Jean-Pierre Bienaimé, SVP Strategy & Communications, Orange; Chairman, UMTS Forum

Jean-Pierre Bienaimé has been Chairman of mobile industry association The UMTS Forum since his first election in January 2003, with a mission to promote a common vision of the development of 3G/UMTS and of its Long Term Evolution (LTE), and to ensure its worldwide commercial success. The UMTS Forum notably contributes to international organisations (ITU, EC, ETSI, 3GPP, CEPT), conducts studies and reports on key focus areas of mobile broadband communications such as markets & trends, services & applications, spectrum & regulation, impact of technologies & implementation issues, and holds a continued dialogue with decision-makers of key growth markets worldwide.

Joining France Telecom (FT) in 1979, Bienaimé’s responsibilities included financial management and planning at national and regional level, Advisor to the General Director of Moroccan Telecommunications in Rabat, Director of Marketing and Product Development for international business networks & services at FT, Director of Business Development and Subsidiaries at France Cables & Radio, Chief Executive Officer of Nexus International, and VP International Development at France Telecom Mobile.

After the purchase of Orange by FT (end 2000), Bienaimé was appointed VP Group Technical Support at Orange until December 2002. In this position, he provided networks and IT support to the business units and mobile affiliates of Orange and France Telecom worldwide, and contributed to Orange’s corporate programmes such as re-branding and franchising. In April 2010 he was appointed SVP Strategy & Communications Wholesale at Orange.

Jean-Pierre graduated from the ESSEC Business School – Paris (MBA), from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Postes & Télécommunications – Paris. He also holds an executive degree from INSEAD – Fontainebleau, and attended a senior executive programme at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University at Bloomington, USA.

Gary Brotman, Director, Product Marketing, Qualcomm Atheros

Gary Brotman is a marketing veteran with more than 15 years of experience designing and marketing media software, hardware and services that push the boundaries of technology. The majority of his career has been dedicated to helping consumers, artists and companies discover, experience, promote and distribute media online. Brotman is currently Director of Product Marketing for Qualcomm Atheros (QCA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, which develops wireless technologies for the connected home. Brotman is currently responsible for leading strategic marketing and business efforts for QCA’s connected home media services, including the Skifta media platform. He has also led marketing teams for Qualcomm Labs and Qualcomm’s Global Market Development group.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Brotman was the head of Artist Services and Marketing for Santa Monica-based Topspin Media, where he lead a team responsible for marketing the Topspin software platform and providing strategic guidance to artists, managers, labels and Topspin marketing ecosystem partners on developing and managing direct-to-fan businesses. While at Topspin, he designed direct-to-consumer record release campaigns and businesses for a host of major-label and indie artists including Eminem, David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, Adam Freeland, Van Hunt, and many others.

Prior to joining Topspin, Brotman was the head of product marketing at Yahoo! Music, where he was responsible for developing marketing strategies in support of the division’s ad-supported and paid music services.

Before becoming part of the Yahoo! Music team, Brotman served as Director of Ecommerce and Corporate Communications Director for Musicmatch, makers of the Musicmatch Jukebox. The lion’s share of his time at Musicmatch was dedicated to developing marketing and communications strategies and driving customer acquisition and retention efforts in support of the company’s premium software, music downloads and premium music subscription products.

Prior to joining Musicmatch, Brotman was an account supervisor in the Los Angeles office of international PR firm, Golin/Harris. While with the firm, Brotman built a practice focused solely on the digital music space, providing communications counsel and developing product launch strategies for a client roster that included Amazon.com, Creative Labs, Texas Instruments, Musicmatch, and Forrester Research, among others. This digital music practice was credited as the first of its kind within a major PR firm.

Richard Bullwinkle, Chief Evangelist, Rovi Corporation

Richard Bullwinkle joined Rovi Corporation in January 2007 after the company acquired Mediabolic, where he had served as vice president of products and chief evangelist. Since that time, Richard has served as chief evangelist responsible for corporate strategy. In his role, Richard helps define the direction of Rovi’s products and technology solutions. He represents the company at numerous industry events to gather market perspectives and understand trends that have an impact on the company’s customers and the end consumer in order to provide recommendations to the senior team. He also works to establish standards and lead the discussions to promote a better consumer experience throughout the CE industry.

