts Alibaba, BandPage, Houzz, Glu Mobile, Pandora Media, PlayHaven, SoundCloud, Youku/Tudou, and YY.com among the firm's portfolio companies. Before entering the venture capital business, Hany spent ten years on Wall Street as a top-ranked research analyst at Piper Jaffray focusing on Internet software and infrastructure. Hany is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he earned a B.S. in economics and a B.A. in political science.

Raita Nakashima

General Manager
WOWOW

Raita Nakashima is general manager for business and legal affairs for the corporate strategy division at WOWOW INC., the leading company in satellite broadcasting and the number one premium pay channel in Japan. Prior to this he was deputy general manager for WOWOW’s media strategy division and before that, deputy general manager of the programming division. He received his MA in journalism from Doshisha University.

R. Davis Noell

Principal
Providence Equity Partners

Davis Noell is a principal at Providence Equity Partners based in New York. Noell is currently a director of Altegrity, GLM, Stream Global Services, and the Chernin Group. Prior to joining Providence Equity Partners in 2003, Noell was an analyst at Deutsche Bank’s Media Investment Banking Group. Noell received a Bachelor of Arts with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rob Norman

Chief Digital Officer
GroupM Global

Rob Norman is chief digital officer of GroupM Worldwide. GroupM is the largest purchaser of advertising media in the world and is a division of WPP and the parent company of Maxus, MEC, Mindshare, Xaxis, M80, IEG, Catalyst, and Quisma. On a global basis, GroupM invests in excess of $80 billion on behalf of its clients. Norman sets digital strategy for the Group and leads a community of over three thousand digital specialists around the world. In addition to his core responsibilities, he is a director of WPP Digital and Wild Tangent and a non-executive director of BBC Global News Ltd. He is also on the board of the Center for the Digital Future at USC, a member of the Facebook Client Council, and an advisor to Greycroft and GGV, both venture capital funds.

Torfi Frans Olafsson

Creative Director
EVE Online

Torfi Frans Olafsson has been with CCP Games since 1999, in multiple roles such as lead artist, senior producer, and then creative director of the award-winning massively multiplayer game EVE Online. He is now creative director of EVE Universe IP development. Previously, he was a 3D artist with virtual reality developer OZ.com. Prior, he was the webmaster for Bjork.com at One Little Indian Records, London. Olafsson has a background in video post-production, and has directed several music videos and short films. He has collaborated with contemporary artists bringing their art into the digital realm. Most recently he developed the exhibit for EVE Online when it was acquired into the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, directed a trailer named “Origins” for EVE Online, and is working on adapting true stories from EVE Online into a live action television series.

John O’Hara

Executive Vice President, Sales
Turner Broadcasting Young Adults Group

John O’Hara serves as executive vice president of sales for Turner Broadcasting Young Adults Group. O’Hare manages national sales for the group's three networks: Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and TruTV. His responsibilities include management of the young adults national sales offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Atlanta for all three young adult networks, as well as the negotiation of all Cartoon Network programming acquisition deals with ad-spending components. Additionally, O’Hara has oversight of the Cartoon Network enterprises, the Animation groups’ licensing and merchandising division, and is responsible for sales of licensed products as well as home video and electronic sales. Since joining the division in 1999, O'Hara stepped in as head of the consumer products division, and has served as EVP of sales for Turner's Young Adults Group since 2008. Prior to taking on his expanded roles, O’Hara was EVP and general sales manager of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim ad-sales and marketing. Preceding the Young Adults Group, O'Hara spent ten years at CNN, departing as vice president of New York sales. O’Hara holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from The University of South Carolina.

Katherine L. Oliver

Commissioner
Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment

Katherine Oliver is the commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, which consists of the Office of Film, Theater, and Broadcasting, facilitating and supporting film and TV production throughout the five boroughs; NYC Digital, which works to realize New York City’s potential as the world’s leading digital city; and NYC Media, the official TV, radio, and online network of the City of New York. Under Oliver’s leadership, the agency has worked to revitalize New York City’s entertainment and digital media industries. Today the entertainment industry generates an annual direct spend of $7.1 billion, an increase of over $2 billion dollars since 2002, and employs 130,000 New Yorkers, an increase of 30,000 jobs since 2004. Commissioner Oliver was appointed commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting on August 1, 2002, and has overseen NYC media since April 2009. In June 2010, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment was established following the merger of OFTB with NYC Media. Prior to her appointment, Oliver served as general manager of Bloomberg Radio and Television. She has also worked as a radio and television reporter for Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial News Network, WABC Radio, 1010 WINS, and WBGO and has taught a journalism course at New York University as well as at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs graduate program.

Taylor Owen

Research Director
Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia School of Journalism

Taylor Owen is the research director for the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at the Columbia School of Journalism. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Canadian International Council’s international affairs platform, OpenCanada.org, the director of the International Relations and Digital Technology Project, an international research project exploring the intersection of information technology and international affairs, and the research director for the Munk Debates. He holds a Doctorate degree from the University of Oxford, where he was a Trudeau Scholar. Owen previously was a Banting Postdoctoral-fellow at the University of British Columbia, a fellow in the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, a research-fellow at the Center for Global Governance at the London School of Economics, and a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo. His research and writing focuses on the intersection between information technology and international affairs. Taylor Owen’s publications can be found at www.taylorowen.com and can be followed on Twitter at @taylor_owen.

Bruce L. Paisner

President and Chief Executive Officer
International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Bruce L. Paisner is a television executive and producer who, over the course of his career, has become a leading spokesperson and advocate for television industry issues around the world. He is currently employed as advisor to the chief executive officer of Hearst Corporation and serves on the boards of Hearst’s Cosmopolitan TV Channels in Spain, Latin America, and Canada. He is also president and chief executive officer of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, which recognizes excellence in international television programming with The International Emmy Award.

William C. Paley

President, 2023 LLC
Owner, La Palina Cigars

Bill Paley is president of 2023 LLC, an investment management firm specializing in real estate and emerging technologies. He is also the owner of La Palina Cigars, a company originated by his grandfather in the 19th century. The marketing of these cigars led Paley’s father, William S. Paley to invest in the new medium of radio and create CBS. From 1980 to 1984, Paley was president of his own electronic media-consulting firm, Paley Communications, which helped develop political applications for the World Wide Web. He is a director of the William S. Paley Foundation and the president of the William C. Paley Foundation. He is also a trustee of The Paley Center for Media. Paley is the son of William S. Paley, founder of CBS.

Tommy Palm

Games Guru
King

With over two decades of experience as a game designer and entrepreneur, Tommy Palm has earned the title “games guru” at leading casual social games company King. He works in the forefront of the company’s prevalent cross-platform games initiatives taking games from social to mobile. Tommy started programming games for Commodore 64 back in 1986 as a hobby until 1999, when he founded Jadestone. Since then he has been working as concept creator and game designer on more than ten game titles including Championship Manager Online, World in War, Karlsson på Taket (mobile), Dirk Dagger, and Kodo. During more than ten years developing mobile games, his team has been awarded nine international awards and numerous nominations—most recently the prominent IMGA and IGF Mobile awards. In 2009 Jadestone’s mobile department spawned off into Fabrication Games, where Tommy was president. The company went on to be acquired by King in early 2012. Tommy is a regular collegiate lecturer and frequently contributes articles on trends in social and mobile games. He has also spoken at prominent events including GDC San Francisco, GDC Online, GDC Europe, Game Connection, E3, and Cannes Film Festival, among others.

