John Huffman IV, CEO, BullyVision (Burbank, CA)
Armed with an indomitable will to succeed, John has become known as one of the most innovative entrepreneurs of our time. John has recently partnered with Magic Johnson Enterprises and will serve as CEO of Magic New Media. Real Hip-Hop is the third company he has had a hand in founding, and he has served as the company's CEO since its inception in November 2005. Real Hip-Hop is a joint venture with global mobile industry leader m-Qube/VeriSign. The New Media content company focuses exclusively on serving local, national and international hip-hop content to mobile phones subscribers around the world.
Prior to Real Hip-Hop, John co-Founded and structured a multi-million dollar joint venture with Rondor/Universal Music Group called Silverback Music Publishing, LLC. Silverback is a lyric focused music publishing company that uses the Internet and Mobile technology to acquire, develop and sell hip-hop songs to new and established artists, producers and A&R executives.
Before being sold to an investment group lead by Richard McFarland at a valuation of 10 million dollars, John's first entrepreneurial venture, Maximum Networks, Inc., spun off several online innovations including a hip-hop search engine (branded Hip-Hop Hook Up), an online e-commerce site (branded PopSuperstar) and an A&R Operating System (branded AROS). AROS included content management, micro-market testing and work flow management.
European based Digital Distribution In The Music Industry voted John 30 Under 30 two years in a row. He currently serves as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador and Head of Global Technology with a focus on Eradicating Malnutrition by the year 2015. Other career highlights include John's development of the community event model for the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network lead by Russell Simmons and Dr. Ben Chavis.
In addition to leading Real Hip-Hop, John is the Executive Producer of the International Hip-Hop Draft, a founding member of the Kontent Kingz and the Author of Modern Day Hustle due to be completed fall of 2008.
John Lauer, VP Sales & Carrier Relations, OpenMarket, a business of Qpass, Amdocs Digital Commerce Division (Seattle, WA)
John Lauer is the Vice President of Sales and Carrier Relations at OpenMarket, a service that provides an efficient exchange for off-network mobile digital commerce. Mr. Lauer was previously the President of Simplewire prior to its acquisition by OpenMarket. He has lead Simplewire's growth from concept to a profitable multi-million dollar business as an industry leader in wireless messaging solutions. Previously, Mr. Lauer was the CEO of Rootlevel, Inc., a web application development company. He has served on several boards including the Detroit Regional Chamber Board of Directors and has recently served on the board for NPower, a non-profit organization funded mainly by Microsoft and the Kresge Foundation. Mr. Lauer studied Business Administration and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
OpenMarket is a division of Qpass, an established leader in mobile commerce marketplace that has successfully processed more than $1.5 billion in digital content transactions to date, serving over 185 million subscribers worldwide. Through its extensive experience, Qpass has developed strong relationships with an impressive list of major mobile operators. Qpass is owned by Amdocs, a global leader in converged digital commerce that is helping the world's leading service providers and media companies leverage digital commerce to help increase profitability.
OpenMarket stands at the forefront of the mobile messaging industry with over 400 customers worldwide. As a recognized industry pioneer, OpenMarket has transformed the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business model with simplified business terms and standardized processes, enabling media companies and content providers leverage the mobile channel to market and distribute their digital content offerings while optimizing consumer experience. OpenMarket remains committed to helping drive innovation and creativity in the mobile market by influencing trends and consumer behavior.
Mr. Lauer brings over a decade of mobile channel experience to the MMA. As one of the first members of the organization, Mr. Lauer has served on numerous committees and participated in MMA events nationwide. Mr. Lauer has established carrier relationships with major mobile operators, as well as hundreds of media companies and content providers globally.
For these reasons, please consider Mr. Lauer's nomination to the Board of Directors.
Kristen Fox, VP, Professional Services, Soapbox Mobile, Inc. (New York, NY)
In 2006, Kristen Fox was elected to the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Board of Directors, representing ESPN. As Associate Director, Product, for Mobile ESPN Publishing, Kristen was responsible for directing ESPN's brand personality across its wireless licensing product strategy, marketing, messaging and sponsorships. She developed innovative ways to increase data adoption, stimulate customer loyalty and manage the product lifecycle for wireless content. She has done extensive research on SMSCs, content aggregators and mobile marketing services companies. Kristen was a driving influence and evangelist within ESPN for global messaging across the brand, before she undertook her current position as global VP, Professional Services for Soapbox Mobile in September 2006.As a member Soapbox Mobile's executive team, Kristen leads the ways in which client and agency marketing objectives are met across the mobile channel, including campaign development, execution, reporting, and all other aspects of support for clients such as GM, P&G, ESPN, IPG, Kaleidoscope, MobiTV, Harrah's and Amp’d Mobile. She is a tireless promoter for the industry, educating marketers regarding the value of mobile within the media mix, and developing new pricing and reporting models to ensure scale.