Richard has worked on the cutting edge of the digital entertainment movement throughout his career with the consumer experience at the center of his focus.

As vice president of products and chief evangelist at Mediabolic, Richard helped pioneer the connected home strategy of connecting entertainment media devices. As a senior member of Rio Audio's product marketing team, Richard played an instrumental part in the creation of some of the most popular MP3 players in the US. At TiVo, Richard was the company’s chief evangelist and a senior member of TiVo's product marketing team. He helped create and develop the TiVo products and was behind the campaign to make the TiVo product a household name.

Richard graduated from Rollins College in Florida with degrees in English and Music.

Scott Burnett, Director, Global Consumers Electronics Industry, IBM

Scott is responsible for leading IBM Strategy & Business development focused on the Consumer Electronics Industry, coordinating digital convergence efforts across IBM brands and Industries leveraging cloud computing for product & service innovation. Scott has served in numerous capacities at IBM ranging from executive roles in the Media & Entertainment industry to business development with IBM research. As Global Marketing Director for IBM's Digital Media Group, Scott lead worldwide marketing strategy and market development for IBM Digital Media solutions. Prior to joining IBM, Scott Burnett served as Vice President, Marketing for Liquid Audio, guiding Liquid Audio's global marketing strategy and positioning its IPO and the Liquid Audio brand as a major player in the initial market for digital music delivery via the Internet. Scott Burnett’s film and entertainment studio experience includes Vice President of Corporate Brands at Warner Bros. Studios, organizing global branding efforts across company divisions, and Vice President of Warner Bros. International Production Group as well as Director Administration, Disney Character Voices at The Walt Disney Company, managing the international release of animated productions including brand management. Among Scott Burnett's 25+ years of marketing, brand management, business development, sales and production management experience in the media industry, he’s also consulted for a number of media companies. Scott received an MBA from the University San Francisco in 1985 and Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Thomas University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1981. As an Associate Professor, he taught marketing at the University of San Francisco.

David L. Foote, Chief Technology Officer, Hitachi Communication Technologies America, Inc.

Mr. Foote is the Chief Technology Officer for Hitachi Communication Technologies America. He is currently responsible for strategic product planning, technology strategy, and technical marketing of fiber access, optical transport/switching, home networking, and cellular (RF, WiMAX, LTE) systems. He has been instrumental in establishing Hitachi’s network systems business with major North American service providers like AT&T, Global Crossing, Sprint, Time Warner, and T-Mobile. Mr. Foote has been a member, contributor, and committee chairman in leading standards organizations such as ANSI T1, ATIS, ATM/MPLS Forum, IEEE 802, IETF, OIF, and SCTE. He is an invited speaker and paper author to various industry conferences and symposiums. Before joining Hitachi, he served as a decorated communications engineering officer in the U.S. Air Force responsible for network design and implementation of various secure telecom and packet data networks including ARPAnet/MILnet. Mr. Foote received a B.S.E.E. from Georgia Tech in 1980 and a Master’s degree in Management from Webster University/Air Force Institute of Technology in 1982.

Corey Halverson, Product Director of Business Solutions, Akamai Technologies

Corey Halverson is the Product Director of Business Solutions in the Akamai media business unit. In this role, he leads the team focused on TV Everywhere, UltraViolet and Analytics. Corey is a frequent speaker on the use of analytics to inform and shape digital media’s relationship with end viewers with a recent focus on the role of quality in this relationship. Corey was part of the team that developed the QoS Monitor product at Akamai and focused especially on the methods to interpret quality impact on viewer behavior. Corey also is responsible for Akamai’s media product efforts in working with advertising technologies.

