Phillip Rather
Head of Local Partnerships at Facebook
Phillip is an entrepreneur and technology veteran working on scaling Facebook's media and platform products to localized companies across the world. Phillip was an early hire for Facebook in Austin, where he helped grow it into one of the company's largest offices. The Austin office houses the SMB support operation. Phillip initiated many of the first relationships and ideas that ultimately became Facebook's Marketing API Developer program. He is now building technology and sales channels to unlock franchised and co-op verticals such as Automotive, Restaurants, and Real Estate. Prior to joining Facebook in 2010, he was director of business development for Snapwire and chief consultant at BridgeOne Marketing Solutions in Austin.
Lauren Wiener
IAB Past Chair; President of Buyer Platforms at Tremor Video/IAB
Lauren is immediate past chair of IAB and president of buyer platforms at Tremor Video, where she leads business strategy, revenue generation and marketing. She spent nearly a decade at Meredith Corp., building Meredith Digital from the ground up through organic growth and acquisitions. Prior to Meredith, Lauren held general management, business development, and sales leadership positions at Primedia, Star Media Network, and MTV Networks, and worked as a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group.
Lauren was named one of Business Insider's 30 most powerful women in mobile advertising in 2015. Her previous accolades include the Media Industry Newsletter's (MIN) Digital Hall of Fame in 2010 and American Advertising Federation (AAF) Advertising Hall of Achievement in 2007, both in recognition of an exemplary pioneering role in digital. In her free time, Lauren lends her expertise to various boards, with current positions on the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and International Radio and TV Society. She lives in New York with her husband and is a proud soccer and theatre mom to two girls. Lauren holds a degree in history from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Ryan O'Hara
CEO at Move Inc. / Realtor.com
Ryan is chief executive officer of Move Inc., a leading provider of online real estate services and the operator of Realtor.com. He assumed the role in January 2015 after News Corp's acquisition of the company. Ryan served as president of content, distribution & sales at The Madison Square Garden Co. Prior to that he was president and CEO of The Topps Company, Inc., an entertainment trading card and consumer products business. Move represents O'Hara's return to News Corp. after a series of roles with affiliated companies such as Gemstar-TV Guide International, Fox Cable Networks in Los Angeles, and BSkyB in London. Previously, he served in consulting and brand management roles at PwC and Nestlè USA.
He holds a degree in economics from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Greg Stuart
CEO at Mobile Marketing Association
Greg is CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, the leading global media trade group focused on the burgeoning mobile marketing industry. Over the past four years he has transformed the MMA, attracting marketing and business leaders across the industry to lock arms and advance the mobile marketing movement. The MMA has 800 member companies globally with operations in 12 countries. Prior to MMA, Greg was CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, where he provided vision and direction in its earliest years. Greg has spent three decades in marketing, including roles with Y&R, Sony Online Ventures, Cars.com, and Flycast Ad Network. He is the author of "What Sticks: Why Most Advertising Fails and How to Guarantee Yours Succeeds," which was recognized by Ad Age as the as the No. 1 book of the "10 books you should have read." In 2006, Ad Age selected Greg as part of the "10 Who Made Their Mark."
Robertson Barrett
President at Hearst Newspapers Digital
As President of Digital Media, Robertson is responsible for all digital development and product innovation of the next wave of news, information, and entertainment across Hearst Newspapers' local markets. He previously oversaw media strategy and operations as vice president of Yahoo! News and Yahoo Finance. Prior roles include Chief Strategy Officer of Idealab's Perfect Market; Executive Vice President of Tribune Interactive, where he ran online properties in 40 U.S. markets; and Senior Vice President for digital at The Los Angeles Times. Earlier in his career, Barrett helped launch ABCNews.com and Time.com and spent four years as a staff writer for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He holds a bachelor's in ancient Greek from Duke University and a master's in public policy from Harvard University.
Merrill Brown
Director, School of Communications & Media at Montclair State University
Merrill is an educator, consultant, advisor, investor, veteran media executive, and journalist. In addition to writing for The Washington Post, he launched MSNBC.com in 1996 and was its founding Editor-in-Chief. At Montclair State, he oversees an extensive program encompassing TV/Radio, communications studies, digital media, journalism, filmmaking, public relations, and organizational communication. Brown served as senior strategist for Journalism Online, the startup online publishing subscription services company founded by Steven Brill, Gordon Crovitz and Leo Hindery, later acquired by RR Donnelley. Merrill served from 2005 to 2007 as national editorial director of News for the 21st Century: Incubators of New Ideas (News 21), part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education.