Soapbox is a leading provider of full-service mobile marketing solutions, enabling consumer-facing companies to develop, deploy, and monetize mobile messaging, content, and commerce applications. Soapbox's integrated mobile solutions platform and carrier relationships combined with value-added services helps brand marketers, advertising agencies and entertainment companies leverage the power of the mobile communications channel.
Fox's passion for innovation and contextual advertising began in 1996 while Director of Sponsorships and Integrated Marketing at Sony Digital Entertainment. During her six year tenure, she built one of the industry's most successful online sponsorship businesses, utilizing vast content assets from across Sony Music, Sony Pictures and Columbia TriStar Television to match consumer interests with advertiser objectives. After Sony, Kristen worked with The Sporting News to reposition and differentiate its competitive sales strategy.
Fox currently chairs the MMA's Agency/Brand sub-committee on mobile video and television advertising standards. As a respected leader in the field, Kristen has spoken on numerous industry panels on behalf of the MMA and CTIA regarding mobile marketing and mobile advertising. She maintains extensive relationships within the Association and across the mobile industry to identify new strategies for leveraging the entire mobile channel to enhance brand experiences and deliver unique 1:1 consumer relationships. Kristen has been an active member of the Mobile Marketing Association since 2005.
By re-electing Kristen to the Board of Directors, the MMA would gain a dynamic advocate with a unique vision and perspective which stems from uncommon mobile experience on both the client and agency side alike. Moreover, Fox has a proven track record as a mobile professional, and is known within the MMA organization as a person of integrity that gets things done. Whether it's chairing the Mobile Video & Television sub-committee for Agencies/Brands, or bringing parties together to talk about Big Ideas, she's someone who understands the big picture, the players and the steps required to move the industry forward.
Mark Kaplan, Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, ShopText, Inc. (New York, NY)
Mobile commerce for physical goods is a milestone development in the evolution of the mobile platform. Mobile commerce creates a mobile initiated point of sale opportunity from traditional media, events and WAP Advertising. ShopText bridges the gap between consumers, product and media through an end-to-end, high accountable system. Mobile commerce for physical goods creates industry wide growth by enabling carrier networks to participate in sales beyond digital mobile consumable content, dramatically increased marketing budget appropriations, with media accountability, all while generating vehicles for consumer education on the power of their mobile phone.
I am Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of ShopText, Inc. the first true direct to consumer mobile commerce brand for physical goods commerce and Co-Chairman of the Mobile Commerce Committee. ShopText enables consumers to use basic SMS to shop, sample, donate, save and earn rewards on non-handset consumable products. The specialized experiences I have in creating ShopText's end-to-end ecosystem for mobile commerce for physical goods enable me to make unique contributions to the Board of Directors.
I commit to make significant contributions of my time, intellectual capital and other resources to further the growth and success of our industry. Thank you for supporting my nomination for membership to the Mobile Marketing Association's Board of Directors.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to know more about me, my experiences or actionable objectives should I receive a position on the Board of Directors.
Yours Truly,
Mark Kaplan, Founder & Chief Marketing Officer, ShopText, Inc. &
Co-Chairman, Mobile Commerce Committee, Mobile Marketing Association
Matt Champagne, Director, Mobile Product Management, Microsoft (Redmond, WA)
Matt Champagne directs mobile product management for Windows Live and MSN at Microsoft. This includes services such as Mail, Messenger, Spaces, and Search in addition to content offerings via msn.com and live.com. Matt spearheaded initial market deployments of mobile display advertising for Microsoft and launched keyword advertising as part of Live Search for Mobile. Prior to Microsoft, Matt was CEO of Tukati, Inc., a software and ASP company providing a broadband media delivery solution based on secure grid networking. Before Tukati, he held the position of COO and Vice President, Mobile Solutions at eCash Technologies, Inc., a software and solutions provider for mission critical transaction processing and payments systems targeted to the mobile, financial, and media markets. Prior to eCash, Matt was a Director, Data Services for AT&T Wireless Services.