Prior to Akamai, Corey worked at various online video platform companies and was the lead inventor of a patent on how to visualize the impact of ads and interactive elements on viewer behavior during video playback. Corey started his career developing algorithms and visualizations for genomic-based cancer research. Corey holds a MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Kurt Hoppe, Director, Smart TV Innovations and Alliances, LG Electronics

Kurt Hoppe is responsible for driving innovation via strategic partnerships for the LG Home Entertainment Division. Kurt has spent 10+ years building cloud-connected solutions for Service Providers, CE companies, and Content Owners, delivering value-added services to over 50M users worldwide. He has held business development, product marketing, and product management roles at Digeo, 2Wire, and Amdocs, working with customers such as AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Best Buy, to name a few. Kurt studied Computer Science at the Royal Military College of Canada and Human Computer Interaction at the University of British Columbia.

Leon Hounshell, Division General Manager, Managed Home Solutions, Motorola Mobility

Leon Hounshell is the General Manager of the 4Home Connected Solutions division at Motorola Mobility, Inc. He leads Motorola’s efforts in the Connected Home space to deliver multiple products and services into the Service Provider, Utility and Retail channels. The Connected Solutions Division is an innovative, fast growing team that was formed out of Motorola Mobility’s acquisition of 4Home, Inc. in 2010.

Prior to his role as division GM at Motorola Mobility, Leon was co-founder, President and CEO of 4Home, Inc. He also served as Chairman on its Board of Directors. Under his leadership, 4Home became a bellwether company for the emerging Connected Home Services Sector. Leon leveraged his background as a serial entrepreneur to manage both the product development and the administration of 4Home, driving the company from product conception to product delivery and eventually revenue generation and profitability.

Before that, Leon was VP of Engineering and co-founder of PRISMIQ, Inc. where he put together the hardware and software engineering team that developed the world's first Digital Media Adapter (DMA). This product won several industry awards and still remains a significant product in the DMA field.

Earlier, Leon was the director of software engineering and senior architect for Polycom's Network Access Products division where he built and led a major engineering team, producing a product line that captured 80% market share for integrated access devices (IADs) worldwide. Leon joined Polycom through its acquisition of Atlas Communication Engines, where he served as director of software engineering.

Leon holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Stefan Jenzowsky, Head of Business Unit Multimedia, Siemens Communications, Media and Technology

Stefan Jenzowsky studied communication science and psychology at the Free University Berlin and the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. After this, he worked in media effects research, entertainment research and advertising effectiveness at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich.

From 1999 to 2006, Stefan was responsible for business innovation at Siemens Communications in Munich. As VP Strategy and Head of Business Innovation he was leading a think tank for new business models in telecommunications. In this think tank, future topics and disruptive innovations were developed for Siemens, with the goal of changing the business models of the telecommunication, internet, media and entertainment industry. In this think tank, innovations like IPTV (e.g. Belgacom TV, Belgium, mineTV, NL) were developed, piloted and introduced to the market.

After this, Stefan became Partner at trommsdorff + drüner innovation + marketing consultants, consulting companies from the media, entertainment and telecommunications industries in developing and introducing innovative new services and products. From 2007 to 2010, Stefan was the managing director of moreTV Broadcasting GmbH in Potsdam-Babelsberg, developing innovative TV centric services like video recorders that know what I want to watch. Since October 2010 Stefan is heading the Media business unit at Siemens Communication, Media and Technology in Vienna, being responsible for the media business worldwide.

Stefan has co-authored various books and publications on the future of media, including the book “Fernsehwerbung - Television Advertising”) and “Die Zukunft des Fernsehens - The Future of Television”. Together with Sven Gabor Jansky, Stefan also wrote “Rulebreakers”, which stormed the German business book charts in 2010. In addition, Stefan is teaching at various universities like the Karlshochschule International University and the European Business School.