John Paton

CEO
Digital First Media

John Paton is the CEO of Digital First Media which operates Digital First Ventures, MediaNews Group, and Journal Register Company with more than eight-hundred digital and print products in eighteen states serving fifty-seven million customers per month. Paton is a career newspaper executive who has been responsible for both print and online divisions in the US, Canada, France, and Spain. He is the cofounder of impreMedia, the largest news and information company for Hispanics in the US. In April 2009 he was named Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher. Paton, who has been involved in more than four billion dollars in media transactions and financings involving both private and public companies, is a director of MediaNews Group, Journal Register Company, Postmedia Network, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Newspaper Association of America and the international board of directors of the International News Marketing Association. Paton is a graduate of Ryerson University's journalism program and has successfully completed the Finance for Senior Executives program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. In 2006 his alma mater, Ryerson University, honored him with their Alumni of Distinction Award. He resides in New York City.

Elise Pearlstein

Senior Vice President of Documentary Films
Participant Media

Elise Pearlstein specializes in documentary film production as a creative producer and writer. Pearlstein recently joined Participant Media as senior vice president of documentary films. She produced three documentaries for Participant Media and is completing a fourth, which include the Academy Award–nominated and Emmy-winning Food, Inc., State 194, an inside look at former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s quest to build a Palestinian state, and Last Call at the Oasis, directed by Jessica Yu, which turns a lens on the global water crisis. Elise’s collaboration with Yu also includes The Protagonist, The Living Museum, and the three-minute short Meet Mr. Toilet, which has received over a million online views. Elise also coproduced and cowrote Smoke and Mirrors: A History of Denial, a feature documentary about the tobacco industry that was short listed for the 2000 Academy Awards. Pearlstein’s love of documentary films began with her first film, which was a portrait of the iconic Los Angeles hot dog stand Pink’s. She went on to produce and write documentaries for Bravo, MSNBC, Discovery, NBC News, and ABC News. From 2000 to 2005, working with executive producer Craig Leake, Pearlstein produced prime-time documentaries for Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings, tackling subjects such as globalization, public school reform, and the separation of church and state. Pearlstein is a member of the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has served on the board for the International Documentary Association.

Jonah Peretti

Cofounder & CEO
BuzzFeed

Jonah Peretti is cofounder and CEO of BuzzFeed, the first true social news organization that provides a pioneering mix of breaking news, entertainment, and shareable content. Peretti, known for creating viral hits, tracking online social behavior, and building technology to amplify buzz is also a cofounder of The Huffington Post. He has been called a "viral marketing hotdog" by the New York Times, "the poster boy of guerilla media" by AlterNet, and a "computer-whiz" by The New Yorker. Fast Company named him one of the “New Faces of Social Media” and named BuzzFeed as one of the “50 Most Innovative Companies” in 2012. Business Insider listed him as one of the “11 Rising Tech Stars to Watch in 2012.” Peretti is a graduate of the MIT Media Lab and has taught at NYU and the Parsons School of Design. His work has been covered by Time, The Economist, Fortune, and Business Insider, and he has appeared as a guest on the Today Show, Good Morning America, and CNN. In 2012, Peretti hired Ben Smith of POLITICO to lead as editor-in-chief. BuzzFeed reaches over sixty million monthly unique visitors and gets the majority of its traffic from social sources like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and more.

Reed Phillips

Managing Partner
DeSilva + Phillips

Reed Phillips cofounded DeSilva + Phillips, a leading boutique M&A firm focused on media, marketing, advertising, and information, in 1996. In the twenty-two years he has worked as a media investment banker, he has completed more than 185 transactions with companies such as ABRY Partners, Bonnier Corporation, Condé Nast, Dow Jones, News Corporation, The New York Times, Rodale, Shamrock Holdings, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), Time Inc., WPP, and Ziff Davis. He is often called upon to comment on the media industry by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NBC Nightly News, Financial Times, NPR, Bloomberg TV, and Vanity Fair and has published articles in Harvard Business Review online, TheDeal.com, AdvertisingAge.com, The Washington Post, and The Washington Monthly. Phillips is on the business advisory council of ProPublica, the independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Foreign Policy Association. He is a graduate of Duke University.

Martin Pompadur

Director
The Company

Martin Pompadur has been a director of the Company since September 2010. He is also the chairman of Metan Development Group. Metan was created to develop and distribute entertainment content for the Chinese market and also to develop and distribute entertainment content in China for global audiences. In June 1998, Pompadur joined News Corporation as executive vice president and president of News Corporation Eastern and Central Europe and is a member of News Corporation's Executive Management Committee. He was also appointed chairman of News Corporation Europe in January 2000, a position he held until 2008. Pompadur was chairman and chief executive officer of RP Companies from 1982 to 2007 and has held executive positions at several other media companies, including American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. Pompadur is the principal owner of Caribbean International News Corporation and Montana Coffee and is chairman of Metan Media, a TV production/media company in China. Mr. Pompadur serves on the board of Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. and is senior advisor to Oliver Wyman and global vice chairman of media and entertainment at Macquarie Capital Advisors. Mr. Pompadur also serves as chairman for the Company’s Option & Compensation Committee.

Maureen Reidy

Acting COO and Chief Marketing Officer
The Paley Center for Media

Maureen Reidy currently serves as the acting chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of The Paley Center for Media. Previously, she served as chief executive officer of The Argus Group, a full-service, strategic marketing firm with a cross section of blue chip entertainment, media and sports clients. Previously, Reidy served as chief operating officer of IMG Fashion, where she was responsible for the organization’s worldwide strategy and operations and was charged with expanding its portfolio of media assets. Prior to IMG, Reidy served in the Bloomberg Administration as New York City’s chief marketing officer and simultaneously served as the chief executive officer of the City’s major events agency, NYC Big Events. She served on the NYC Economic Development advisory council, the Mayor’s Commission on Latin Media & Entertainment, and also served as chief operating officer of NYC Host Committee for the 2004 Republican National Convention. Before joining the Bloomberg Administration, Reidy worked directly for Donald Trump initially as chief internal auditor and then – at the age of 26 – became President of one of his newer acquisitions, The Miss Universe Organization, a joint venture with CBS. Reidy began her career as a CPA at Price Waterhouse in the entertainment and media practice. She serves on the board of directors for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Dream Team and was named by Crain´s New York Business as one of the magazine´s top "40 under 40."

Marcus Vinicius Ribiero

Principal
Grupo PRISA

Based in New York, Marcus Vinicius Ribeiro joined PRISA’s executive team in January 2012. Previously, he was the chief operating officer and head of the corporate and legal affairs department of Violy & Co., an M&A investment banking boutique and strategic financial advisory firm with a unique expertise in Ibero-American markets. Ribeiro is a federal attorney (Procurador Federal)—associate attorney general for Brazil. He has a law degree from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He began his career as an investment banker working as a vice president for Santander Investment Securities in the equity capital markets—corporate finance group in New York. After, he joined the North State Group as a managing director. He also worked for the LMDC on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, coordinating government, international relations, and community affairs. In July 2005, Marcus Ribeiro received the Brazilian Federal Attorneys’ Association Medal of Honor for his continuous outstanding work representing the government in legal matters. He is a board member of the Brazil Foundation, a public nonprofit organization that provides financial and technical support to local Brazilian nonprofits in their pursuit of a more equitable society. He participated on the jury selection for the Rita Hauser award—Americans for UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), where he still contributes with his work. Ribeiro is also a board member of the Lakay Pam Foundation and the Community-Word Project. He served as the director of international relations for the social project of Rock in Rio, the largest for profit music festival in the world, with an international social arm. Ribeiro is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association, of the Brazilian Federal Attorneys’ Association and the Brazil American Chamber of Commerce in New York. In September 2010 he was chosen one of the "100 most influential Brazilians in New York" by Vogue Brazil magazine.

