Richard J. Bressler 
Managing Director 
THL

Richard J. Bressler is a Managing Director at THL. Prior to joining THL, Mr. Bressler was the Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Viacom Inc. from May 2001 through 2005, with responsibility for managing all strategic, financial, business development and technology functions. Prior to that, Mr. Bressler served in various capacities with Time Warner Inc., including as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner Digital Media. He also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Time Warner Inc . from March 1995 to June 1999. Prior to joining Time Inc. in 1988, Mr. Bressler was a partner with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young since 1979.

Mr. Bressler is currently a Director of Clear Channel Communications, Inc., Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE:WMG), Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) and The Nielsen Company.

In addition Mr. Bressler is a Board Observer at Univision Communications, Inc., and a member of J.P. Morgan Chase National Advisory Board. Mr. Bressler holds a B.B.A. from Adelphi University.

 

Greg Clayman
EVP, Digital Distribution & Business Development 
MTV Networks

Greg Clayman is Executive Vice President of Digital Distribution & Business Development for MTV Networks (MTVN). In his role, Clayman manages digital business across MTV Networks, working closely with its channels to develop new opportunities for distribution of digital content and manage strategic digital partnerships. Based in the company’s New York City headquarters, Clayman reports to MTVN COO Rich Eigendorff.

Clayman also oversees the MTVN Mobile Media group, supporting the company’s brands in developing and distributing a wide portfolio of mobile content and applications. Additionally, Clayman works with MTVN’s International division on global partnerships and distribution strategy.

Previously, Clayman served as Senior Vice President, MTVN Mobile Media, managing mobile partnerships and content distribution for the company. Prior to joining MTVN, Clayman co-founded Upoc Networks and served as its Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Business Development. Before Upoc, Clayman served as Vice President of Brand Strategy at the Sterling Group in New York City. At Sterling, Clayman led brand strategy projects for a number of media, entertainment and retail companies including MTV Networks, Liberty Digital, and Levi's. 

Clayman graduated cum laude from Harvard College.

About MTV Networks
MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

 

Hythem El-Nazer
Principal
TA Associates

Hythem T. El-Nazer is a Principal at TA Associates, a $16 billion growth private equity and buyout firm based in Boston. At TA, Mr. El-Nazer helps to lead TA's telecommunications investing efforts. He is a member of the Board of Directors of eSecLending, Radialpoint, TEOCO, Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. and Weather Investments S.p.A. He was actively involved in TA’s investments in MetroPCS Communications and Idea Cellular. Prior to joining TA in 2004, he worked in the U.S. and the Middle East offices of McKinsey & Company and the Investment Banking Department of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. 

Hythem received a General Course degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an AB degree in Economics from Brown University and an MBA degree from Columbia Business School. He is also a Board Member of Endeavor Egypt.

 

Andrew Frey
Managing Principal
Quadrangle Group

Andrew Frey joined Quadrangle Group LLC in 2002 and is a Managing Principal focused on the firm’s private equity business. Mr. Frey currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Get AS and Mail.com Media Corporation, is actively involved with the firm’s investments in Grupo Corporativo Ono and was closely involved with Cinemark and Global Energy’s build-up strategy and ultimate sale. Mr. Frey focuses on a broad range of new media, telecommunications and entertainment sectors. Prior to joining Quadrangle, Mr. Frey worked for The Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group and Lehman Brothers. Mr. Frey graduated with a B.S., magna cum laude, in economics from Wharton and a B.A.S. in applied science engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Kevin J. Martin
Partner and Co-chair 
Patton Boggs’ Technology and Communications Practice

(Former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission)

Kevin Martin is a former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and co-chair of Patton Boggs’ technology and communications practice. Mr. Martin has nearly two decades experience as a lawyer and policymaker in the telecommunications field, including his tenure as FCC Chairman from March 2005 to January 2009 when the industry was undergoing a period of unprecedented growth and innovation. Using his vast knowledge of the telecommunications industry, Mr. Martin helps clients take advantage of wireless and broadband opportunities, counseling businesses on their strategic business initiatives and the nuances of FCC regulations and communications policies.

While Mr. Martin was FCC Chairman, the Commission created a regulatory environment that encouraged infrastructure investment and broadband competition, leading to greater coverage and decreased prices for Americans. The number of broadband lines in the country doubled to more that 100 million. Under Mr. Martin’s leadership, the FCC conducted the two most successful and profitable spectrum auctions in U.S. history, raising almost $20 billion in 2008 alone. Mr. Martin also spearheaded the FCC’s initiative to dedicate more than $400 million to the construction of broadband networks for state-wide and regional health care networks reaching more than 6,000 health care facilities.