Chip Perry
CEO at TrueCar
Chip is responsible for TrueCar's strategic direction, product vision and operations. He joined TrueCar after serving as president and CEO of RentPath LLC, parent company of ApartmentGuide.com and Rent.com. Previously, he led AutoTrader.com in 1997, starting as its first employee and serving as CEO until 2013. Prior to starting AutoTrader.com, he was a vice president of new business development at the Los Angeles Times. In the early 1990s he led the team that launched TimesLink, one of the nation's first major newspaper online services. His extensive career includes working as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. and and working in business development and civil engineering positions for the Bechtel Group. Chip holds degrees in civil engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Heather Monahan
Chief Revenue Officer at Beasley Broadcasting
As Beasley's Chief Revenue Officer, Heather oversees all sales of the company's core radio, digital, and non-traditional revenue opportunities. Beasley owns and operates 69 stations (50 FM and 19 AM) in 16 large- and mid-size markets in the United States. About 20.1 million consumers listen to Beasley radio stations weekly. Heather was recently recognized as a Social Media influencer with her hashtag #Bossinheels.
Robert Weisbord
COO at Sinclair Digital Group
Rob is COO of Sinclair Digital, a unit of Sinclair Broadcasting Group created in January 2014. Rob is responsible for all web/mobile app/social media creation, interaction of the unit with news and television station platforms, revenue generation, and exploring strategic partnerships and potential related acquisitions. Prior to that, he served in various digital roles with Sinclair, including Vice President of New Media and Director of Digital Interactive Marketing. He has also served in various management positions, including Regional Group Manager, General Manager for Sinclair's Las Vegas duopoly of KVMY-TV and KVCW-TV, and Director of Sales. He began his career in the radio industry with Family Group Broadcasting in 1985. Rob holds a MBA from the University of Tampa. He sits on the Board for ZypMedia and NewsON and is a Board Advisor for Sorenson Media.
Chris Hendricks
Vice President at McClatchy Corp.
Chris has been Vice President, Products, Marketing and Innovation since 2015. He joined McClatchy in 1992 as Advertising Manager for The Fresno Bee and the following year became its Marketing Director. In 1994 he was named Manager of Technology for McClatchy and held this position until 1996, when he was promoted to President and Publisher of Nando Media (renamed McClatchy Interactive), McClatchy's digital publishing hub based in Raleigh, N.C. In 1999, he was named Vice President, Interactive Media at McClatchy. He remained in that role until assuming his current position in 2015. Hendricks has served on various industry-related boards and committees and currently serves on the boards of CareerBuilder and Moonlighting along with the executive committee of the Local Media Consortium. He is the recipient of Borrell's 2015 Award of Merit, given annually to an executive who has exhibited dynamic leadership in digital media.
Jared Rowe
CEO at YP
Jared joined YP in September 2016 from Cox Enterprises, where he served as President of Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group and was responsible for all strategic, financial, operational, and other aspects of the highly successful Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and Dealer.com businesses. He joined Cox in 2010 and held a number of leadership positions in Cox Automotive. Prior to that, Jared spent more than nine years at FordDirect, a digital marketing and advertising joint venture providing services for Ford Motor Company and its dealerships. He holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a bachelor's degree in business administration and automotive marketing from Northwood University. He lives in Atlanta with his wife Nicole, and their two children, Alexandra and Jared Jr.
Gordon Borrell
CEO at Borrell Associates Inc.
Gordon is one of the media industry's leading analysts. He is ranked in the top 2% among Gerson Lehrman Group's 150,000 consultants worldwide. Prior to starting Borrell Associates, Gordon was vice president for new media for Landmark Communications, where he worked for 22 years. He started his career as a newspaper reporter and helped establish the first TV, newspaper, cable and network TV websites in the mid-1990s. He is chairman of the Local Media Association and is past president of the Newspaper Association of America's New Media Federation. He is married, has five children, and lives in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he has been active on boards and organizations supporting public education and community sports.