For the past year, Matt has served on the Board of Directors of the MMA and has also been an Executive Committee Member. As an executive committee member, Matt has helped to shape strategic direction, governance, and structure during an extremely high growth stage for the MMA. As part of the Executive Committee, Mr. Champagne was the sponsor for the MMA global expansion program with the objective of creating a common framework and governance structure for the MMA globally and to deliver a common message and strategy for evangelizing the mobile channel.
Microsoft has been an active participant and board member of the Mobile Marketing Association since its inception and has actively participated in both leadership and working level activities at both the local and global level. Microsoft has also been a sponsor of several MMA initiatives such as the 2006 CTIA MMA Billboard Event, Mobile Search Consumer Insights Research Report, MMA Board Meetings, Mobile Marketing Guide, etc. Mobile Marketing and Digital Advertising Solutions are a significant focus for Microsoft and the company is participating in the MMA to help grow the overall industry in a responsible manner. In addition, Microsoft has leadership positions on other industry organizations such as the CTIA and GSMA and can help to bridge the MMA work into these synergistic initiatives.
Microsoft is pleased to put forward Matt's candidacy for the MMA board and believes that Matt's strong mobile experience coupled with Microsoft's commitment to the mobile industry will be invaluable to growing the MMA over the next year.
Michael Bayle, GM, Global Mobile Monetization, Yahoo! (Suunyvale, CA)
I am the GM of monetization for Yahoo! Connected Life. Specifically, I am responsible for leading the global monetization strategy for Connected Life products, includingMobile, PC Desktop clients, and TV.
Throughout my career, I have been attracted to burgeoning technologies and trends. While attending Stanford University in the early 90's, I taught myself web programming before there were HTML manuals on the market, there was only one browser, and just 300 web sites up worldwide.
After obtaining a BA degree in Japanese and a MS in Computer Science, I began my career as Director of Business Development at IDG, creating one of the Internet's first affiliate programs, joining the founding team of The Web Magazine, and managing the business relationships for the inaugural Webby Awards. With this advertising experience, I joined as one of the earliest employees at LinkExchange before the company was acquired by Microsoft in 1998, after I helped the company to amass the largest reach of any internet advertising network in the US. At Microsoft, I looked after International Business Development for our advertising solutions and negotiated several partnerships with large OEMs, telecommunications companies, and leading portals in overseas markets to distribute the bCentral brand and product offerings.
Yahoo! first launched mobile extensions of the company's leading services in 1999 and today, through more than 50 global partnerships with mobile operators and device manufacturers worldwide, offers a variety of mobile services to consumers via SMS, the mobile web, as well as applications such as Yahoo! Go.
Yahoo began leveraging its web strengths in search advertising for mobile in 2004 when it launched the world's first mobile sponsored search product in Japan followed by the launch of its mobile graphical advertising program in October this year.
On a personal level, while Yahoo! has been a member of the MMA since shortly after the organization's inception, I have recently become involved on a formal level. However, I have been actively involved within the industry since developing our mobile business strategy in my prior position within Yahoo!'s search marketing group and drove our mobile sponsored search launch in Japan with Microsoft and Yahoo! Japan as our initial partners. An entrepreneur at heart and having worked at a couple of start-ups myself, I continued to develop this year partnerships with smaller firms who are experts in the mobile industry including go2 and Bango. One of the first responsibilities in my new role is developing the advertising partnership with Vodafone UK. Finally, this past year, I have represented Yahoo! in close to a dozen speaking events to express our ideas and thoughts on the best way to incubate mobile advertising opportunities, including most recently at the annual MMA meeting this past month in Los Angeles.
Irrespective of my potential election to the MMA Board, my commitment will remain in 2007 to actively participate in the association to continue to evangelize the opportunities uniquely available to the mobile medium, while leveraging the best practices of advertising industry as it exists today.
Michael Becker, EVP, Business Development, iLoop Mobile (San Jose, CA)
I am an active member of the MMA community and the mobile industry and I would like to nominate myself for the 2007 MMA Board of Directors (BOD).