As FCC Chairman, Mr. Martin also represented the U.S. in dozens of bilateral negotiations and addressed numerous international conferences as a global leader on telecommunications and technology policy. Before joining the FCC as a Commissioner in 2001, Mr. Martin was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and served on the staff of the National Economic Council, focusing on commerce and technology policy issues. He served as the official U.S. government representative to the G-8’s Digital Opportunity Task Force. Mr. Martin was Deputy General Counsel on the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential campaign and also previously served as a counsel to a Commissioner at the FCC.

 

David Messenger 
Chief Administrative & Corporate Development Officer, Virgin Mobile USA
and 
SVP, Sprint Prepaid Group

David Messenger joined Virgin Mobile USA in July of 2005 as chief people officer, responsible for attracting, retaining and engaging the best talent for the company. He manages all human resources capabilities including recruitment, compensation, organizational design, leadership development and workplace culture and benefits. More recently, Messenger played a key role in developing the deals for several Virgin Mobile milestones including its 2007 IPO, its 2008 acquisition of Helio, and the recent acquisition of VMU by Sprint in 2009.

Prior to joining Virgin Mobile, Messenger served as senior vice president of human resources for Take-Two Interactive Inc. in New York City. Messenger also worked at Towers Perrin as principal and practice leader, responsible for the change management practice in the East and Central regions, and at PricewaterhouseCoopers as a principal consultant, leading the HR team in the Entertainment, Media and Communication practice. He was educated at University of Wales College Cardiff and Robinson College Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

 

Martin Nisenholtz
Sr. VP, Digital Operations
The New York Times Company

Martin Nisenholtz was named senior vice president, digital operations for The New York Times Company in February 2005. He is responsible for the strategy development, operations and management of The New York Times Company's digital properties.

In 1995, Martin founded nytimes.com, today the world’s largest newspaper web site.

From 1983-1994 Martin was with Ogilvy & Mather, where he started the Interactive Marketing Group, the first unit at a major U.S. agency devoted to interactive communication.

Mr. Nisenholtz is an active leader in the advertising and publishing industry and participates in the following organizations:

• Founder and Executive Committee Member, Online Publishers Association (OPA)
• Board member and Executive Committee Member, Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
• Board Member, Ad Council

Mr. Nisenholtz is a Trustee of Yellow Pages Income Fund and YPG Trust and also serves on the Board of Directors of YPG General Partner Inc.

Martin holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Prem Parameswaran
Managing Director and 
Americas Head of Telecom, Global Telecommunications & Media Group
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.

Prem Parameswaran is a Managing Director in the Global Telecommunications and Media Group in the Investment Banking Division at Deutsche Bank. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Parameswaran was with Goldman Sachs where he was a Vice President and Head of the Integrated Communications Provider Sector in the Investment Banking Division.

Mr. Parameswaran has now been advising clients in the global telecommunications and media sector for over 17 years including mergers and acquisitions, privatizations and public and private equity and debt financings. He has executed over 100 transactions and has played a leading role in selected assignments for AT&T, SBC Communications, Verizon, Global Crossing, Paetec, VSNL (India), Reliance Globalcom, Clearwire, RCN, Cbeyond, NuVox, Grande, McLeodUSA, Vonage, Time Warner Telecom, US LEC, Qwest, KPNQwest, Sabre, and others. In addition, he recently advised John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino in their acquisition of the Boston Red Sox. Prior to investment banking, he played a season of professional ice hockey in Europe.

Mr. Parameswaran received a B.A. from Columbia University and an MBA with Honors from Columbia Business School. Mr. Parameswaran has recently established the Prem Parameswaran Family Scholarship at Columbia Business School. He resides in Purchase, NY with his wonderful wife, Charity and their two beautiful daughters, Trinity and Kayla.

 

Harry Patz
Vice President, Communications Sector North America
Microsoft Corporation

Harry Patz, Jr. is the Vice-President of Microsoft’s Communications Sector North America Region. Patz is responsible for sales, marketing, business development, and consulting and support services for all customer segments within North America. This includes relationships and partnerships with key players in the media & entertainment industries such as broadcast, film, advertising and publishing and in the communications service provider industries such as wireline and wireless telecommunications, cable, and related equipment and internet services.