Tom O'Brien
Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Nexstar Media Group Inc.
Tom joined Nexstar in November 2013. He is responsible for leading the company's digital media portfolio, investment strategy, and expansion of Nexstar's digital media business portfolio. As CRO, he works with Nexstar's broadcast leadership teams throughout the country to drive holistic revenue growth across the entire company. Before joining Nexstar, Tom worked for more than 14 years in senior leadership positions at NBC Universal. Prior to NBC, he worked in sales leadership roles in Viacom's broadcasting division. He began his career as a producer/director in news and freelance sports production at Capital Cities Communications, CBS Sports, and ESPN. He's served on the boards for the New York State Broadcasters Association, the Texas Association of Broadcasters, the Connecticut Broadcasters Association, the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, the SMU Athletic Forum, and Junior Achievement in both Dallas and Connecticut.
Jared Merves
General Manager at The Dallas Morning News
Jared is General Manager of Digital Revenue at A.H. Belo., a media and marketing solutions company based in Dallas. A digital evangelist with extensive experience in digital strategy and sales channel management, Jared has spent the past decade building digital teams and driving digital revenue across local media properties. Jared lives in Dallas with his wife and two children.
Peter Newton
CRO at GateHouse Media
Peter actually holds two titles - CRO of GateHouse Media and CEO of Propel Business Services, a subsidiary focused on developing and scaling growth businesses. Prior to joining GateHouse in 2012, Peter was president and founder of Big Rock Consulting Group and, before that, SVP/GM for Small and Medium Business at Monster.com. Peter joined Monster after 18 years at The Boston Globe and Boston.com, where he was Vice President of Advertising and President of BostonWorks, the newspaper's multimedia recruitment services division. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Tony Alessandra
Founder at Assessments24x7
Tony is an author and professional keynote speaker. He's actually two speakers in one: a professor and a performer, or as one client put it, "He delivers college lectures in a comedy store format." He is the author of 27 books translated into more than 50 languages and was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame in 1985. In 2009 and 2010, he was inducted as one of the "Legends of the Speaking Profession" and in 2010 and 2011 he was selected as one of the Top 5 Marketing Speakers by Speaking.com. Tony holds a bachelor's degree from Notre Dame, an MBA from the University of Connecticut, and his PhD in marketing from Georgia State University.
Steve Baron
Head of Product at Tribune Media Company
Steve is Head of Product for Tribune Media Company, the parent company of 42 TV stations, the national cable network WGN America, and various other strategic investments and digital properties. Steve oversees consumer-facing digital products including websites, apps, social media, live video, and emerging platforms such as 360 and AR/VR for the company. Prior to Tribune Media, Steve was VP/Digital Content for Local TV LLC, which was acquired by Tribune in 2013. Steve also managed digital platforms for the Fox-owned TV station in Chicago. Before that, he worked in various TV roles, including an on-air meteorologist and reporter, winning a regional Emmy for spot news coverage in 2006. In 2016 Steve was named a Digital All-Star by Broadcasting and Cable Magazine for his work growing Tribune's digital presence.
Vince Benedetto
Founder/CEO at Bold Gold Media Group
Vince is the Founder, President, and CEO of Bold Gold Media Group, which owns and operates 12 radio stations in Pennsylvania and New York. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and a former Air Force Captain and Air Force OSI Special Agent. He formed Bold Gold, where his growing portfolio of radio stations have become industry leaders in social & digital media engagement. He has been recognized as a "Top Young Entrepreneur" by numerous organizations and serves on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters, the Radio Advertising Bureau's Local Market Advisory Committee, and Lackawanna College. In 2013, Radio Ink magazine named him one of the Top 30 Under 40 Rising Stars in the Radio Industry.
Esteban Blanco
Chief Strategy Officer at Entravision
Esteban joined Entravision in 2009 as Executive Director of Interactive to launch and lead the company's successful interactive and digital initiatives. Since 2013 he has led Entravision' corporate growth, digital and tech strategy, product innovation, and new business development. He oversees as well investments, mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Entravision, he worked for the United Nations, the World Bank, and was co-founder and CFO of a series of accredited technical educational institutions in California and Florida. He was the founder and CEO of e-Latin Business, a leading Latino internet incubator and investment hedge fund that launched companies with M&A activity with publicly traded corporations. Esteban studied Computer Science at the University of Buenos Aires and holds an Executive MBA with Digital specialization from Cardean University
Jim Brown
Vice President at Borrell Associates Inc.