James D. Robinson III

Cofounder and General Partner
RRE Ventures, LL

James D. Robinson III is a cofounder and general partner of RRE Ventures, LLC, a private information technology venture investment firm. He also serves as president of J. D. Robinson, Inc. Robinson served as chairman and chief executive officer of American Express Company from 1977 to 1993. Prior to American Express he was a general partner with White Weld & Co., and assistant to the chairman and president of Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. Robinson is presiding director of the Coca-Cola Company. He is an advisor to and former director of Novell, as well as a senior advisor to Jefferies & Company. He serves on the boards of PrimeRevenue, OnDeck Capital, and K2 Intelligence, all private companies. Robinson is an honorary trustee of the Brookings Institution, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and honorary chairman of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is chairman emeritus of the Partnership of New York City and the World Travel and Tourism Council. He is a former member of the Business Council. Robinson served as cochairman of the Business Roundtable and as chairman of the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Hans Rosling

Professor of International Health
Karolinska Institutet

Hans Rosling is professor of international health at Karolinska Institutet, the medical university in Stockholm, Sweden. When working as a young doctor in Mozambique he discovered a previously unrecognized paralytic disease that his research team named Konzo. His twenty years of research on global health concerned the character of the links between economy and health in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He has been adviser to WHO and UNICEF, cofounded Médecines sans Frontiers in Sweden, and started new courses and published a textbook on global health. He is a member of the International Group of the Swedish Academy of Science and the Global Agenda Network of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He cofounded the Gapminder Foundation (www.gapminder.org) with his son and daughter-in-law. Gapminder promotes a fact based worldview by converting international statistics into moving, interactive, understandable, and enjoyable graphics. This was first done by developing the Trendalyzer software that Google acquired in 2007. Using animations of global trends, Rosling lectures about past and contemporary economic, social, and environmental changes in the world and produces thematic videos using the same technique.

Neal J. Rothleder, Ph.D.

Principal, Chief Technology Officer
ORBmedia

Dr. Neal Rothleder is currently a principal and the CTO of ORBmedia, a nonprofit startup reinventing journalism for the digital age. Dr. Rothleder focuses on helping people and businesses use data to make better decisions, achieve their missions, and provide customer value. ORBmedia’s vision includes telling global and interconnected stories in a way that fuses professional journalism and advanced data analytics. He has led the successful use of data and technology in a variety of businesses, inlcuding government consulting, internet startup, CRM, software development, R&D, marketing, and professional services. Prior to his current role, Dr. Rothleader was a Division Director at The Mitre Corporation, where he led organizations in cyber security, AI/intelligent systems, software development, R&D in emergency preparedness and response, and contributing hands-on technical work programs. Prior, Dr. Rothleder was the group manager for customer analytics at Microsoft, where he led the company’s first data-driven efforts in understanding customer satisfaction. His first startup-adventure was director of analytic technologies at the Seattle-based Audience Science (formerly Digimine). Dr. Rothleder holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in computer science and engineering from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in computer science from Cornell University. He has collaborated on a variety of publications, has taught seminars on business intelligence, and has served as adjunct faculty at both the University of Michigan and George Mason University. He is an inventor on three patents, and is a member of IEEE and ACM.

Deb Roy

Associate Professor, MIT
Chief Media Scientist, Twitter

Deb Roy is a tenured professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is Twitter's chief media scientist. He conducts research at the MIT Media Lab on language, games, and social dynamics at the intersection of artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology. In 2008 he cofounded and was the founding CEO of Bluefin Labs, a social TV analytics company, which MIT Technology Review named as one of the fifty most innovative companies of 2012. Bluefin was acquired by Twitter in 2013. An author of over one hundred academic papers in machine learning, cognitive modeling, and human-machine interaction, his TED talk, Birth of a Word, has been viewed over 2.5 million times. A native of Canada, Roy received a Bachelor of Applied Science (computer engineering) from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT. He is @dkroy on Twitter.

Andrew Rudge

 

Andrew is a former banker who spent nearly a decade working for banks in the UK. In 2009, Rudge returned to his native South Africa in late 2009, having completed an MSc in Applied Economics at Imperial College, where he specialised in behavioural and environmental economics. Andrew became interested in the power of mobile phones to affect social change and began to explore different types of mobile-learning and mobile-health programs. Rudge then joined a start-up called World of Avatar that shared his ideals. Andrew’s first project was Babysms, a free pregnancy service that delivered a daily piece of information and advice to expectant mothers via text message. Towards the end of 2011, World of Avatar acquired Mxit, South Africa's largest mobile social network. They moved the pregnancy project into Mxit (now called Babyinfo), which now has more than half a million subscribers. Andrew now heads Mxit Reach, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on developing educational and health apps in conjunction with other NGOs and international organization. Mixit Reach has just entered a partnership with UNICEF to develop a mobile phone based virtual school, Ukufunda.

Colleen Fahey Rush

Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer
Viacom Media Networks

Colleen Fahey Rush is executive vice president and chief research officer for Viacom Media Networks (VMN). Rush leads the company’s strategic insights and research group, and provides guidance and support to research teams across the company's portfolio of brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Logo, SPIKE, and TV Land. Rush drives corporate consumer insights studies across all VMN audiences on emerging behaviors including tablet usage, cord cutting, second screen behaviors, social media, brands, TV Everywhere, and pathways to content. Rush’s work informs VMN’s creative and business operations, from programming and digital strategy to ad-sales, content distribution, and marketing. She has been instrumental in championing a greater understanding of consumer behavior and performance metrics across new and emerging platforms. In addition, Rush has shared VMN’s best-in-class consumer insights through numerous speaking engagements and presentations to advertisers, conferences, government officials and policy makers. Rush is also driving efforts to push media measurement forward, on behalf of Viacom and the industry. She is chairman of the executive committee for the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and chairman of the board for the ARF. Rush holds an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business and a B.S. from Cornell University, where she currently serves on the advisory board for the communications department. In 2010, Rush was named to Ad Age’s list of Media Mavens, and in 2009 was recognized by Working Mother Magazine as a Working Mother of the Year. Rush joined Viacom in 1996.

Geoffrey Sands

Director, Head of Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice, North America
McKinsey & Company

Geoffrey Sands is a director of McKinsey & Company and heads its Global Media, Entertainment and Information Practice in North America. He advises senior executives on a wide range of strategic and operational issues. Geoff is a trustee of the Paley Center. He also serves on the board of directors of the Sundance Institute and Thirteen/WNET and is chairman of the board of The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Since 2004, he has been the industry advisor to the World Economic Forum’s Media & Entertainment Governors’ Meetings.

Vivian Schiller

Senior VP & Chief Digital Officer
NBC News

Vivian Schiller leads the NBC News Digital Group, the digital division of NBC News. Her responsibilities include strategic oversight of the network's presence on the web, mobile devices, and social media, including NBCNews.com, TODAY.com, MSNBC.com, iVillage.com, and BreakingNews. In January 2014, Schiller will be joining Twitter as Head of News, a newly created position. Schiller most recently served as president and CEO of NPR, leading all of NPR's worldwide media operations, Schriller was previously senior vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com and senior vice president and general manager of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications. Earlier in her career, Schiller was the the head of CNN Productions, where she led CNN's long-form programming efforts. Documentaries and series produced under her direction earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys.