I have been a contributing member of the MMA since August of 2004, and during this time have been very involved with the MMA. I sat on the 2005 MMA Board of Directions and wrote four (4) articles for the MMA Messenger Newsletter, one of which was translated and published in China. In 2006 I participated on a number of committees, including the Metrics committee, Off Portal Content committee, and Privacy and Preferences task force, as well as founded and currently chair the MMA Academic Outreach Committee (AOC). In 2006 the AOC founded and published the world's first academic journal focused on mobile marketing, the International Journal of Mobile Marketing (IJMM). In 2006 two issues of the IJMM were published, consisting of 21 articles, 200+ pages. The AOC contributed nine (9) articles to the MMA Messenger Newsletter (eight (8) of which I wrote) and produced the MMA Industry Review publication. AOC Plans for 2007 include continuing with all its current activities as well as launching an academic membership and recruitment program, outlining a scholarship/grant program, creating a MMA Certified Marketer Program, developing a mobile marketing research citations database initiative, and related activities. A requirement for participation on the 2007 MMA Board of Directors is to be a leader within the MMA community, and I believe that I’ve demonstrated that I am. I am committed to supporting the MMA and will continue to participate on various committees, attend events, and Co-chair the AOC, along with sitting on the board when voted in.
In addition to my activities with the MMA, I am actively involved with the industry on both commercial and academic fronts and have been professional focused on the mobile industry for the last 10 years. On the industry front, I am the Executive Vice President of Business Development for iLoop Mobile, a leading mobile marketing and campaign management software solutions and services provider. iLoop Mobile is bringing new technology and business models to the forefront of the industry, and endorses the efforts of the MMA through its support of my Board of Directors candidacy and its employees’ participation on various MMA committees. On the academic front, I am pursuing a Doctorate of Business Administration at Golden Gate University, and am focusing my research on the emergence of the mobile channel in the United States and its numerous uses for marketing. Much of my academic research makes its way into the MMA AOC publications.
I am uniquely qualified to site on the 2007 MMA Board of Directors. My extensive industry, academic and MMA knowledge affords me the opportunity to make a unique contrition to the MMA's global growth and success. I would like to thank the MMA and its membership for their consideration of my BOD candidacy.
Michael Kurtzman, Managing Director, Sybase 365 (Seattle, WA)
Sybase 365 (formerly Mobile365) is the worldwide leader in mobile messaging carrying over 3.5 billion messages each month. With operations in all aspects of messaging including marketing, premium content, and intercarrier, Sybase 365 has a market leading infrastructure. We bring together world-class solutions and an unrivaled global network, giving customers a direct delivery channel to nearly any mobile device on any carrier, anywhere in the world. The result for our customers is unlimited potential.
No other mobile marketing company has both the creative experience and the technical expertise to help customers connect with their audiences. From global campaigns to boutique campaigns, our portfolio offers innovative resources including: Application Management, Content Management, Reporting and Analytics, Global Billing and Settlement, Global Reach.
MichaelKurtzman is the Managing Director for Sybase 365's Application Messaging business which includes all mobile marketing and content groups. His ten years of telecommunications experience span carrier, equipment manufacturer and the past five years in mobile messaging, marketing, content, and aggregation. Mr. Kurtzman came to Sybase 365's predecessor ,Inphomatch, to launch the marketing and content business. With his leadership the company became Mobile 365 through a merger in 2004 with Mobileway, the European leader in mobile marketing applications and content delivery.
Mr. Kurtzman currently leads the business development group including specialized market groups in Brands and Agencies, Media and Entertainment, Sports, Financial Services and Mobile Content. His team has successfully launched some of the largest mobile marketing programs including last summer's McDonald's / Pirates of the Caribbean program.
Mr. Kurtzman has been an active member in the MMA for over two years, on the Board in 2005, and currently serves on the Consumer Best Practices Committee. Two members of his team also serve on MMA committees.
As a 2007 Board Member it would be my top priority to drive all activity towards greater consumer acceptance of mobile marketing efforts. The guidelines we influence are done so with several factors in mind, consumer protection being at the top of the list. It is our duty to ensure the protection of the consumer, but to also help the companies in the Mobile Marketing industry thrive and continue to make Mobile the media of choice in the next decade. Because I have had exposure to and influence on a wide array of associated programs and participating companies, I am in a position to help guide the direction of the Mobile Marketing association. Furthermore, I have been involved in creating and marketing both B2B and consumer products that have adhered to and contributed to the MMA guidelines. As liaison to both Carriers and Content/Application providers, aggregators are often required to be advocates for both sides in an effort to address and protect our largest asset, the subscriber.
I graciously ask for your vote to the MMA Board of Directors and wish to convey my most sincere desire to continue the endeavor we are all engaged in and make this business what we have all hoped and predicted it will become.