Jim has more than 15 years of innovative and results-driven leadership in fast-paced sales and marketing roles. Prior to joining Borrell Associates he was director of business development for for The Virginian-Pilot Media Companies in Norfolk, Va. He has worked in various sales and development capacities over the years, developing an expertise in sales development and sales management. At The Pilot, he served as one of the company's first managers of interactive products and helped the company build a series of highly successful online news and advertising ventures in the Norfolk marketplace. He has a degree in business administration from Longwood University. Jim is married, has two children, and lives in Virginia Beach.
Ray Carulli
Case Study Presenter
Vice President, Partnerships at Vivial
As Vice President of Vivial Partnerships, Ray is responsible for establishing business relationships with large national communications corporations, advertising and marketing agencies, niche technology companies and other organizations that work with small and medium size businesses (SMBs). Ray is an industry veteran with over 24 years of sales experience with companies such as Footlocker and Verizon. He has served roles as Sales Director, Operations Manager and Recruiting Manager. With Ray's two decades of sales and operations experience, he understands what it takes to boost a company's bottom line.
Terry Casey
Case Study Presenter
VP, Digital Business Development at The Weather Company
Terry is a Meteorologist and Vice President of Digital Business Development for The Weather Company, an IBM Business. He has nearly 30 years of professional experience advising media and entertainment clients on how to create compelling weather and traffic stories across platforms. His experience spans not only sales, but also product management. Prior to joining TWC, he oversaw the development of online and mobile weather content, production, technology and workflow for all Hearst Argyle television stations. His 20 years as an on-air meteorologist combined with deep industry knowledge has made him a trusted advisor to clients across the U.S. and Canada.
DJ Cavanaugh
Case Study Presenter
Senior Vice President of Business Development at CivicScience
DJ is Senior Vice President of Business Development for the polling and market intelligence company CivicScience. He is responsible for helping the company grow sales to publishers and marketers looking to gain deeper consumer insights in order to grow their business. Prior to joining CivicScience, DJ spent 15 years as President & CEO of Matrix Solutions. He also has extensive experience working directly in advertising sales, with experience in both television and radio sales management.
Thad Clabaugh
Digital Sales Manager at KELO TV
Thad is the Director of Digital Marketing Solutions at KELOLAND Media Group in Sioux Falls, S.D. He directs digital revenue growth and digital sales strategy for the KELO-TV's website, mobile applications and all digital media. Under his leadership, digital revenue has grown at 10%-20% annually. Prior to joining KELO-TV, Thad was a digital marketing specialist at hibu.
John Conway
General Manager at WRAL
John is General Manager of digital platforms for CBC New Media, owned by Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company. Its flagship website, WRAL.com, is the most visited local media site in the North Carolina. John oversees operation of the 50-person New Media staff, which also runs affiliated Web and mobile brands and manages WRAL's OTT channels. The New Media group also has started or acquired new digital publications targeted at younger audiences, including The Point email newsletter and the Raleigh & Company website. Additionally, its digital marketing arm, Digital Elements, provides a full range of customized marketing solutions to more than 100 clients.
Matthew Davis
Case Study Presenter
VP Marketing at Reveal Mobile
Matthew is a two-time mobile entrepreneur with 15 years of enterprise sales & marketing experience in the tech industry. He served as president of the NC State Alumni Entrepreneurs Network and is a co-founder of RIoT, a 4,000-member Internet of Things community. Matthew received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina, and master's from N.C. State's Poole College of Management. He lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife, son, and boy/girl twins. If he could find a way to combine his love of technology, good beer, and mountain biking into a paying career, we may never see him again.
Mike DeLuca
SVP of Hearst Newspapers/CEO of LocalEdge at Hearst/LocalEdge
Mike is senior vice president, digital, of Hearst Newspapers and CEO of LocalEdge. He previously served as CRO at Savored, which was acquired by Groupon in 2012. At Groupon, Mike held the role of VP of sales. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president, sales and operations for AOL Local. He is on the advisory board of Yodle, where he was senior vice president of sales and marketing from 2008 to 2010. He was vice president of sales and account management at Yahoo! from 2003 to 2008, and prior to that held various sales and management roles in the storage technology sector. Mike holds a bachelor's degree from Boston College.