Jeffrey R. Schlesinger

President, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Entertainment

Jeffrey R. Schlesinger was named president of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution in May 2013, responsible for distribution of the studio’s content to all television platforms worldwide, including the sale of previously produced series and feature films to U.S. broadcast and cable outlets, domestic syndication, and sales to SVOD and AVOD platforms. He is also responsible for the business operations of Warner Bros. International Television Production, which has a mandate to acquire or build operating production companies in major territories around the world to create locally produced versions of programs owned by the studio and to develop original local programming on a market by market basis. And, with Peter Roth, president and chief content officer, Warner Bros. Television Group, he shares oversight of Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Marketing. Schlesinger reports directly to Kevin Tsujihara, chief executive officer of Warner Bros. Previously, Schlesinger served as president of Warner Bros. International Television, a role he held in 1994, in which he oversaw all activities of the division, including production, distribution, investment and strategy. Prior to being named president, Schlesinger served as senior vice president, international television distribution from 1984–94, at both Warner Bros. International Television Distribution and Lorimar Telepictures (acquired by Warner Bros. Entertainment in 1990). Before that, he served as vice president of International Sales at Telepictures Distribution. Before joining Telepictures, Schlesinger was national sales manager for the Astral Television division of Astral/Bellevue Pathe (1982–83), responsible for the distribution of programs in Canada for 20th Century Fox, Telepictures, Dick Clark Productions, Rank, and EMI Films. From 1979–82, he served as syndication sales manager for MCA/Universal TV in Canada, after serving as an international sales executive in the company’s New York office. In 1978 and 1979, Schlesinger worked at The Children’s Television Workshop as the international production and distribution manager, responsible for the worldwide distribution of Sesame Street, as well as the servicing of the series’s numerous coproductions internationally. Schlesinger began his career as a film editor for CBS’ highly acclaimed, top-rated 60 Minutes. He is a graduate of New York University with a bachelor of fine arts degree in film production.

Eric E. Schmidt

Executive Chairman
Google

Since joining Google in 2001, Eric Schmidt has helped grow the company from a Silicon Valley startup to a global leader in technology. As executive chairman, he is responsible for the external matters of Google: building partnerships and broader business relationships, government outreach, and technology thought leadership, as well as advising the CEO and senior leadership on business and policy issues. From 2001–11, he served as Google’s chief executive officer, overseeing the company’s technical and business strategy alongside founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Under his leadership, Google dramatically scaled its infrastructure and diversified its product offerings while maintaining a strong culture of innovation. Prior to joining Google, Schmidt was the chairman and CEO of Novell and chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems, Inc. Previously, he served on the research staff at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Bell Laboratories, and Zilog. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University as well as a master’s degree and PhD in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council in the UK. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2006 and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as a fellow in 2007. He also chairs the board of the New America Foundation, and since 2008 has been a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

Ronnie Screwvala

Managing Director
The Walt Disney Company India

Ronnie Screwvala is a first generation entrepreneur who started his journey by launching the first organized cable TV venture in Mumbai, in June of 1981. Within a few years the network had subscribed thousands of households in the area. Screwvala introduced Indians to cable TV in 1981 and daily soap operas in 1994. He was rated by Fortune as one of “Asia’s 25 most powerful,” by Esquire amongst the “75 most influential people of the 21st century,” and was called the “Jack Warner of India” by Newsweek. From this started the second leg of his journey into the media and entertainment business with the birth of UTV. Under his able leadership, UTV spanned from TV production into film production and distribution, set up a broadcast network of specialized channels, forayed into interactive and gaming content, and then went on to establish UTV as India’s first global media and entertainment conglomerate. At the helm of the UTV brand, he was instrumental in the corporatization of the Indian Film Industry, establishing closer ties with Hollywood. In his new role as managing director of The Walt Disney Company India, Screwvala is driving the strategy and growth for Walt Disney Company in one of its most important global growth markets. In India, The Walt Disney Company spans television, broadcasting, movies, consumer products and licensing, interactive, digital, and games through multiple brands including Disney, UTV, bindass, Marvel, Indiagames, Pixar, and ABC.

Neal Shenoy

Cofounder & CEO
Speakaboos

As CEO of Speakaboos, Neal Shenoy manages the company’s purpose and vision, sets its strategy and execution plan, recruits talent and manages strategic relationships with investors and partners. He is responsible for recruiting and managing a team across organizations such as Nickelodeon, Sesame, PBS Kids, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, Barnes & Noble, and Leapfrog. He has helped guide Speakaboos to be one of the largest, fastest growing, and most promising platforms for interactive children’s books earning recognition from the Aspen Institute, Education World, and National Education Association. Shenoy is also a founding partner at [212]MEDIA which builds consumer internet ventures alongside media companies. He cofounded each of the [212]MEDIA portfolio companies including Saavn, the largest digital service for South Asian music globally. Prior to [212]MEDIA, Shenoy was cofounder and president of Simile, a contextual advertising platform that served media and publishing customers. He began his career as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette advising media and telecom companies. Shenoy earned a BSFS in International Relations at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Alexander Shustorovich

Cochairman, Coowner, IMG Artists LLC
Owner, enTourage eDGe & Pleiades Publishing

Russian-American entrepreneur, Alexander Shustorovich, began his career by successfully pioneering some of the first joint-ventures in history between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Shustorovich has extensive experience in international business development and continues to establish a global presence in publishing, television, radio, hotel management, advertising, fashion, technology, and the arts. In Russia and in the Commonwealth of Independent States, Shustorovich has been instrumental in introducing cutting-edge environmental remediation technologies and remains committed to funding scientific research and publication. He is an active supporter of the arts in Russia and the United States. Shustorovich is the coowner and cochairman of IMG Artists, which is the world’s largest performing arts management and talent agency in the world. It operates in ten different offices and trades and is present in more than one-hundred different countries. Shustorovich also owns enTourage eDGe, a computer technology company that provides an electronic educational system, a platform based on patents held by him in cloud-based educational services. Shustorovich also is the owner of Pleiades Publishing Inc., which revolutionized the publishing industry by organizing a Soviet-Western joint venture to produce English translations of Russian language scientific periodicals. This joint venture also introduced Western computer-based publishing technology to the former Soviet Union. Shustorovich received his Bachlor’s degree of arts in 1988 and his JD /MBA Joint degree in 1993 from the Harvard Business School.

Nate Silver

Statistician, Author and Founder
FiveThirtyEight

Nate Silver is a leading statistician and best-selling author known for his unique brand of creativity, journalism, and statistical analysis. He is the founder of the award-winning website FiveThirtyEight.com. The site was recently acquired by ESPN and will be expanding its coverage to include topics such as sports, economics, culture, science, and technology, among others. FiveThirtyEight will also continue to provide data-driven coverage of politics, including forecasts of the 2014 and 2016 elections. Silver has established himself as today's leading statistician through his innovative analyses of political polling. He first gained national attention during the 2008 presidential election, when he correctly predicted the results of the presidential election in forty-nine of fifty states, along with all thirty-five US Senate races. In 2012, FiveThirtyEight predicted the election outcome in all fifty states. FiveThirtyEight has made Silver the public face of statistical analysis and political forecasting. His most recent book, The Signal and The Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - But Some Don't, is a New York Times bestseller. Before he came to politics, Silver established his credentials as an analyst of baseball statistics. He developed a widely acclaimed system called PECOTA (Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm), which predicts player performance, career development, and seasonal winners and losers. He is a coauthor of a series of books on baseball statistics, which include Mind Game, Baseball Between the Numbers, and It Ain't Over 'til It's Over. He has written for ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated, Slate, Baseball Prospectus, Newsweek, The New York Post, and The Los Angeles Times. Silver has earned a series of accolades. Most recently, Fast Company chose him as No. 1 on their list of the “100 Most Creative People in Business 2013.” He was among TIME's “100 Most Influential People of 2009” and Rolling Stone's “100 Agents of Change.” In 2012 and 2013, FiveThirtyEight won Webby Awards as the "Best Political Blog."