Mitch Feinman, SVP, Fox Mobile Entertainment (Los Angeles, CA)
I am the SVP for Fox Mobile Entertainment, a leading provider of mobile content for wireless carriers and consumers. In my position, I am responsible for identifying and creating new distribution channels for Fox Mobile Entertainment's content worldwide. I have been a member of the Mobile Marketing Association since November 2005, and was soon thereafter elected to the executive committee for the board of directors. Most recently, I served as moderator for the Annual General Meeting of the Mobile Marketing Association, as well as served on a variety of MMA Panels.
Also during this fall, we announced a joint venture with VeriSign and News Corporation to control the German-based direct-to-consumer portal, Jamba. The new Jamba will offer the world's widest aggregation of content from music and media companies, as well as original content created exclusively for mobile. We expect to draw from not only top Fox divisions but also News Corp companies around the world.
Within the MMA, I hope to drive mobile advertising initiatives as well as represent the interests of content providers (Fox/NewsCorp) and mobile distribution platforms (Jamba).
Neil Edwards, CEO, dotMobi (Mobile Top Level Domain, Ltd) (Dublin, Ireland)
Neil Edwards joined dotMobi in August 2005 and became a member of the MMA soon afterwards. He was formerly a managing director of Xian Group, providing business acceleration services to start-up companies in the wireless search and security areas with a focus on the highly innovative Asian markets.
Neil's mission for dotMobi is to bridge the divide between the mobile and Internet worlds by making the Internet mobile via the .mobi domain as well as the style guides and open but enforceable standards behind the domain.
The .mobi domain is the first and only top-level domain approved by ICANN for accessing Internet sites and applications on mobile phones. The .mobi domain is the accelerator for bringing data content to mobile phones across practically all handsets and operatorsand across the globe.
Within months of the company's launch, dotMobi generated more than $10M in sales and registered more than 300,000 domain names in 104 countries, proving the global desire for mobile-based Internet access and content.
dotMobi has participated actively in the MMA on both the Mobile Search and Off-portal committees and has also been active within other industry associations such as the GSM Association, the MEF and the CTIA.
Neil and other members of the dotMobi team have spoken at more than a two dozen conferences around the world over the past year to discuss the future of mobile phones, mobile content and mobile search. Some of these events include 3GSM World Congress (Barcelona), Digital Hollywood Spring (Los Angeles), Mobile Entertainment Market (London), Mobile Marketing Forum (New York), Pay as You Go Mobile Summit (Dallas), 3GSM Congress Asia (Singapore), Mobile 2.0 (San Francisco), W3C Mobile Web Seminar (Paris) and Digital Hollywood Europe (London).
As a joint venture company, dotMobi represents 13 major organizations who cross the complete mobility industry spectrum and who are active in mobile marketing initiatives. That means dotMobi's Neil Edwards represent a strong group of industry influencers whose collective voices will add a dynamic presence to the MMA Board of Directors.
Nihal Mehta, CEO/Co-founder, ipsh! (San Francisco, CA)
Nihal Mehta, co-founder and CEO of ipsh!, has been an active member of the MAM since 2002 and has been educating audiences on the power and potential of mobile marketing worldwide for over five years. Ipsh! Is a regular contributor to the MMA Messenger newsletter, a number of ipsh! Campaigns can be found as case studies on the MMA website. Nihal is regular fixture at MMA-sponsored conferences and panels and ipsh! Campaigns have been selected as both finalists and award-winners in the prestigious MMA awards competition. As a passionate and dedicated leader within the mobile community, Nihal would be an excellent addition to the MMA Board of Directors.
As co-founder of Urban Groove Networks, Inc., in 1998, Mehta helped the company to grow into one of the largest network of youth-oriented, independent city guides online. Mehta spun out a new company from UGN in 2001 to pursue what we felt was an emerging sector: youth interaction through SMS (short messages). This venture evolved into ipsh! and was originally created as a service that allowed event managers to selectively summon individuals based on their preferences, location and area code. This service quickly achieved cult-status, and was widely recognized as an effective marketing tool to mobilize youths and alert them to events that occurred after the official closing of traditional establishments such as concert halls, bars and nightclubs.
Today, ipsh! Maintains as strong standing as the U.S. leader in mobile marketing with more than 500 total campaigns, implemented across over 150 unique clients since inception in June 2001. Ranging in brands from Madonna to Budweiser, the firm has transformed lifestyle marketing through offline/online youth events into a multi-million dollar, full-service mobile marketing agency. Mehta grew the company from his bedroom to over 30 employees today, and sold the cutting edge mobile marketing agency to Omnicom Group, Inc tin October 2005. Nihal remains today the CEO of ipsh! and one of the youngest CEOs within Omnicom Group, Inc.