Frank DiMauro
CFO and COO at SNJToday
Frank is responsible for the overall direction and management of SNJ Today, Clearbridge Media and Glasstown Productions in Millville, NJ. Born and raised in Southern New Jersey, he is a Certified Public Accountant who has managed international finance and accounting functions for companies such Willis Towers Watson and Home Box Office. His very successful accounting career and personal interests have made him a seasoned world traveler and given him a passion for continuous improvement. A cum laude graduate of Villanova University, Frank majored in Accounting while also obtaining a minor in Theater. He earned a master's degree, magna cum laude, with a concentration in creative writing from the University of Pennsylvania.
Donny Dye
Case Study Presenter
Vice President of Sales at Simpli.fi
As Vice President of Sales, Donny oversees the sales, training, and strategic efforts throughout our reseller channel. He has a strong background in local having worked at both DexKnows and Hearst bringing digital solutions to local advertisers. Prior to joining Simpli.fi, Donny led the sales efforts for the SEO division at Mediawhiz, and more recently, consulted with Onward Search to build sales training and launch a software platform for recruiters. A true geek at heart, Donny can often be found reading everything from an article on neuroscience to the latest issue of Superman. Donny holds a degree in Print Management from Georgia Southern University.
Corey Elliott
Vice President of Research at Borrell Associates Inc.
Corey joined Borrell Associates in 2014 as director of research and was later promoted to vice president. Prior to Borrell, he was director of market intelligence at Gannett Co. Inc., where he managed the dissemination of market data and strategy to more than 80 local media properties. At The Dallas Morning News he led a B2B research team that helped create campaigns based on household-level consumer habits and clients' own databases. His application of research as well as generation-based training programs have garnered awards from secondary research companies and were considered a Best Practice by Gannett Community Publishing. He holds a bachelor's degree from Ohio University.
Mark Gorman
Case Study Presenter
CEO at Matrix Solutions
Mark has more than 20 years of professional experience, technology innovation, and executive leadership. His roll-up your-sleeves work ethic has been instrumental in Matrix Solutions' evolution to becoming a global, media ad sales platform technology provider. Prior to being appointed CEO, he worked closely with the company's executive team in his role as Managing Director for Main Line Equity Partners, whom had provided Matrix Solutions with a growth capital investment. Brian holds a J.D. and M.B.A with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, and a B.A. in Political Science and German from the University of Pennsylvania.
Ray Green
Case Study Presenter
at Verve
Ray is Vice President of Enterprise Sales at Verve, where he leads business strategy and drives performance by bringing the power of location-based mobile marketing to small- and medium-sized businesses. He joined Verve in 2010 and held leadership positions on the publisher services team focused on growing Verve's 1st party data partnerships with broadcasters and newspapers. Prior to Verve, Ray held management, sales, and operations positions at the ACTIVE Network Perficiency, Dos Gringos Flower Company, and Morgan Stanley. Ray holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkley and received his MBA from the Kelley School of Business. He is a US Rugby Foundation Director and mentor at CONNECT, a premier innovation company accelerator run by UC San Diego.
Elina Greenstein
Case Study Presenter
Director of Channel Partnerships at xad
Elina has more than a decade of experience in the media and ad tech industry. As Director of Channel Partnerships at xAd, she is responsible for developing and driving sales across xAd's strategic reseller partnerships with traditional and digital media companies. She previously worked with RAPP, a digital CRM and analytics advertising agency, managing social media and promotional campaigns for Nestle. Earlier in her career, she worked for Dentsu's Posterscope, developing convergence media strategies in the outdoor media sector. Elina holds a degree in Journalism and Media Studies and Food Science from Rutgers University.
Brian Hellman
Sr. Director, Digital Sales at The E.W. Scripps Company
Brian has been in digital media for more than 15 years, joining Scripps in 2013. Prior to that he headed up digital sales at newspapers and television stations for Gannett. Brian is one of Scripps' leaders for digital sales, overseeing a group of the company's largest stations in addition to managing political and agency digital business. His focus is on developing local digital sales leaders and digital sellers by providing them with the training, resources and support needed to deliver the best results for their advertisers.