John Skipper

President, ESPN, Inc.
Cochairman, Disney Media Networks

In his fourteen years with the company prior to becoming ESPN president and cochairman, Disney Media Networks on January 1, 2012, John Skipper was a key architect of ESPN’s explosive growth. Prior to this, Skipper, 57, had been ESPN’s executive vice president, content, and executive vice president, advertising sales & ESPN Enterprises. Skipper’s ability to meld creative and business success was demonstrated early when he joined ESPN in June 1997 as senior vice president and general manager of ESPN The Magazine. During its inaugural year, the magazine earned more than twenty awards, including "Best New Magazine" honors from both Advertising Age and AdWeek magazines, as well as a 1999 National Magazine Award for design. In January 2000, he added the same title for ESPN.com and in January 2003 was promoted to executive vice president. Skipper’s early vision on how content should be presented on digital platforms continues to pay dividends today. With ESPN.com in 2000, he began the shift to broadband from dial-up well before broadband was widely available; launched a pay section, ESPN Insider, with richer content that continues to grow, and completely revamped the site’s approach to advertising. More recently, he envisioned and launched what is now ESPN3, a television network delivering four thousand live events annually on the web and through mobile devices; helped lead the creation of the Watch ESPN authenticated app which has been downloaded more than four million times, and led the evolution of ESPN The Magazine’s content to include print and digital platforms. Near the end of his first year as ESPN president, in December 2012, Skipper was named the most influential person in sports by Sports Business Journal. In March 2013, he ranked #4 in the Sports Illustrated “Power 50.” Skipper has frequently appeared on several media and cable industry “most influential” lists, including Sports Business Journal, CableFAX Magazine, Business Week, and The Sporting News. Before joining ESPN The Magazine, Skipper served nearly three years as senior vice president of The Disney Publishing Group and previously was vice president of Disney Magazine publishing. Prior to joining The Disney Publishing Group, Skipper held the title of president and publishing director at Spin magazine. Earlier he spent ten years with Straight Arrow Publishing including eight years with Rolling Stone. Skipper holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English Literature from the University of North Carolina and Columbia University, respectively. He is married with two sons.

Rick Smolan

CEO
Against All Odds Productions

Rick Smolan, a former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer, is best known as the creator of the "Day in the Life" book series. Today Smolan is the CEO of Against All Odds Productions which orchestrates massive global photography projects that combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology. With editorially independent underwriting from Fortune 500 companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, American Express, and dozens of other corporations, Smolan engages teams of leading journalists and photographers (plus hundreds of thousands of members of the general public) to focus on emerging topics such as the global water crisis, the effect of the Internet on civilization, or how the human race is learning to heal itself. Smolan and his team produce bestselling-illustrated books, TV specials, apps, and exhibits. "From Alice to Ocean: Alone Across the Outback" and "Passage to Vietnam" proved the storytelling powers of interactive CD-ROMs, "24 Hours in Cyberspace" took a snapshot of the infant Internet, "One Digital Day" explored the impact of the microprocessor on civilization. "AMERICA 24/7", a NY Times bestseller, enabled thousands of Americans to create a national family album during one ordinary week, and was featured as one of Oprah Winfrey's "Favorite Things." Many of Smolan's books have appeared on the New York Times bestseller lists and his projects have been featured on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Fortune, and similar publications around the world. Smolan is a frequent speaker at TED, The Davos World Economic Forum, The Ford Foundation, The Wired Health Conference, TEDMED, Techonomy, DLD in Munich, IdeaCity in Canada, INK in India, The Strata Conference, etc. His TED talk "Natasha's Story: An American Homecoming" has been watched by more than a million people. In the fall of 2012 Smolan released "The Human Face of Big Data" focusing on how the planet is developing a nervous system via our new ability to collect, analyze, triangulate, and visualize vast amounts of data in real time. The project resulted in a large format book, an engaging iPad app, and a TV special. In December 2012 the book was delivered simultaneously to 10,000 world leaders, Fortune 500 CEO's, heads of media companies, Oscar winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Olympic winners etc., in 50 countries. In April 2013 the project's companion iPad app won the coveted WEBBY Award for best educational iPad app. In June 2013 Apple featured the App on the front page of 42 of its App stores worldwide. In April 2014 the Oscar-winning producers of The Kings Speech are releasing TRACKS, a feature film based on Smolan's National Geographic story about Robyn Davidsons 2000 mile trek across the Australian outback. In the movie, Robyn will be portrayed by Mia Wasikowska (Stoker, The Kids are Alright, Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp). Smolan will be portrayed by Adam Driver, the star of the hit TV series Girls. Fortune magazine describes Against All Odds as "One of the 25 Coolest Companies in America."

Andrew Somosi

CEO
Nielsen SocialGuide

Andrew brings more than a decade of experience in entrepreneurial business-building, sales and marketing effectiveness, applied predictive analytics, and management consulting to Nielsen SocialGuide. Prior to joining the Nielsen family in 2012, Andrew led Marketing and Business Development at Lattice Engines, a leader in Big Data software solutions for B2B sales. A founding member of the management team, Andrew helped build Lattice Engines from a start-up into one of the fastest-growing and innovative technology companies. Responsible for brand strategy, demand generation, partnerships and communication, Andrew advanced Lattice Engines’ vision for defining how customers can harness the power of data and predictive analytics to boost sales productivity. Prior to Lattice Engines, Andrew was an associate principal at McKinsey & Company, advising global clients in media, financial services, and private equity on significant strategic, transactional and operational issues. He gained a global perspective working in McKinsey’s New York, Paris, and Prague offices, where he developed a strong track record of creative problem-solving, multi-project management and people leadership. In addition to his management consulting experience, Andrew developed e-commerce and ad-driven businesses at LexisNexis. Andrew has a BA in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University and an MBA from The Wharton School.

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Author; Coanchor,
Squawk Box, CNBC

Andrew Ross Sorkin is coanchor of Squawk Box, CNBC's signature morning program. Sorkin is also a financial columnist for The New York Times and the editor-at-large of DealBook, a news site he founded, published by the Times. Sorkin is also the author of the best-selling book, Too Big to Fail: The inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves, which chronicles the events of the 2008 financial crisis. The book won the 2010 Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book, and was shortlisted for the 2010 Samuel Johnson Prize and the 2010 Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award. The book was adapted as a movie by HBO Films in 2011. Sorkin was a coproducer of the film, which was nominated for eleven Emmy Awards. Sorkin has also broken news on many major mergers and acquisitions, including Chase's acquisition of JPMorgan and Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq. He also led the Times's coverage of Vodafone's $183 billion hostile bid for Mannesmann, resulting in the world's largest takeover ever. He won a Gerald Loeb Award in 2004 for breaking the news of IBM's historic sale of its PC business to Lenovo, and Sorkin was a finalist in the commentary category for his “DealBook” column. He has won a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award for breaking news in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2007, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader. In 2008 and 2009, Vanity Fair named him to its "Next Establishment" list. He was also named to the "Directorship 100," a list of the most influential people on the nation's board of directors. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Follow Andrew Ross Sorkin on Twitter @andrewrsorkin.