Sought for his expert insight into the developing interaction between the youth culture and marketers, Mehta's work has earned him distinction as one of AdAge's Top Twenty Marketers in their 20s as well as profiles in The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Financial Times, and Tech-TV, among others. Mehta frequently speaks at numerous marketing and advertising conferences, such as Ad-Tech, CTIA, 3GSM (Barcelona), Billboard's MECCA, Kellogg's School of Business and Future-M at UC Berkley. In April 2006, Mehta was awarded the National Association of Minority Media Executive’ (NAMME) Catalyst Award for New Media, which recognizes and encourages the contributions of individuals whose actions and leadership have advanced diversity in the media industry. Nihal and the ipsh! team have worked with some of the world's most well-known brands, including Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Brothers, Kelloggs, Elizabeth Arden, Bertelsmann, EMI, and HBO. A graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, Mehta obtained an honors BA in Philosophy of Science and a BS in Computer Science and Engineering.
Rob Lawson, President, Limbo 41414 (Burlingame, CA)
I would like to be considered as a Board Member for the MMA for a number of reasons:
Ø I have helped to shape the history of the mobile industry for over six years in various capacities and wish to continue to contribute to its future.
Ø With Enpocket and now Limbo 41414, I have amassed a great deal of consumer data and experience that can be leveraged in order to help guide a consumer-focused mobile industry.
Ø I, and, and my company, have a vested interest in developing a vibrant, well-respected mobile community.
Ø And, I have been an active MMA member for a number of years in various capacities: <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
- Board member of the UK MMA in 2003
- Research committee lead in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />UK, 2002 onwards
- Currently member of the promotions committee (USA)
- Contributor to the best practices forum (USA)
- Helped write the UK best practices document (2003)
Biography
Rob Lawson, President & Co-Founder of Limbo 41414, has been an active member of the MMA since 2002 when he joined in London. Limbo 41414 is his third mobile start up venture, a reality that has placed him at the forefront of the industry's rapid, global evolution.
In his current role, Rob spends his days trying to ensure that Limbo 41414 has a superlative user experience. In that effort, he is responsible for products, programs, member care and research. Rob also handles the company's growing network of carrier relationships and is an active contributor to Limbo 41414's marketing and promotional efforts, spawning original concepts such as Tickle-Me-Tuesdays at an alarming rate.
Before Limbo 41414, Rob was a co-founder of Enpocket, a global mobile marketing firm and long-standing MMA member, which represented brand name clients such as Coke, Mcdonalds, Vodafone and Sprint. There, Rob was most recently responsible for the U.S. operations and for the development of Enpocket's data and research services, where he worked with broadcasters, operators, advertisers and agencies to understand how and why mobile marketing works for their brands, and how it could be improved.
Previously Rob was European Research Director for Engage from 1999 to 2001 - managing & selling the Adknowledge product across Europe. Prior to Engage, Rob was Director of Internet Research at NOP, where he pioneered the use of online interviewing in the UK and Europe. Many moons ago, Rob also worked in automotive engineering, retail design and video research.
Company Highlights
Limbo 41414 (www.41414.com) is defining a new category of mobile entertainment with its text-message based game play. The company brings consumers an engaging community-driven entertainment gaming experience while delivering exposure to leading brands and media companies through branded prizes. Headquartered in Burlingame, California, Limbo 41414 is a private corporation backed by two of the world's top Venture Capital funds: Azure Capital Partners (www.azurecap.com) and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (www.dfj.com).
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to working with you.
Robert Wesley, President & CEO, MobileLime (Waterton, MA)
Robert Wesley is the President and Chief Executive Officer of MobileLime., With more than twenty five years of experience developing and delivering marketing, financial, and travel related services to businesses and consumers worldwide, he is widely considered a thought leader in the mobile loyalty and payment arena.
Bob has been fulfilling MobileLime's mission- to integrate the mobile channel into the fabric of the shopping experience- since 2003, allowing merchants to build strong, one-to-one customer relationships ultimately increasing loyalty, frequency and sales.
As CEO, Bob has guided MobileLime to numerous industry awards including the CTIA 2006 Emerging Technology Award, the 2005 Global Retail Technology Award for Best In-Store Innovation, 2006 Global Electronic Marketing Award and the 2006 Innovation Award from the Global Mobile Marketing Association. He has also spoken on behalf of the company and the industry at events such as the Mobile Marketing Forum, AdTech, CIO Showcase, Intele-Card Expo and CardTech.