Approaching 17 years of service at Microsoft, Patz has held various sales and management positions for the reseller, end user, and corporate segments. As a sales manager in the New York/New Jersey district, his teams managed the sales relationships for the Big 6 Consulting firms. Patz and his teams have won numerous awards including District/Vertical of the Year in 1998 and 2001. Patz has spent the past 8 years within the Microsoft Communications Sector and its precursors.

 

Julie Richardson
Managing Director
Providence Equity Partners

Julie Richardson is a Managing Director of Providence and leads the firm's New York office. Ms. Richardson is currently a director of Altegrity, Open Solutions, Stream Global Solutions and SunGard Data Systems. Prior to joining Providence in 2003, Ms. Richardson served as Vice Chairman of J.P. Morgan’s investment banking division and Chairman of the firm’s telecom, media and technology group. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 1998, Ms. Richardson was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, where she spent over 11 years. She received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and spent a year studying finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ms. Richardson serves on the executive committee of the board of directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York.

 

Jennifer L. Richter 
Co-Chair, Public Policy Department Co-Chair, Technology and Communications Group 
Patton Boggs

Jennifer Richter Co-Chairs the Public Policy Department at Patton Boggs, and Co-Chairs the Technology and Communications practice group at the firm. She brings years of in-depth experience in the communications field to her clients in the industry. In addition to an impressive record representing prominent wireless carriers, she possesses an insider’s knowledge of the business, gained while serving as the vice president and general counsel of a wireless communications company she helped build from its formation to its ultimate sale to Sprint Corporation in 1999. She is recognized for exceptional depth in wireless broadband spectrum transactions and wireless regulation.

As a partner at Patton Boggs, Ms. Richter represents a variety of communications and technology companies in regulatory, transactional, policy, and general corporate matters. Her practice includes leading negotiations and diligence on a wide range of communications and technology transactions. Ms. Richter also is active in representing clients in broadband stimulus matters, helping clients to understand the available stimulus and federal funding programs, how to apply for funding, and how to observe all necessary compliance regulations.

Ms. Richter represents clients before the Federal Communications Commission, the Rural Utilities Service through the Department of Agriculture, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration through the Department of Commerce, the Universal Service Administrative Company – Schools and Libraries Division, and Congress. Her clients span the communications and technology sector and include investors in the communications industry, wireless broadband carriers, device manufacturers, spectrum licensees, content companies, real estate developers, service providers in the E-rate program, cable companies/MVPDs, broadcasters, CLECs/DLECs, data centers, and fiber optic companies.

 

Rob Rosenberg
Partner
New Venture Partners LLC

Robert Rosenberg, Partner, was a founder of New Venture Partners and has been a member of the core team since 1998. His work involves identifying technology which could form the basis for a successful entrepreneurial venture, shaping the business model, developing the business plan, structuring the new entity, managing the transfer of technology and human resources, recruiting senior executives, launching the venture, raising outside capital, building value in the company, and ultimately exiting the investment. Rob focuses on software and systems startups.

Previously, Rob was a manager with The Boston Consulting Group, where he worked with leading global technology and communications companies to devise new product introductions and distribution strategies; a product manager with a networking software and equipment startup; and an analyst with Citicorp Venture Capital and Salomon Brothers Venture Capital where he worked on early stage investments including Iris Graphics (acquired by Scitex) and Proxima (acquired by InFocus).

Rob is currently a director of Real Time Content and TimeSight Systems and was previously a director of Liquavista B.V., SavaJe Technologies (acquired by Sun Microsystems), Vidus Limited (acquired by @Road), and Vita Nuova Holding, Ltd., and an observer of Internet Photonics, Inc. (acquired by Ciena).

He holds a BA, magna cum laude, in Computer Science and Psychology from Yale College and an MBA from Harvard University, where he was a Baker Scholar. He has one patent pending.

New Venture Partners, the global venture capital firm dedicated to corporate technology spin-outs, has over $700 million under management. New Venture Partners provides a bridge between technology corporations and traditional venture capital. Starting in 1997 as Lucent Technologies New Ventures Group and operating as an independent firm since 2001, the New Venture Partners team has launched dozens of companies built upon innovations from Bell Labs, British Telecom, Philips, and other major technology companies.