Cristiana Falcone Sorrell

Advisor
World Economic Forum and Inter-American Development Bank

Cristiana Falcone Sorrell has over fifteen years of international career experience working in strategy and business development for global corporations (SONY, Shell), international organizations (ILO, IFAD, FAO, UNDCCP), and media companies (RAI, Gruppo Espresso, and the World Economic Forum). Current clients include the World Economic Forum and the Inter-American Development Bank. She currently advises the executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum on media and special projects. Prior to her current role, she focused on strategic outreach. Sorrell joined the Forum in 2004 to lead the media, entertainment, and information industries. In this capacity, she has built and managed relationships with industry leaders, policymakers, experts, and academics worldwide. She has designed and developed specific industry projects (scenarios on the future of the digital ecosystem, a raw case study on media opportunities in fast growing markets, and the future of networked journalism), and represents the Forum at conferences and gatherings. Falcone is also a principal advisor to the IADB, where she focuses on forging strategic alliances with various stakeholders interested in Latin America's economic and social development. Sorrell is a board member for the Italian National Journalists’ Guild, Viacom, Internews, The Paley Center for Media, RayTV, The School of Nutrition, and the Feinstein Center for Humanitarian Affairs at Tufts University. She is also the CEO of the Sorrell Charitable Foundation, where she leads the foundation’s efforts in supporting education and health projects worldwide. Falcone graduated from the University of Rome La Sapienza with a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and earned a Master’s Degree in humanitarian assistance from the Fletcher School of Law and also a Master’s Degree in diplomatic studies from the Italian Society for International Organizations and the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs Diplomatic Academy. Sorrell also obtained several post-graduate certificates in leadership, corporate strategy, and management. She is the recipient of the 2012 Poder Award in leadership.

Sree Sreenivasan

Chief Digital Officer
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sree Sreenivasan is the newly appointed first chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. At the Met, Sreenivasan leads a world-class team concerning digital and social media. Sreenivasan joined the Metropolitan Museum of Art after spending twenty years at Columbia University as a faculty member for the Columbia School of Journalism. Sreenivasan was also the first chief digital officer at Columbia. Although Sreenivasan is the chief digital officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he will continue to teach a digital media course at Columbia each semester. Sreenivasan has been a leading commentator on tech and media issues for nearly a decade. In 2009, Sreenivasan was named one of AdAge's twenty-five media people to follow on Twitter, and in 2010, he was named one of Poynter Institute’s thirty-five most influential people in social media. Sreenivasan was a founding member of DNAinfo.com, a Manhattan news site, which the Business Insider recognized as one of the “hottest startups” in 2010. He has appeared on CNN, NBC’s Today Show, and CNBS to name a few. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, instagram, and on the web.

David Stern

Commissioner
National Basketball Association

David Stern’s nearly thirty-year tenure as NBA commissioner has been highlighted by accelerated US and global growth, technological innovation, and a commitment to social responsibility. NBA games are nationally televised on TNT, ESPN, and ABC, as well as on NBA TV, which is available in approximately sixty million US homes. The NBA has played nearly 150 games outside the US and Canada, and its games are available in 215 countries and territories in forty-seven languages. Last season NBA.com streamed 5.6 billion videos on its US and 14 international Web destinations. NBA League Pass, the out-of-market games package, is available in the US on cable and satellite TV as well as on broadband and mobile, where it is also accessible to international fans. The NBA is a leader in social media, with more than 475 million fans and followers across all league, team, and player platforms, and billions of video viewed on YouTube. Through NBA Cares, the NBA, its players, and teams have raised more than $225 million for charity, provided more than 2.6 million hours of hands-on service, and created more than 830 places globally where children and families can live, learn, or play. Stern is the chair emeritus of the trustees of Columbia University. He serves on the boards of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, The Paley Center for Media, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nada Stirratt

Chief Revenue Officer & EVP
Acxiom

Nada Stirratt serves as chief revenue officer and executive vice president for Acxiom. In this role, Stirratt leads all of the client-facing areas of the business including field, account management, and consulting across the globe. Stirratt comes to Acxiom with a proven track record of delivering transformational business results. Prior to Acxiom, Stirratt served as chief revenue officer at MySpace, where she led global sales, strategy, and advertising operations. Previously, Nada served as executive vice president of digital advertising at MTV Networks, where she successfully led the company’s aggressive expansion into the digital advertising arena across all properties, overseeing advertising sales, strategy, and operations. Earlier in her career, Nada was senior vice president and general manager of advertising sales at Advertising.com and also held senior positions with some of the world’s most well-known brands, including AOL, Moviefone, Hearst Publications, and Condé Nast. Stirratt holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Illinois. She is based in New York City.

Steve Stoute

Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Translation

A powerful innovator in brand marketing, Steve Stoute has made a career out of identifying and activating a new generation of consumers to help Fortune 500 companies thrive in the world of popular culture. Stoute is the founder and CEO of the marketing firm Translation whose client roster includes iconic brands such as McDonald’s Corporation, Anheuser-Busch InBev, State Farm, Target, Coca-Cola, and Lady Gaga. In 2013, Advertising Age recognized Stoute as their “Executive of the Year.” Much of Translation's work is based on Stoute’s philosophy of the changing landscape of American culture and how consumers are moving towards a shared mental complexion. Building on this concept, Stoute authored the acclaimed 2011 book The Tanning of America: How Hip-Hop Created a Culture that Rewrote the Rules of the New Economy, in which he teaches corporate America how to understand and reach today’s young adult market—what he describes as “The Tan Generation”—while staying true to their core brand without compromising authenticity.

Jeremy Strauss

Vice President, Global Digital Distribution
HBO’s Home Entertainment Group

Jeremy Strauss is the vice president of Global Digital Distribution for HBO’s Home Entertainment Group where he is responsible for identifying and executing digital distribution opportunities for the company’s award winning original programming around the world as part of the company’s broader efforts to expand and grow its home entertainment and program distribution business. Prior to his work at HBO Jeremy worked in the music industry in various roles leading the charge in developing and launching new models and offerings to encourage the legitimate consumption of digital music. Jeremy was recognized as one of Home Media Magazine’s digital drivers in 2012 and 2013. He has an MBA from Wharton and a BA from Duke University, and he currently resides in Brooklyn.

Steven R. Swartz

President and Chief Executive Officer
Hearst Corporation

Steven R. Swartz became president and chief executive officer of Hearst Corporation on June 1, 2013. Before his promotion to CEO, Swartz, a member of the Board of Directors for the Hearst Corporation and a trustee of The Hearst Family Trust, was president and chief operating officer of the corporation. From 2009 to 2011, Swartz was president of Hearst Newspapers, local digital marketing services, and directories and was executive vice president of the group from 2001 to 2008. Hearst Newspapers, with more than 4,700 employees across the nation, publishes fifteen daily papers and thirty-six weekly publications in Houston, San Francisco, San Antonio, Albany, and many more. Hearst Newspapers also operates digital marketing services and directories under the LocalEdge brand. Before joining Hearst in 2001, Swartz was president and chief executive of SmartMoney, the magazine, website, and custom publishing business launched by Hearst and News Corporations’ Dow Jones unit. Prior to becoming CEO in 1995, Swartz had been the magazine's founding editor since 1991. Under his leadership, SmartMoney magazine won two National Magazine Awards and was Advertising Age’s Magazine of the Year. Swartz began his journalism career as a reporter with The Wall Street Journal in 1984, after graduating from Harvard. He served as an editor on the Journal's Page One staff from 1989 to 1991. Swartz is a member of the ESPN board of directors and is a director for the Associated Press. He is also a member of the board of visitors of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, a member of the board of directors for Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of the Lincoln Center Corporate Fund.

