Kennerth Hertz is a Senior Partner in the Beverly Hills law firm of Hertz and Lichtenstein LLP.  Ken and his partners specialise in representing talent and new media companies in the sports and entertainment industries. 

The firm's clients include Will, Jada, Willow and Jaden Smith, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, Keith Richards, Herbie Hancock, Jason Mraz, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, David Blaine, Shaun White, Wayne Gretzky and Alex Rodriguez.  Prior to joining the firm, Ken was in charge of music - business and legal affairs - for the Walt Disney Company.

Ken is also a principal in Membrain - an entertainment marketing and strategy consulting firm.  Membrain consults a number of firms engaged in businesses operating in the entertainment content, fashion, technology and marketing industries (Membrain's clients include JibJab, BigChampagne, Hasbro Toys, McDonald's, Intel, MillerCoors, and Coty.)

Ken is a frequent speaker and commentator on the subjects of entertainment, marketing and convergence, is often quoted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, has appeared on CNBC's monthly newsmagazine Business Nation, and has been an instructor at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management, and an adjunct professor of law at USC.

Contributing Editor, Wired magazine (New York)

Frank Rose writes about the impact of technology on media and entertainment, covering such topics as the making of Avatar, Sony’s enormous gamble on the PlayStation 3, and the posthumous career of Philip K. Dick in Hollywood.

Before joining Wired in 1999, he served as a contributing writer at Fortune and at Travel + Leisure and as a contributing editor at Esquire. His work has also appeared in New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and the Village Voice, where he got his start covering the punk scene at CBGB. He has led debates about the future of media at the Cannes Film Festival, South by Southwest, the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society, and numerous other venues. His 1989 best-seller West of Eden, about the ouster of Steve Jobs from Apple, was named one of the ten best business books of the year by BusinessWeek and has recently been republished in an updated edition. He is also the author of The Agency, an unauthorized history of the oldest and at one time most successful talent agency in Hollywood. He is currently working as Editorial Director of the Wharton School’s Future of Advertising Project, an industry-backed initiative to reinvent the ad business for the digital age. His next book will be The Age of Immersion: Entertainment in a Connected World, an account of how the Internet is changing storytelling, to be published in early 2011 by W.W. Norton.
 

Follow Frank on Twitter at @frankrose       

Matthew Hawn has been working professionally in digital media since for 17 years.

He started in San Francisco as one of the founders of Macworld Online, one of the first magazines to go online using bespoke web content management tools that were designed and deployed in almost real-time conditions. From there, he moved onto the editorial board for The Site, an hour-long primetime magazine show that ran every weeknight on MSNBC from its launch in 1996, combining news and technology stories for a general audience; Matthew sat on the editorial board for the show, creating cross-media stories that ran in parallel across television and on the web. He was also a regular on-air correspondent, covering digital entertainment.

In 1998, he crossed over from journalism to join the record industry in the earliest days of digital distribution in the dark days when the ipod was still just a glimmer in Steve Job’s eyes. He worked Universal Music International in London where he helped create the infrastructure the company needed to digitize their audio and video assets to prepare them for digital distribution. Since 2002, he’s worked for Sony Music in their Global Digital Business group in a variety of roles. Lately, he’s been developing Sony Music’s international direct-to-fan strategy, building the teams and tools to do innovative digital marketing, customer relationship management, and ecommerce.

Susan Bonds is a pioneer of transmedia storytelling and driving force behind42 Entertainment’s critically acclaimed interactive experiences: genre-defining participatory and cross-platform entertainment often described as “alternative reality” games (ARGs). 

These rich worlds extend beyond film screens, game consoles, television shows, book pages, and music albums, allowing audiences to “live” the story in unforgettable ways that intersect when, where, and how they live.  More than any other form of interactive media, these ARGs create strong, passionate global communities and galvanize them into a powerful hive mind of collective intelligence.  As President and CEO, Susan builds and directs the teams that design, create, and execute 42’s diverse and innovative projects. 

In 2008, 42 Entertainment created the groundbreaking ARG, Why So Serious?, for Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight, the third-highest grossing movie of all time.  More than 10-million people around the world participated in this 3600 immersive experience as citizens of Gotham City came to life through a variety of mediums and platforms.  Why So Serious? won the Cyber Grand Prix at the 2009 Cannes Lions, the Art Director’s Club Hybrid Award; and the Webby Integrated Campaign Award.  In 2007, 42 Entertainment took the music world by storm, working with Nine Inch Nails to produce Year Zero, a first-of-its-kind concept album that combined music with multi-platform, transmedia storytelling.  This ARG also won the Cyber Grand Prix in 2008.  Past 42 Entertainment campaigns include: ilovebees, the 2004 ARG used to launch Microsoft’s wildly popular X-Box game Halo 2; Project Abraham, for the 2008 launch of Sony Playstation’s Resistance 2; and, The Vanishing Point, a 2007 global puzzle experience to promote Windows Vista.  42 Entertainment is currently working with Disney on an “alternate reality” adventure for the upcoming 2010 film Tron Legacy.