Before joining MobileLime, Bob held various senior management positions at American Express, MasterCard International and Cendant Direct Response Group. He has also authored a number of articles on Smart Cards and is a frequent speaker at financial industry events. Bob holds an MBA with honors from Boston University, as well as a BS with honors in Accounting from Boston College where he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honors society.
Under Bob's direction, MobileLime has been an active member of the Mobile Marketing Association since 2005. He has spoken at the Mobile Marketing Forum, accepted MobileLime's 2005 MMA Award for Innovation, and more.
Bob has served on a number of boards and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Smart Card Forum. His breadth and depth of leadership experience in the financial services and direct response marketing arenas would lend a unique and valuable perspective to the MMA board and its membership.
Russell Kern, Director of Business Development, Dennis Digital (New York, NY)
Russell is an accomplished business development and marketing executive with over 16 years professional experience. His career spans positions in traditional advertising (BBDO), direct marketing, as well as interactive marketing (Poppe Tyson, NowMarketing, and Viewpoint).
As the leader of Dennis Digital's mobile marketing efforts, Russell is responsible for overseeing advertiser-funded mobile programs as well as Maxim-branded mobile programs. These programs range from advertiser SMS promotions featured in Maxim magazine to mobile commerce programs driving the sale of product featured as part of in-book editorial, as well as advertiser sponsored mobile content. Further, Russell oversees the growth and development of Maxim's recently launched off-deck mobile web site, http://mobile.maxim.com, as well as Maxim's on-deck content sales in conjunction with fellow MMA member company Airborne Entertainment.
As a member of the MMA since April 2006, Russell has been committed in helping to shape the growth of marketing on the mobile web. He is an active member of the MMA's Mobile Video and Off-Portal committees, as well as the IAB's newly formed Mobile Committee. Earlier in his career, Russell was a charter member of the Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM) Wireless Marketing Council and negotiated abbreviated dialing license agreements with the (then) leading US carriers (AT&T, Cingular, Sprint and Verizon) for the breakthrough NowCode mobile marketing service.
Russell should be strongly considered for a Board of Directors position with the MMA as he is a natural leader, an individual that is committed to getting things done, and an industry professional that is well-respected by his peers. His vision and direction led to Dennis Digital's ability to secure integrated mobile advertising programs from leading brand advertisers such as Burger King, Kraft, Jeep, Pontiac, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Axe, Gillette and others. Further, his efforts to promote Maxim Mobile and mobile marketing in general through the trade press (advertising and mobile) have garnered significant recognition.
Sibyl Masquelier, President, Executive Resource Group, Inc./ mediahunter.com (Elizabeth, ME)
Sibyl has been in the executive search field for various newspaper, broadcast and online media over the course of the last thirty years. Early in 2006, she decided to expand her company's reach into the Mobile industry's delivery of content. She joined the MMA in May, 2006 and was immediately assigned to the Video and Television Committee where she helped with the Advertising Agency Contact List (which was turned over to the M:Metrics study). She attended both the Spring and Fall Annual meetings of MMA and was a sponsor of both the Fall meeting and the Ad Agency M:Metrics research study. She should be considered for the BoD position because she has demonstrated a sincere interest in the industry and is eager to contribute her expertise, time and money to further the goals of the Mobile Marketing Association and its member companies.
Soren Schafft, CEO, Qmobile, Inc. (Reston, VA)
Soren Schafft has over fifteen years international mobile experience. He spent his early career in Eastern Europe as a management consultant at KPMG (now Bearing Point) working with companies transitioning to western economies and as a director at a start up GSM carrier Pannon GSM. In the United States, Soren has developed corporate investment strategy as well as developed enterprise and consumer wireless data solutions for the Norwegian carrier Telenor and Telenor owned companies.
In 2002, Soren co-founded Telenor Mobile Interactive (later called Mobile Media North America), the first inter-carrier, premium SMS service provider and aggregator in the United States. Soren launched the first iTV program, the first chat service, the first alert service, the first live text to screen service, and sent the first premium sms message in the US. Soren has managed numerous mobile campaigns with leading media groups such as NewsCorp, Disney, ABC, Sony BMG, NBC, Telemundo, The Weather Channel, Fuse, and Hearst, as well as, with carriers such as Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, T Mobile, and Alltel. In March 2006, Soren helped facilitate the sale of Mobile Media to and afterwards served as the General Manager of SinglePoint (Wireless Services Corporation).