Bob Tedeschi

Columnist
The New York Times

Bob Tedeschi is a columnist for The New York Times and has written for the publication since 1998, when he began writing a weekly e-commerce column that ran for a decade in the business section. Tedeschi has also been a columnist for the “Travel,” “Home,” “Real-Estate,” “Personal Technology,” and “Sunday Regional” sections, and his stories have appeared in multiple other sections, as well as on “Page One.” Tedeschi also launched the “Phone Smart” column on mobile technology in 2008, and in 2010, he launched the “App Smart” column on mobile software. Tedeschi has also dabbled in software development, as codeveloper of Bobo Explores Light, an educational iPad app for children, which was one of three iPad titles last year to win a prestigious Apple Design Award at the Worldwide Developers Conference. Tedeschi is currently standing in as one of the guest “State of the Art” columnists for the Times's “Personal Technology” section, where he continues to contribute on a range of topics.

Nancy Tellem

President
Xbox Entertainment Studios, Microsoft

Nancy Tellem was named president, Xbox Entertainment Studios, in September 2012. In her role, Tellem is overseeing the launch of a newly created production studio in Santa Monica that is developing interactive and linear content for Xbox and other devices. In addition to running the production studio, she is spearheading the company’s efforts to turn Xbox into a destination where consumers can enjoy all their entertainment in one place. Prior to joining Microsoft, Tellem had been a CBS executive since 1997, most recently as senior adviser to CEO Leslie Moonves, where she explored business and strategic opportunities — domestic and international — involving content partnerships, new production models, emerging media and technologies. As president of the CBS Network Television Entertainment Group, Tellem supervised programming, development, production, business affairs, and operations. Before joining CBS, Tellem was executive vice president of business and financial affairs for Warner Bros. Television and was part of the team that launched the landmark programs Friends and ER. In 2006, Tellem was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame for her contributions to the electronic arts. In 2008, Forbes ranked her 32nd on its list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” and Entertainment Weekly named her the third-smartest person in TV for quickly restoring CBS’s entire primetime lineup after the 100-day writers’ strike. That same year, the National Association of Television Program Executives awarded Tellem a Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award in recognition of her “extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision in the process of creating TV programming.” Tellem holds several board and advisory positions for digital and media-related companies including All3Media, Bedrocket Media Ventures, Interlude, Shopkick, Stardoll Media, and [212]Media. Tellem earned her BA from the University of California Berkeley, and received her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of Law. Tellem is married to sports agent Arn Tellem, vice chairman, Wasserman Media Group, and has three children.

Helmut Thoma

Chairman
Freenet/Debitel AG

Helmut Thoma has more than forty years of media experience. He founded RTL Television in Germany and was chairman until 1999. During his tenure RTL Television became the leading TV station in Germany and the most successful in Europe. For this he was awarded in 1994 with the Directorate Emmy Award. Today he sits on various boards of international cable, television, Internet, and telecommunication companies and he is the chairman of the supervisory board of Freenet/Debitel AG and a media advisor for Springer AG.

Mark Thompson

President and Chief Executive Officer
The New York Times Company

Mark Thompson became president and chief executive officer of The New York Times Company on November 12, 2012. He is responsible for leading the Company's strategy, operations, and business units, and working closely with the chairman to direct the vision of the company. Before joining the Times Company, Thompson served as director-general of the BBC since 2004, where he reshaped the company to meet the challenge of the digital age, ensuring that it remained a leading innovator with the launch of services such as the BBC iPlayer. He also oversaw a transformation of the BBC itself, driving productivity and efficiency through the introduction of new technologies and bold organizational redesign. Thompson joined the BBC in 1979 as a production trainee. He helped launch Watchdog and Breakfast Time, was an output editor on Newsnight, and was appointed editor of the Nine O'Clock News in 1988 and of Panorama in 1990. He became controller (programming and scheduling chief) for the TV network BBC2 and Director of Television for the BBC before leaving the BBC in 2002 to become CEO of Channel 4 Television Corporation in the United Kingdom. He was educated at Merton College at Oxford University.

Maxim Thorne

Executive Vice President of Development
The Paley Center for Media

Maxim Thorne is a senior executive, lawyer, and philanthropist. He serves as the executive vice president of development at The Paley Center for Media, overseeing all philanthropic efforts, bridging the gulf between legacy and new media, and focusing on media’s role and impact in society. Thorne also teaches courses in philanthropy, law, and management at Yale University. He is the founder of the Philanthropy Laboratory Incubator and through his seminar, “Philanthropy in Action” his students award more than $100,000 at the end of each semester to selected charities. Thorne emphasizes the importance of private philanthropy in a healthy civil society and has also founded Philanthropy in Motion, which convenes and trains next generation donors in effective philanthropy in China, Nigeria, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and other countries. Thorne is also the founder of Weekend Renewing America’s Promise (WRAP), which brings together exceptionally talented leaders from across the globe each year. Previously, Thorne served as senior vice president and chief development and communications officer at the NAACP, the chief operating officer and vice president of the human rights campaign, and executive director of New Jersey Head Start. He successfully represented the NAACP, Head Start, and local daycare centers in the famous Abbott v. Burke school funding case in the NJ Supreme Court. Thorne also oversaw the formation and implementation of the first NAACP LGBT Taskforce at the NAACP Centennial Convention in 2009, introduced the keynote speaker Julian Bond at the National Equality March on Washington in 2009. In addition, Thorne has been a Democratic fundraiser, serving as a bundler for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and serving on the African American Leadership Council, the LGBT Leadership Council, and finance and policy committees. Thorne is a featured blogger on the Huffington Post and serves on the Yale Board of Governors, the Executive Committee of the Yale Law School, the Academic Council for the Motion Picture Association of America, the National Board of GLAAD, the National Board of Yale Black Alumni Association, and the Advisory Board of the Division of Gender, Sexuality & Health, Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, and NYS Psychiatric Institute. Thorne received his B.A. in economics and political science, cum laude honors, from Yale University and Juris Doctorate from the Yale Law School.

Pelle Törnberg

Advisor
Ericsson

Pelle Törnberg has over thirty-five years of experience in the media and telecommunication industry, including start-ups, turnarounds, and public companies. He has successfully built, listed, and led profitable international media businesses such as the Modern Times Group and Metro International (the world’s largest international newspaper). Törnberg has served as chairman of MTG and of P4 and was profiled as one of the “25 Stars of Europe” by Business Week. He established, expanded, and grew the world’s largest subtitling and dubbing company, SDI. Törnberg is a board member for Bromberg (a Scandinavian book publishing company), Cellcomb AB (a Swedish clean-tech company), HBO Nordic, and he is a chairman for www.bygghemma.se, Scandinavia’s leading e-commerce for home improvement. Törnberg also serves as an advisor to the National Research Institute of Soft Power (China), Ericsson AB, and Stella Advisors (a London based boutique/investment bank focusing on the European TMT sector). Törnberg has also worked in the Modern Times Group (from 1992 to 2009) as director, chairman, and CEO. Modern Times Group is an international entertainment broadcasting group with operations in more than thirty countries. MTG is the largest free-to-air and pay-TV operator in Scandinavia. Törnberg career started in Swedish Public Service in 1979, in radio as a news editor, head of programming, and later, in TV, as editor of the two highest-rated entertainment shows.