Before founding 42 Entertainment, Susan was Chief Design and Production Officer for Cyan Worlds, a company best known for creating the worlds of Myst and Riven, two of the best-selling PC games of all time, where she produced a Massively Multiplayer Online game, URU: Ages Beyond Myst, and realMyst, the popular PC game in real time 3D. 

For ten years, Susan was Creative Director and Senior Show Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where she directed the design, development, and construction of major attractions, themed architecture, internet entertainment projects, and proprietary new ride systems.  Her portfolio included such blockbuster “E-Ticket” attractions as the Indiana Jones Adventure,Alien Encounters, and Mission: SPACE.  Susan produced the signature exterior design of the ABC Times Square Studios in New York, seen every day on Good Morning America, and led the Disney Concept Studio charged with creating innovative ideas for the company.

Susan has an Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, an MBA from Georgia State University, and is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America.

Bob, a Los Angeles-based entertainment attorney, is a principal and co-founder of Planet Illogica.

He oversees the company's music and legal affairs.  Bob has been involved in the entertainment industry for nearly two decades: as a senior music executive for Atlantic Records during its reign as the industry's number one label; as President of the Rights Division of Withoutabox, a 2008 acquisition of Amazon and IMDB; and as an entertainment attorney representing talent, production companies, new media companies, and entertainment industry-based nonprofit organizations.

Bob has co-produced several films. He won a Peabody Award for his producing work on the film, “A Huey P. Newton Story,” about the founder of the Black Panther Party by acclaimed director Spike Lee. At Atlantic Records, Bob worked with a number of artists, including Macy Gray, Stone Temple Pilots, Jewel, Hootie & The Blowfish, Tori Amos, and others.  At Withoutabox, he oversaw intellectual property issues and helped aggregate films for distribution for the industry’s leading web-based platform for independent filmmakers and film festivals (over 150,000 filmmakers in 200 countries).

In 2009, Bob produced the worldwide concert premiere of Langston Hughes' poem, “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz,” featuring the Soprano Jessye Norman, The Roots, jazz vocalist Nneena Freelon, and the Orchestra of St. Lukes and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, respectively, at Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

Bob serves on the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations. He recently concluded a term as chair of the board of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, a nonprofit community-based music school founded by Flea of the superstar rock group Red Hot Chili Peppers. He is a co-founder and Co-Chair of LA Works, the Los Angeles affiliate of the national Hands On Network/Points of Light Foundation, and a member of the board of Operation USA, an international disaster relief organization. Previously he served multiple terms on the boards of Rock the Vote, the Creative Coalition, and the ACLU Foundation, among others.

Bob earned his undergraduate degree from Occidental College and is a graduate of the Anderson School of Management and UCLA School of Law. Always a fierce advocate for artists, Bob embraces Planet Illogica's vision of a thriving online artist community empowering each other economically and artistically.

Steve is a technology entrepreneur and currently serves as a strategic advisor to Animoto, Conduit Labs, RCRD LBL, and StumbleUpon. Previously, he served as CMO and Head of Business Development at imeem (acquired by MySpace) and Director of Digital Development & Distribution at EMI Music.

Kaiser Kuo is a Beijing-based writer, rock musician, and commentator on technology and politics.

He previously worked as director of digital strategy, China, for ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, as China bureau chief for Red Herring magazine, and as a freelance technology reporter. He is the author of the book Ich Bin Ein Beijinger, an anthology of columns written for that's Beijing/The Beijinger magazine since 2001. A 15-year Beijing resident, he was co-founder of China's first and most successful heavy metal band, Tang Dynasty, featured in the documentary Global Metal, and remains active in the Chinese rock scene as lead guitarist for Mandarin metal band Chunqiu (Spring & Autumn).

Kaiser is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Arizona. He lives in Beijing with his wife and two young children, and is currently working on a book about the impact of the Internet on U.S.-China relations.

Follow him on Twitter at @KaiserKuo.

Marcelino Ford-Livene has a wide range of business, operational and creative experience in the interactive and traditional media industries.

