As you know this topic is near and dear to my heart these days. I will be presenting and moderating a great panel.
PAN-IIT Event: Mobile Advertising – Challenges and Opportunities
Where: Google Kirland Campus, 720, 4th Ave, Kirkland WA 98033
When: April 18th, 6:30-8:30pm
RSVP to mohan_13@msvi.org
Mobile Advertising is the hottest topic in the wireless industry right now. Analysts are forecasting a multi-billion industry within a few years. Everyone from operators to Internet powerhouses to device manufacturers are jostling for position in the value chain. This session will define mobile advertising, look at the current industry landscape, and brainstorm the technology challenges and business opportunities in this emerging segment of the market.
Brendan Benzing, VP of Products and Marketing, Infospace
Brendan Benzing, vice president of Product and Marketing, is responsible for defining InfoSpace’s product strategy in Mobile Search as well as its industry leading Mobile Media platform. He also oversees the emerging mobile advertising solutions group. Benzing joined InfoSpace in 2005, bringing experience in sales, marketing and interactive media product development. He has over 15 years of experience in the media industry and over a decade with interactive media products including mobile, internet, and interactive TV. Prior to InfoSpace, Benzing spent seven years with America Online, most recently serving as an Executive Director, in AOL’s Search and Directional Media Group.
Jai Jaisimha, Vice President Development, Medio Systems
Jaisimha comes to Medio with more than 15 years of software development and management experience. Most recently at Microsoft, he was involved in connectivity solutions development for the portable digital media device market, including handsets, for the Windows OS. He was also responsible for a new line of business, which included solutions for Windows Media nomadic devices in the automotive space. Working with Nokia and other mobile terminal vendors, he deployed Windows Media DRM, codec and connectivity technologies.
As founder of ContentTone Systems, Jaisimha oversaw a startup focused on personalization and recommendation system technology, improving the premium-content commerce experience on mobile phones. During his more than five years at RealNetworks, Jaisimha led the company’s entry into several new product lines focused on the embedded device, digital music and service infrastructure markets, including RealJukebox, RealServer, RealEncoder, and embedded versions of the RealPlayer product.
For his research in multimedia content management and databases, document filtering and information retrieval at MathSoft, Inc. (now Insightful, Inc.), Jaisimha received research awards and grants from the U.S. Department of Defense, National Security Agency, National Institutes of Health, NASA and the NSF. Jaisimha has a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MS in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University, New Orleans and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Victor Melfi, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, Voicebox Technologies
Victor Melfi Jr. is the chief strategy officer (CSO) and senior vice president (SVP) of Voice Services at VoiceBox. Previously, Melfi served as CSO of InfoSpace.
Throughout his career, Melfi has been called-on to provide extensive technology strategy consulting for the CEOs of the world’s leading tech companies. His professional expertise in tech strategy, direct marketing and advertising served him well during his tenure at the Strategy and Media practice of the office of Booz-Allen and Hamilton, and while he re-engineered the Global Promotion, Selection and Analytics business and systems at Reader’s Digest Inc.
Melfi led a successful 1997 IPO of Multiple Zones as CEO, and subsequently also led and sold two other technology companies. Victor was educated at Shimer College, Oxford University, and Yale University, where he got his MBA.
Someone from Google is expected to join the panel as well.