Kayo Washio

Head of LA Office
WOWOW

Kayo Washio has seventeen years of experience working in Japan’s broadcast television business with WOWOW Inc., the leading premium pay channel and the first subscription-based television broadcaster in Japan. In 2011, she opened and now heads the Los Angeles office for the company to maintain contacts with studios and launch coproduction projects with US partners. Washio has worked at WOWOW since 1995. She got her start producing original programs and Japanese-dubbed versions of foreign animations and TV dramas including South Park, The Simpsons, and Sex and the City and created new program categories to broadcast Rex The Runt, a clay-animation by Aardman Animations and other short films. From 2001–08, Washio produced a weekly program covering cinema  for which she also interviewed over four hundred people such as actors, directors, and producers. She also produced Hollywood Express, a weekly entertainment news program in cooperation with CNN. Washio also coordinated a live broadcast of the Academy Awards for eight years and was the first to shoot red-carpet interviews for the company in cooperation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2008, Washio was transffered to the marketing department and managed the planning and marketing a project for the first WOWOW festival.

Chris Weasler

Director of Global Connectivity
Facebook

Chris Weasler leads the strategy, operations, and partnerships for Internet.org, the Facebook led alliance focused on driving affordable Internet adoption globally. Previously, Weasler managed Facebook's partnerships with mobile operators. Prior to Facebook, he was VP of business development at LightSquared and VP of global development and roaming at Sprint Nextel. During his career he has consulted with startups and wireless operators, and also provided consultation to the FCC on a host of roaming and spectrum issues. Early in his career, at Palm he helped launch the first wireless PDA, and at OmniSky, Weasler led the product and business development for its wireless portal. He has an undergraduate degree from Marquette University and an MBA from Dartmouth's Tuck School.

Amy Webb

Founder and CEO, Webbmedia Group
Cofounder, Spark Camp

Amy Webb is a digital media futurist and the founder of Webbmedia Group, a digital strategy agency that spots near-term emerging technology trends and develops innovative ideas for media organizations, Fortune 100 and 500 companies, large nonprofits, and government agencies. Recently, her team worked with American Express to reimagine the future of credit cards on mobile phones and Time Inc to develop content strategies for screenless computing. She is the cofounder of Spark Camp, a community of media and technology innovators dedicated to solving tough challenges in society. Webb is the bestselling author of Data, A Love Story (Penguin/ Dutton 2013) and is a contributor to Slate and Harvard Business Review. She holds many professional affiliations and collaborates with a number of institutions. Webb is a delegate on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, a lecturer at Columbia University, a member of the Aspen Institute Dialogue on Libraries, and a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group – Emmy award judge). She is on the board of directors for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and serves on a number of startup and advisory boards, including the SXSW Accelerator, Temple University’s School of Media and Communication, the International Center for Journalists, TheLi.st, AdGlue, and Knod.es. Forbes named Webb one of the “Women Changing The World,” while the Columbia Journalism Review included her on its “20 Women To Watch in Media” list.

Annie Wegelius

Entrepreneur and Senior Advisor
SVT

Before joining SVT, as director of programs, in May 2007, Wegelius had already been an entrepreneur for the television and media industry for twenty-five years. She was one of the founding teams of TV3, Scandinavia’s first commercial broadcaster, where she was the channel’s first program director. She then founded and headed her own production company, Wegelius TV, which grew to become one of the leading independent producers in the Nordic region. After selling the company to Bonniers, Wegelius went on to create one of Europe’s first e-learning companies, Kworld, which operated the first privately owned digital terrestrial broadcast channel in Sweden. She founded the Swedish Television Academy Awards and the annual Swedish TV Industry conference, Kristallen. Wegelius acted as its chairperson until her appointment at SVT. At SVT Wegelius, with the director of news and sports, headed the Commissioning Board, creating the content strategy and were responsible for commissioning all the content for five broadcast channels and Sweden’s leading online video site. Under her leadership, SVT has had the biggest increase in market share of all European public broadcasters. Wegelius has been an integral part in the modernization of Swedish public service television, and she continues to play an important role as an advisor in areas of creative development strategies and the collaboration with the independent production industry. Wegelius has also been a board member at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm for a number of years, as well as acting on several boards of incubators focusing on new media. She currently serves on the board of the leading e-retailer in the Nordic region.

Blair Westlake

Corporate Vice President, Media and Entertainment Group
Microsoft

As corporate vice president of Microsoft’s media and entertainment group, Blair Westlake manages Microsoft’s relations with the media and entertainment industries, including Hollywood studios, global broadcasters, cable/satellite programmers, and the music industry. He directs a group responsible for business development, policies, and all content licensing for various services and products including Xbox, Zune, Windows PC, and Windows Phones. Before joining Microsoft, Westlake consulted for various media companies including Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal, and was corporate executive vice president of Gemstar-TV Guide International, Inc. Westlake was an executive of Universal Studios, Inc. from 1982–2000, where he was chairman of Universal Television & Networks Group. Westlake is a member of the board of trustees of The Paley Center for Media, the executive branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the executive committee of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and is a member of the board of directors of Swank Motion Pictures, Inc., Experience Music Project Museum in Seattle, WA., the Digital Entertainment Group, and ContentGuard, Inc. Westlake is admitted to the California State Bar.

Philip R. Wiser

Chief Technology Officer
Hearst Corporation

Philip R. Wiser is the chief technology officer for Hearst Corporation and is known as a key pioneer in the creation of the online-digital-music industry and the emerging over-the-top TV market. As the CTO at Hearst Corporation, one of the world’s largest private diversified media and information companies, Wiser leads Hearst’s technology and digital product strategies that address the rapidly changing consumer and media landscape. Prior to Hearst, Wiser was chairman and president of Sezmi Corporation, an industry-changing technology company in global internet television market that he cofounded in 2006. From 2004 to 2006, Wiser was CTO at Sony Corporation of America. He also formed the Digital Business Group at Sony Music, while serving as its CTO and SVP from 2001 to 2004, overseeing all technology strategy and digital businesses. While at Sony, Wiser was responsible for spearheading the creation and growth of a billion dollar digital-media businesses by maximizing the combined benefit of technology and content for the company including music, books, movies, and games. He built the first online music distribution platform as a founder of Liquid Audio, where he served as CTO and a director for its board from 1996 to 2001. Wiser’s passion is applying technology to enable content creators to reach their audience in new ways, while always delivering an improved user experience for consumers. Wiser holds a master’s in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, in the same field, graduating summa cum laude.

Mehmet Ali Yalçindag

President and Chief Executive Officer
Dogan Yayin Holding, AS

Mehmet Ali Yalçindag is president and chief executive officer of Dogan Yayin Holding. He was born in Istanbul in 1964. He graduated with honors in 1989 from the American College in London. Yalçindag first joined the Dogan Group in 1990 as the assistant general manager of Dogan Dis Ticaret. In 1991, Yalçindag became a member of the executive committee of Dogan Holding. Then, in 1992, he was appointed assistant general manager of the Milliyet daily. In 1994, he assumed several responsibilities during the establishment of the Simge Group and began publishing four new newspapers including Posta, Fanatik, and Radikal. When the media companies of Dogan Group merged under DYH in 1996, he was appointed vice president of DYH’s executive committee.