He is the General Manager of Interactive Content and Advanced Advertising Development for Intel’s Digital Home Group. In this capacity, he leads a team charged with developing new interactive content and advertising technology on Intel’s connected CE platforms. Prior to Intel, he was a senior member of TV Guide’s development and planning team. He has also held senior positions with the FCC. He served as Special Counsel for New Media Policy and as Senior Counsel and Director of Media Strategic Analysis for the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning. He is a former Vice President of NetNoir, Inc., served as Director of Business Development for iBlast, and worked as an Associate with Hill, Farrer & Burrill in Los Angeles. In addition to serving as Secretary of the Television Academy, Ford-Livene is the Division Chairman of the Interactive Media Division for the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. He also sits on the Board of LA36. He holds a B.A. in Economics from UC San Diego, a JD/MBA from the University of Illinois and has completed an Executive MBA Leadership Program at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

As The Filter’s CEO, David has led the company’s turnaround from a music playlist app to a world leader in personalisation and relevance services for content - optimising search, navigation and discovery for the next generation of digital entertainment systems.

Customers that include Warner Bros., Nokia and Vudu. The Filter's SaaS (Software as a Service) platform now delivers 1 billion recommendations to over 150 million people in over 35 countries every month.

He was Board & Digital Director at US/UK media company Future PLC, founder of award-winning content agency Future Plus, founding partner of consultancy Digital-dna and sports social network iSporty. David has a proven track record in developing and leading business strategies that create high value returns. David is also co-founder of BathSpark (a network for technology professionals in Bath), a mentor at the enterprise-boosting initiative Seedcamp, and is also Board Advisor for Polecat (Dublin-based Market Intelligence software platform) and BlueDot (the reward currency for doing good).

Jason DaPonte is Managing Editor, BBC Mobile Platforms.

He is responsible for overseeing the content across the BBC’s mobile web, messaging and A/V offerings as well as looking at emerging areas including mobile broadcasting and out-of-home entertainment and information services.

He is also Chair of the BBC Future Media Editorial Forum.

 Previously, he was Executive Producer for bbc.co.uk, the world’s largest English-language website that covers a range of content from news to entertainment and user generated content. He was responsible for working to shape the overall editorial portfolio and strategy in line with audience needs and emerging technologies.

 As part of this work, he led a change programme across the BBC’s online producers called “Ensuring Excellence.” This programme aimed to build a stronger culture of excellence across hundreds of editorial staff in different production areas. It focussed on how editorial standards, guidelines and training need to change in the rapidly changing environment that is digital media. The programme is part of the corporation’s BBC 2.0 initiative, which aims to fundamentally re-invent and improve the website over the next three years.

DaPonte originally joined the BBC in 2002 as an editor and has also led the corporation’s efforts in the areas of Search & Navigation, which has resulted in a multi-million pound programme of work in this area being recently kicked off.

Before working at the BBC, DaPonte was Producer of Economist.com where he product managed the website and launched the digital brand into various new editorial areas.

Before moving to the UK in 2000, he worked in New York for CitySeach/Ticketmaster where he managed the design and production of a network of city guide websites and at FOX where he was a web producer and production manager.

His early career began with working on the early versions of a number of major American media sites. He is proud to have been a member of the launch team for WashingtonPost.com and worked on an early site for U.S. News and World Report. He also worked as a consultant and freelancer for a number of small start-up companies during the “dot com boom.”
 

Ashley Head, has over 30 years experience in the payments and banking industry.

Ashley was involved in establishing the business of ProcCyber, acquired by DataCash in June 2006.  This organisation focussed on providing leading bespoke payments and risk solutions for the fast paced and dynamic gaming industry.

As Executive Chairman of the collective DataCash Group, Ashley is a full time member of the Management Team, focusing on strategy and business development for an organisation that provides global, multi-channel payments and fraud prevention solutions for over 900 blue chip customers and processed transactions to a value in excess of £18billion in 2009.

Ashley’s previous roles have included Senior Vice President for the Africa region for MasterCard International and Director of Technology and Electronic Banking for The National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia.

Priya enjoys crafting simple, fun, addictive tools to enable conversations and experiences underpinned by robust business models.

Her expertise lies in developing and managing the complete customer experience for products and services. Over the past ten years, she has built and led product development teams. Her teams have shipped – BBC iMP (iPlayer), BBC Mobile portal, Trusted Places, Project Kangaroo (initial proposal), the Digital Wellbeing Showroom, Sugarscape (Hachette Filipacchi) and significantly increased Flirtomatic’s user revenues. She has worked in various capacities as senior interaction designer, implementation manager, creative director, innovation executive and head of product. Prakash is a RSA fellow with a MA in Interaction Design from Royal College of Art and holds patents for iPlayer. When not working, she dreams of starting her own social enterprise. She recently joined Nokia as Creative Director for Consumer Experience.