Steve Hibberd
CEO & Co Founder at Tiger Pistol
Steve is CEO of Tiger Pistol, which he co-founded in 2011 in Melbourne, Australia, and now has headquarters in Austin, Texas. The company is Facebook's lead technology partner in helping small businesses drive customer activity via Facebook and Instagram advertising, at scale. Before founding Tiger Pistol in 2011, Steve founded and led marketing technology company Accumulate. He subsequently founded and led Grass Roots Group in APAC, serving multi-nationals with marketing technology to drive sales growth through small business resellers. Steve was named as one of The Australian's "Technology People to Watch."
Richard Jones
Case Study Presenter
CEO at Wayin
Richard is the CEO of Wayin and former CEO and co-founder of EngageSciences. He has nearly two decades of experience in digital, working in both marketing agencies and the software industry. Richard is a regular blogger and speaker on digital marketing topics. As chief executive at Wayin, he leads a team that provides a digital content-management system that enables publishers and more than 300 brands to create authentic, interactive campaign experiences that engage and activate consumers across all digital channels.
Afif Khoury
Case Study Presenter
Founder and CEO at SOCi, Inc.
Afif is founder and CEO of SOCi, Inc. and has made a career out of following the data. He has been at the forefront of technology for 20 years. He has been a contributor to the Human Genome Project and has served as a high-tech M&A attorney, a manager of two successful venture capital funds, and founder & CEO of two successful startups.
Shannon Kinney
Founder at Dream Local Digital
Shannon works with thousands of small and medium-size businesses, media partners and ad agencies on online marketing strategies and campaigns. She has worked on teams developing successful Internet brands such as cars.com, careerbuilder.com, and at more than 60 online media properties for newspapers all over the U.S. and Canada. At Dream Local, she has worked with more than 40,000 businesses in workshops and served thousands of campaigns helping businesses grow utilizing online, search, and social media marketing. She is an experienced speaker, trainer, advisor and consultant. She has been recognized as a Digital Innovator by the Local Media Association.
Ezra Kucharz
Special Advisor at CBS Corp.
Prior to his current role as special advisor to the CEO Les Moonves, Ezra was President of CBS Local Digital Media from February 2010 until May 2016, where he oversaw online and mobile business across 117 radio stations and more than two dozen TV stations. During his tenure, his leadership elevated CBS Local to the No. 1 digital organization in local broadcast TV and radio (comScore). Ezra has held a number of senior positions at NBC Universal, including COO for iVillage and Senior Vice President of Digital Innovation where he launched the NBC Universal Digital Media Studio. The United States Tennis Association hired Ezra in 2001 to launch its Advanced Media business. In 1995, he founded one of the first online digital sports media companies, Total Sports. Ezra earned his bachelor's degree from Boston University in biomedical engineering and worked in NASA's space shuttle and space station medical operations groups after graduation. He earned masters degrees in engineering management and medical informatics at the University of Houston and Duke University, respectively. He is the recipient of Borrell's 2012 Award of Merit, given annually to an executive who has exhibited dynamic leadership in digital media.
Nancy Lane
President at Local Media Association
Lane is the dynamic leader of Local Media Association. During her 15 years at LMA, the organization has tripled in size and now includes 2,800 newspapers, TV stations, radio stations, directories and R&D partners. Lane is a frequent speaker at media events in North America and Europe and is the author of more than a dozen industry reports. Her disruption in media blog has more than 35,000 views since launching 18 months ago. She was a publisher of daily and weekly newspapers for nine years before joining LMA in 2000 and ran operations as large as $50 million. Lane is a graduate of Villanova University and serves on the VU Alumni Association board of directors.
Saul Leal
Director of Business Development at Deseret Media
Saul Leal heads up strategic products and social channels for Deseret Digital Media, whose products have more than 98 million followers and 3.5 billion impressions per month. Saul, who has developed businesses in more than 20 countries, speaks fluent Portuguese and Spanish, and English. When he is not overseeing operations at his work, he spends his time with his family and friends.