 

Ira Rubenstein 
Executive Vice President, Global Digital Media Group 
Marvel Entertainment

Ira Rubenstein, Executive Vice President, Global Digital Media: Ira Rubenstein has built a career on identifying and implementing new marketing and distribution opportunities for entertainment across a wide array of platforms. In his role at Marvel Rubenstein is responsible for the company’s Global digital strategy and implementation for all of Marvel’s properties across digital and games channels. Prior to Marvel, Rubenstein spent 12 years with Sony, most recently as executive vice president of Sony Pictures Digital where he was responsible for overseeing the division’s production efforts to extend Sony Pictures properties into the digital marketplace through SonyPictures.com, mobile games and personalization products, casual games, and innovative strategic partnerships. Rubenstein managed the digital growth of the studio’s most important brands including Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! - leading the expansion of these properties into broadband, interactive television, mobile, and the PSP and PS3 platforms. In addition, Rubenstein oversaw production for all Sony Pictures properties breaking into the growing mobile marketplace, developing an array of successful mobile entertainment offerings including the award-winning Spider-Man 2: The Hero Returns and Ratchet and Clank: Going Mobile, as well as the first Movies for Mobile Phones on Memory Cards. Also during his tenure at Sony, Rubenstein oversaw the establishment of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment’s on-demand movie initiative, Movielink, to offer theatrically released motion pictures via digital delivery for broadband Internet users. Before the establishment of Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment, Rubenstein was vice president, marketing, Columbia TriStar Interactive. In this role, he managed the strategic implementation of media planning, promotional and creative advertising campaigns for more than 100 film sites. Before joining Columbia TriStar Interactive, Rubenstein worked in film research and new media for Twentieth Century Fox. Rubenstein was recently included on the highly regarded "Digital 50" list, a distinction given to fifty new media innovators by The Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council. Recognition for his work also includes Webby Awards, a Mobie award for games, a Gold Clio and several Key Art Awards. Rubenstein holds a B.A. in Management Science from UC San Diego and is a graduate of the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC.

 

Davis Terry
Former Chairman of Global Telecom Group, UBS AG 
and 
Founding Partner, TAP Advisors

Davis Terry is Founding Partner of TAP Advisors, a financial advisory firm established in 2009. TAP provides independent, experienced global intelligence, advice and execution services to a broad group of corporate clients.

Prior to forming TAP, Davis was co-Chairman of the Global Telecom Group at UBS Investment Bank, a group he led or co-led from 1997 to 2009. During his career at UBS, he was responsible for a number of major advisory transactions such as the formation of Verizon Wireless (representing Vodafone), the restructuring of NextWave and the formation of Sprint PCS. He also led the UBS effort on significant financing transactions such as $5.6 billion of Exchangeable Notes for Bell Atlantic and $7 billion of equity/equity units for Sprint.

Prior to his career at UBS, Davis was Managing Director of Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., where he founded the firm’s telecom and media practice. He was also involved in several meaningful transactions such as the sale of RJR Nabisco to KKR and the sale of SkyTel to MCI Worldcom.

Davis is a graduate of Yale College and has an MBA from the Wharton School.

 

Joe Weinman
Vice president Strategy and Business Development 
AT&T

Joe Weinman leads global portfolio strategy and business development for AT&T Business Solutions, which serves business customers ranging from small offices to large global enterprises, wholesale customers, systems integrators, and local, state, and federal government. AT&T (www.att.com) is the world's largest telecommunications and information technology firm as of YE08, with US$124.0 billion in revenue.

A 29-year veteran of the company, a prolific inventor and author, and frequent global keynote speaker, he has held a variety of executive positions of increasing responsibility spanning R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories, marketing, sales, product management, engineering and operations, and corporate strategy and business development.

He has a BS and MS in Computer Science from Cornell University and the University of Wisconsin - Madison respectively, and has completed Executive Education at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Mr. Weinman has been awarded 11 U.S. and international patents in a broad variety of technologies. He is also a recipient of the AT&T Architecture Award, the AT&T Patent Achievement Award, and multiple AT&T Distinguished Speaker Awards.

He has keynoted, MC'd, presented, and been a panelist at numerous analyst, vendor, publisher, industry, university, and trade association events on five continents.

He has had a variety of articles and talks published in the print and/or on-line editions of The New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, CNN, Money, Business Communications Review, Information Week, GigaOM, Salon, the ACM, the IEEE, CIO Magazine, and the AT&T Technical Journal.

He has also appeared on U.S., European, and pan-Asian broadcast television, been quoted in the U.S. and international print and on-line media, and appears in a number of on-line videos.

Links to articles, videos, and simulation tools may be found at http://www.joeweinman.com/