A founding member of both The Human League and Heaven 17, Martyn is one of the leading figures in electronic music. As record producer and artist he has featured on recordings totaling over 60 million sales worldwide during a 27 year career to date, working with Tina Turner, Terence Trent D’Arby, Chaka Khan, Erasure, Marc Almond, Mavis Staples and many more.

Martyn founded Illustrious Company with Vince Clarke in 2001 to exploit the creative and commercial possibilities of their unique ‘Heightened Reality’ three-dimensional sound technology and bespoke musical composition in collaboration with fine artists, the performing arts and corporate clients around the world who include: BP, Ogilvy, The British Council, The Science Museum,The Royal Ballet, Amnesty International, The V&A Museum, Mute Records, BBC TV,  the Royal Observatory Greenwich, BAFTA , Museum Of London. Tate Britain, Red Bull Music Academy, City Of Westminster Council, and collaborations with the artists Cathy De Monchaux, Tim Head, Gary Stevens, David Bickerstaff and Philip Tsiaras.

Martyn produces and presents a series of events entitled 'Future of Sound' in the UK and around the world and has created sonic architectural works at the British Pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennale in 2006 amongst many others.

He also lectures extensively on music production, technology, and creativity at universities and colleges across the world and he is Head of Sonic Experience and co-founder of the world-leading sound-branding agency - SonicID.

Martyn is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, a Visiting Professor at C4DM at Queen Mary College, University of London; a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal College of Art and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Beginning 23 years ago, Nicole’s career in advertising took her to two of London’s most renowned and creative agencies; Simons Palmer and GGT.

In 2000, with a brief from the Chairman to “bring the agency into the 21st century”, Nicole joined Ogilvy London where she now works as the Director of Innovative Solutions.

Nicole’s first four years with Ogilvy saw her overhaul the agency’s broadcast and video-editing capabilities; taking them from analogue to digital, with the creation of RedWorks Broadcast.  Ogilvy London now leads the agency’s global network in the management and broadcast of digital assets.

In 2005, Nicole’s drive for innovation grew to encompass the agency’s new media projects and campaigns; encouraging Adventure Ecology to flood Second Life to raise awareness of global warming, Fanta to develop a mosquito-sound mobile application for kids and IBM to be one of the first to advertise on digital escalator panels.
Consolidated in 2007 into the Ogilvy Digital Innovation Lab (part of a worldwide network), the agency’s innovation activities have seen Nicole build partnerships between industries and across media channels to fuel unprecedented creative campaigns, and educate, both within the agency and beyond, speaking at global conferences and building clients Labs of their own.

Media Accounts Director, Detica (London)

Dan’s role is to shape and manage work for Detica’s media clients and take to market propositions around Copyright Infringement, including Detica CView(tm).

He is the lead authority in Detica on how ISP’s, Studios and Labels can come together to make money from music and videos on the internet.

As an engineer by profession, Dan has had a varied career having started in Aerospace software design before moving to programme delivery as a management consultant at PA Consulting. At PA he acted as interim Group Programme Director for BT setting up and initially running the £4billion 21CN Programme as well as advising and delivering various other high profile ISP client programmes.

More recently he was the Chief Operating Officer of a business, Crisp Thinking, to protect children from paedophiles on the internet.

Dan is fascinated by how new technologies can disrupt existing business models and revels in being able to find novel applications for seemingly unrelated technologies in order to make money. As a relative new comer to the music and video industries he is enjoying bucking the trend by trying to find ways to legitimise and monetise existing peer to peer file-sharing behaviours.

He has a Masters in Business from the University of Warwick and a Masters in Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

 

Fred McIntyre is vice president, product, of the newly formed business unit of CBS Interactive.

With close to two decades of experience working in the media business and over a decade of building and growing category leading consumer Internet products and brands, Fred will play a central role in defining and executing the vision and strategy for the entire portfolio of assets within the CBS Interactive Music Group. In this capacity, he will identify new customer segments, market opportunities and product extensions to drive audience growth.

Fred’s extensive resume includes positions with AOL, SPIN and Vibe magazines and Internet radio pioneer Spinner.com. He joins the CBS Interactive Music Group from AOL, where, among other responsibilities, he spent several years building and leading AOL’s global product businesses for AOL Video, AOL Radio, SHOUTcast and Winamp. In this capacity, Fred had a strong track record of growing audience and revenue while improving operational efficiency. At AOL, he also worked in a variety of business development and programming roles including, most recently, leadership of business development on behalf of AOL’s Content business.

Follow Fred on Twitter at @fredmcintyre