Benoit Joly, Senior VP - Operational Marketing, Technicolor

Benoit Joly, as VP of Technicolor’s Operational Marketing Group, is building on over 15 years experience in various marketing and business roles across the Telecom and Media sectors. He began his career at MCI WorldCom, where he was responsible for the European marketing of network solutions that enabled telecom operators to enhance their internet access, applications and service portfolios. Joining Technicolor in 2003, he helped create the Company’s VoIP devices strategy, before becoming involved with Video-over-IP products and systems in 2004 where he lead the marketing and pre-sales efforts for what then became one of the world’s leading IPTV and Mobile TV solutions. Benoit was next appointed VP Digital Home Solutions, responsible for developing and selling a comprehensive range of home network applications and technologies for broadband, cable and telecom operators. As SVP Operational Marketing for the company, his current role combines the areas of Business Divisions Marketing, Solutions Marketing and Market/Segment Marketing. His responsibilities in Technicolor's Digital Home strategy and marketing activities, involve integrating work in user experience, applications and software architectures across the division's market-leading portfolio of Set Top Boxes, Home Gateways and Media Tablets - as well as those additional connected devices needed to support home security, energy management and other emerging application areas. Benoît has a Master's Degree in Network and IT Engineering from E.S.I.E.E and an MBA from E.S.S.E.C, having majored there in Strategy and Marketing.

Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere, Senior Director & Head of the Embedded Mobile Programme, GSMA

Ana Tavares Lattibeaudiere is Head of Embedded Mobile and Senior Director of Strategy and Technology at the GSMA, the organisation that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Ana is responsible for identifying opportunities for collective innovation within the mobile industry and for developing and directing the strategic initiatives that will deliver them.

She is currently leading the GSMA’s Embedded Mobile market development programme to accelerate the adoption of wireless connectivity in a wide range of devices across diverse industries including Utilities, Healthcare, Automotive and Consumer Electronics. She is helping to shape and stimulate the ecosystem to deliver the anticipated benefits that mobile can bring to these sectors and to society as a whole. She has previously led strategic initiatives for the GSMA on Mobile Internet, Messaging and Converged Communications.

Before joining the GSMA, Ana held a range of strategic consultancy positions at BCG, Deloitte Consulting and Accenture. Her career began in Private Banking at Merrill Lynch in the area of investment in new technologies.

Patrick McGinnis, Vice President of Exclusive Brands, Best Buy

Patrick McGinnis is vice president of Global Product Management for Best Buy Co., Inc., a multinational retailer of technology and entertainment products and services. In this position, McGinnis is responsible for driving all aspects of the company’s Exclusive Brands product development and management for all Best Buy retail channels across three continents and 14 countries.

McGinnis joined Best Buy in 2002 and was heavily involved in the company’s strategic planning to enter China. In 2003, he became director of Global Sourcing, and was promoted two years later to senior director where he was responsible for the global sourcing operation based in China. After completing his responsibilities in China at the end of 2007, McGinnis led the development of the Exclusive Brands television business under the Insignia and Dynex brands. In 2009, McGinnis led the Global Product Management teams for Home Theater, GPS, Mobile Phone Accessories, Softlines, Furniture, Mounts and Gaming Accessories.

Prior to joining Best Buy, McGinnis was a management consultant where he did process, systems, and supply chain strategy in the automotive, retail and federal grant sectors.

McGinnis earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.

James Morehead, VP Product Management, Support.com

James Morehead, Vice President – Product Management joined Support.com (NASDAQ: SPRT) in October 2003. James leads a global product management team responsible for the product roadmap, market research and detailed requirements for the company’s proprietary technology that enables Support.com to deliver its services and software directly to consumers (under the Support.com brand, and as a white label service via service providers, retailers, and ISVs).

Prior to joining Support.com, James spent nearly four years leading the Solutions Marketing team at Portal Software (now part of Oracle), focused on expanding services in key markets including broadband, wireless, wireline, digital media and online content. James also spent eight years with Nortel Networks primarily in Nortel’s Wireless Networks business unit, with roles in strategic marketing, sales and network engineering as well as in Nortel’s Information Technology team, which focused on finance systems.

James has presented at a host of key industry events and panels in North America and internationally, and he has been interviewed for and/or placed articles in publications including Converge Network Digest, European Communications, Telecommunications Magazine, Wireless Business and Technology, RCR Wireless, America’s Network, Wireless Week, Telephony, Billing World, Billing Magazine, Billing Plus, Wireless Review, and IPTV News, as well as prestigious industry journals including ECTA Review and IEC’s Delivering the Promise of IPTV. James is also a contributing author to “42 Rules of Product Management” edited by Brian Lawley and Greg Cohen.