James Moore
Case Study Presenter
Chief Revenue Officer at Simpli.fi
James has been Chief Revenue Officer at Simpli.fi since 2011, presiding over the company's sales organization. Based in Fort Worth, Simpli.fi is a localized programmatic platform that has run more than 50,000 monthly programmatic campaigns. Prior to joining Simpli.fi, James was the SVP of sales at eBay Enterprise. He has more than 20 years of sales leadership experience at some of America's most successful sales organizations, including Airborne Express, ADP, and CareerBuilder. A high-energy and focused individual, James lives a passion-driven life and is a regular content contributor to Adexchanger, Geomarketing, and Marketingland.
Shawn Pokorny
Case Study Presenter
Director Customer Success at Clipcentric
Shawn Pokorny's career has been singularly focused on digital display advertising since 1999. He's worked for independent newspaper digital publications, Morris Communications, and AdInterax, an adtech startup that served newspapers and TV stations. Shawn spent seven years at Yahoo! as a rich-media sales engineer, supporting Y! publisher and agency business. He joined Clipcentric in 2013. As director of customer success, Shawn helps lead platform innovation. In his personal time, Shawn is a scratch golfer and enjoys paddle boarding and spending time with his daughter and loved ones.
Rohit Rathore
Case Study Presenter
SVP, Media Practice at NIIT Technologies
Rohit leads the Media & Entertainment vertical of NIIT Technologies. He manages key sales and operational leadership positions in coordination with large media & entertainment brands at a global level. He is a change agent for innovation for organizations that are engaged in managing complex business dynamics in a multichannel landscape.
Rohit has built many go-to-market strategies with customers and partners for driving industry-leading business transformation. He also serves as an advisor to executive leadership of Media & Entertainment brands for their growth and restructuring strategies.
Andrea Rothchild
Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales at Newsday
Andrea heads up sales for one of the nation's most dynamic media organizations, Newsday Media Group, which serves Long Island and New York City through its portfolio of mobile and digital products, print publications and live events. Newsday and Newsday.com combined reach 1.2 million Long Island adults every week. Andrea recently rejoined Newsday after spending two years at LittleThings as the Digital Account Director. Prior to LittleThings, she spent 20 years at Newsday, where she held senior sales and management positions working across a wide range of departments including Interactive, Classified & Retail advertising.
Kelly Shelton
Case Study Presenter
Vice President of Marketing at Boostability
Kelly has more than 20 years of marketing experience. He is a champion for small businesses and prides himself in helping small businesses compete and thrive in a new digital world. Kelly is currently the Vice President of Marketing for Boostability, a company dedicated to helping small businesses grow online. His expertise includes paid search, search engine optimization, social media, lead generation and conversion optimization to name a few. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University.
Jason Sigalos
Business Development, Emerging Products at Google
Jason is a business-development manager at Google, focusing on emerging products and platforms. He currently works on the Accelerated Mobile Pages project (AMP), where he leads efforts to help partners succeed and thrive on an open, fast, mobile web. Since joining Google in 2008, Jason has specialized in publisher monetization and new business development across multiple Google revenue products, including the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, DFP, and AdSense. Prior to joining Google in 2008, Jason held various business development and partnership management positions at Time Inc., CNNMoney, AOL, and Netscape.
Tom Sly
Vice President at Scripps
Tom is the Vice President of Digital Revenue and the E.W. Scripps Company and leads digital revenue development and strategy across Scripps, broadcast, and digital operations. He joined Scripps in 2012 and prior to that led business development, revenue, and operations for a number of large and privately held broadcast companies and several digital startups including Nowlive.com, 10LocalCoupons.com, and Vehix.com.
Craig Smith
President & COO at HomeAdvisor
As president & COO of HomeAdvisor, Craig leads more than 1,500 sales and operations employees. He was responsible for developing a new sales strategy that helped contribute to 40% year-over-year revenue growth for the company in 2015. In 2015, Craig was awarded the emerging community leader citizenship medal by Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper for his commitment to his business and the community. He serves on the board of the Children's Hospital Colorado Corporate Leadership Council, the Board of Directors of the Beanstalk Foundation and the Board of A+ Colorado.
Lee Smith
President and CEO at SalesFuel
Lee founded AdMall (now SalesFuel) in 1989. He is also founder and publisher of Media Sales Today, a monthly e-publication read by more than 9,000 sales executives. In 2013, he became one of only 173 certified advisors worldwide for Jeffrey Gitomer, author of four New York Times best-selling books on sales and personal development. Prior to forming the company, Lee spent several years in advertising sales for print and electronic media. He received his degree in Advertising from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and his certificate in Executive Leadership from Cornell University. He is an avid cyclist, frequently raising money for cancer and diabetes research and other nonprofit causes.