In October 2006, Soren became the CEO of Qmobile a prominent US mobile entertainment company. Qmobile focuses on mobile programming and multimedia production, original creative and content creation, innovative co-branding and mobile branding, as well as, distribution across radio, print, web, television and carrier deck.
Soren has been an active participant of the MMA since March 2005. He served as a Board member in 2005 and 2006. He was an original member and continues to be a leading participant in the development of the MMA's Consumer Best Practice Guidelines. Soren further supports MMA events and publications as a speaker, contributor and service provider.
Reasons candidate should be considered:
Ø Relevant experience: As an aggregator and leader in the development of off-net services, Soren has a broad range or first hand experience on all of the core issues being addressed by the MMA. Soren has also worked at a carrier and currently is the CEO of a content provider enabling an in depth understanding of multiple areas of the eco-system.
Ø Active participation: Soren has been an active participant at the Board, Committee and event levels helping the MMA grow into a larger and more effective organization.
Ø Peer validation: Soren is the only Board member voted in as an individual (2006) based upon the recommendation of the Executive Committee and vote of the full Board.
Steve Leonard, General Manager, Motricity Off-Deck (Durham, NE)
As General Manager, Motricity Off-Deck, Steve Leonard drives Motricity's off-deck strategy and operations. Under his management, Motricity's Off-Deck division, formerly known as GoldPocket Wireless quickly became a market leader in mobile marketing content creation and delivery. Leonard established GoldPocket Wireless' direct connections and billing integrations with all the major wireless carriers and oversaw the development of the company's turnkey and scalable technology platform for the creation, management and delivery of mobile content. Leonard currently serves as chair of the MMA Off-Portal Special Interest Group and has championed greater involvement with MMA across the company, leading to committee participation from many other members of the Motricity team.
A pioneer in the wireless industry, Leonard has a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing all stakeholders in the mobile content value chain — from media companies and content producers to wireless carriers. Named as one of "The Top 30 Most Important People in the Mobile Content Industry" by Mobile Entertainment magazine, he has been instrumental in developing and delivering mobile product offerings and compelling revenue models for leading media and entertainment companies, including: CBS, NBC, TV Guide, CNN, Bennett Productions, The WB, VH-1, GSN, Food Network, Speed Channel, Fuse, TBS, Showtime, SciFi and Court TV.
Tim Solt, Senior VP Sales, go2 (Irvine, CA)
With mobile phones being such an important part of many consumers’ lives, it is no surprise that mobile searching is growing in popularity and use at an extremely rapid rate. go2 has been a leading provider of local search and mobile content since 1999. As the originator and licensee of several patents covering various aspects of Location Based Services (LBS) go2 has been key player in the development of mobile search. In a recent report by M:Metrics, go2 was ranked fifth of all search companies including Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL Mobile.
go2 has more than a million page views per month, with many users utilizing the service several times a week on average. go2 not only provides mobile search services, but also is the creator of much of the content found in the go2 network of mobile sites.
go2 has been an active member of the MMA since September of 2005 with go2 representatives serving as speakers, panelists and moderators at various industry events.
As senior vice president of sales for go2, Tim Solt has been a fundamental factor in the expansion of go2 services and the mobile search industry. With over two decades of experience at diverse senior level positions at major direct marketing and consumer brand organizations Solt has strived to increase the adoption and expansion of mobile marketing programs. With the aid of Solt, go2 will continue to provide improved mobile search services to consumers focusing on the ultimate consumer experience.
Solt is responsible for developing, analyzing and executing the strategic plan and tactics related to the media division of go2, including the sales, marketing, development and management of reseller relationships and day-to-day business operations. He is responsible for the achievement of revenue targets in the division and for building an organization consistent with corporate guidelines and principles. Additionally, he is involved in leading the development of growth initiatives such as strategic partnerships and new business opportunities.
Solt has over 20 years of industry knowledge and CPG, direct marketing, CRM and emerging-technology experience. Solt's background includes senior-level sales management and business development roles at SkyGo, Vertis, Valassis Communications, Videocart and SmithKline Beecham. Most recently, Solt served as both strategic sales and marketing consultant and in senior executive capacities for a number of emerging marketing technology companies, including Direct Response Technologies, Adversoft and SoftCoin. Solt served on the Board of Directors of Adversoft, Inc., and is on the Board of Advisers of Flashbid.
Solt has actively been a member of the MMA since 2000. He has served as an MMA member representative and board member at previous positions with SkyGo and Adversoft and is currently on the Mobile Marketing Strategies & Best Practices Committee. Solt has also served on the