Amie Stein
Case Study Presenter
Vice President of Business Development at AffinityX
Amie is a 20-year veteran of the media industry. She is Vice President of Business Development for AffinityX, a white-label creative and marketing services partner for companies that help small and medium sized businesses. Before joining AffinityX, Amie was the director of training & development for Local Media Association. She has served in leadership roles at E.W. Scripps, Lee Enterprises, Pulitzer and Journal Register Co. She holds a degree from the University of Missouri, where she began her newspaper career. She is a graduate of various community and regional leadership programs and has been active in community organizations. Amie lives in Manhattan with her husband and two daughters.
Matt Sunshine
Managing Partner at The Center for Sales Strategy
Matt is managing partner for CSS, a sales performance consulting company that helps attract, retain, and develop the highest performing sales people. Matt is a featured writer for one of the top sales blogs in America and a regular contributor to leading business blogs and magazines. In 2012, Matt developed and launched LeadG2, an Inbound Marketing company that helps businesses establish thought leadership and lower lead costs. LeadG2 has earned the premier Hubspot recognition as a platinum Certified Partner and is the largest inbound marketing company serving the media industry in the world today. Previously, Matt served as the group director of sales development for Susquehanna Radio Corp. Matt lives in Dallas with his wife and two daughters.
Jeff Tennery
Founder & CEO at Moonlighting
Jeff is one of the nation's leading experts on the gig economy. He is the Founder & CEO of Moonlighting, the first nationwide mobile marketplace where anyone can hire or be hired in any community in the country. Jeff has spent more than 25 years in leadership roles at Verizon, AT&T and most recently with Millennial Media (acquired by AOL). He is a frequent contributor to many sharing economy stories, having appeared on CNBC , The Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, and other top-tier media outlets.
Rich Toland
Enterprise Account Executive at LinkedIn
Rich has more than 21 years of experience in Local, Regional, National and Global Sales and is currently an Enterprise Account Executive at LinkedIn. Based out of New York, Rich works in LinkedIn's 'Sales Solutions' business line and works with North American and Global sales organizations who leverage LinkedIn to drive market share in a digital age. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Rich was an award-winning Sales Executive at ADP in New Jersey and was a co-founder and Board Member of DigitalSports, a multimedia (Online / TV / Print / Mobile / Radio) company focused on local, regional and national high school and youth sports content supported by multiple monetization streams.
Jeff Tomlin
Co-counder and CMO at Vendasta Technologies
Jeff is the co-founder and CMO at Vendasta, which was listed #42 in the Canadian Business Profit 500 and was named to the Deloitte Fast 50 as one of the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Canada and the Fast 500 in North America. Prior to Vendasta, Jeff served as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Point2 Technologies, where he forged partnerships with Google, Zillow, Trulia, Yahoo, The New York Times and Classified Ventures as the real estate technology space was exploding. A Canadian with Irish tendencies, Jeff loves golfing, fishing and sipping a good pint of Guinness.
Maggie Wells
Case Study Presenter
Head, Publisher Solutions at Connatix
Maggie is Vice President of Publisher Solutions at Connatix, a leading native video monetization and syndication platform. Her previous roles include Senior Vice President of Marketing for Digilant, an ad tech firm in Boston, and Global Marketing & Operations for a digital advertising business within The Economist Group. Maggie graduated with distinction from the University of Rochester with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and received her master's from the University of Chicago with concentrations in Finance, Marketing and Economics. She is an adjunct professor of marketing at New York University.
Anthony Bratti
SVP Business Development at BuzzBoard
Anthony is a global interactive media executive with deep expertise in interactive media solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. He is the Senior Vice President of Business Development at BuzzBoard, where he heads up sales globally. Anthony spent nearly 20 years at AT&T, where he built several high growth businesses generating over $100 million annually. His latest role there was Regional Vice President of Sales and Operations for AT&T Advertising Solutions (YP.com), where he led more than 200 sales professionals and over 1,000 ad operations professionals across the U.S.
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