Todd O’Brien, Services Marketing Director for North America Consumer, Dell

Todd O'Brien began his career with Dell Inc. in 1999. He started as a sale representative in Large Enterprise business. During his tenure at Dell, Todd has had multiple sales and sales management roles in relationship and transactional business. He led an Austin based sales organization for Consumer direct sales. He also has had four roles in various Marketing organizations from product hardware brand management to product merchandising and services product marketing. In 2004, Todd launched his own music instructional business providing service to a growing suburban area in Austin. Within one year the music school had 280 students and 12 instructors. In the summer of 2005 Todd sold the business to a competitor and continued his career at Dell. In 2008, Todd and his family moved to London with Dell. In 2009, Todd left Dell to work for Rackspace Hosting in London where he launched EMEA enterprise hosting and led the executive sales team. Todd returned to the USA in 2010 and went back to work for Dell as the Marketing Director for North America Consumer Services. Prior to Dell, Todd worked in creative production and also advertising sales.

Peter Porteous, CEO, Blue Line Innovations

Peter assumed the CEO role in May 2009 after having supported Danny Tuff, co-founder, and the Management Team in a consulting capacity. Peter brings to the team a career focused on building brands and bringing businesses to market. Peter heads an all-male hockey family; CJ (20), Jake (17) and Tanner (12).

Away from work, Peter is an active member of YPO (www.ypo.org), passionate about the environment (www.meduxnekeag.org) and economic development in Africa (YPO Rwanda Joint Action Forum).

Peter’s career began with traditional packaged goods marketing where he grew to Director of Marketing, Kraft Canada. For the past 17 years Peter has managed “go to market” sales, marketing, distribution companies in Canada (Barrett Corporation), US (Dixie Sales Company) and globally as CEO of Freeplay Energy (www.freeplayenergy.com).

Marty Roberts, VP of Sales & Marketing, thePlatform, a subsidiary of Comcast

Marty Roberts’ diverse leadership background includes 14 years of product management and marketing. His experience developing strategy, building relationships with development organizations, and creating new products and services helped increase the customer base and profitability for organizations such as GiftCertificates.com and RealNetworks. At thePlatform, Marty leads the sales and account management organization, business development, marketing, and product management. His contributions to the company’s success include repositioning the company and products, increasing the brand awareness through advertising, PR and the website, building an ecosystem with 80 partners and driving the product strategy for initiatives such as TV Everywhere.

Ann Shaub, Director, Consumer Product Management, Verizon

Ann Shaub is the Director of Connected Home and CPE in the Verizon Consumer and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) Product Management Organization. Her team is responsible for bringing Verizon’s Connected Home program to market as well as for ensuring that the CPE portfolio meets the demands of key strategic Communications, Connected Home, and Entertainment/Multimedia initiatives.

Ms. Shaub has more than 25 years of experience with Verizon and has worked in Engineering, New Product Development, and the Enterprise Services Group. Prior to her current position in Consumer Marketing, Ann spent four years in the Verizon Technology Organization focused on bringing new and emerging technologies to the Consumer Marketing Organization to meet the voice, data, and video needs of the business.

Ms. Shaub holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics/Actuarial Science from Towson University.

Jonathan "J.T." Thompson, Utility Sales Leader, GE Appliances

Jonathan "JT" Thompson, currently leads the global utility sales and marketing efforts for GE Appliances’ Home Energy Solutions team. He works with utilities interested in conducting pilots focusing on consumer behavior and time-of-use rates, using GE’s Smart Appliances. Prior to coming over to Appliances, JT served as the Director of Global Operations for GE Corporate’s Energy Sourcing Organization. While in that role his responsibilities included oversight of the global energy sourcing and risk management needs of commercial and industrial end users. Prior to joining GE in 2007, JT has 9 years of experience in trading, pricing/risk management, account management, and financial services all within the energy industry, including an entrepreneurial venture focused on strategic risk management. JT holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is also an avid football fan and proud father of three daughters.

Mitch Weinraub, VP, Product Development, Insight Communications

Mitch Weinraub is a leader in the new media technology space. He is currently the VP of Product Development for Insight Communications (the 9th largest MSO in the US). In his 20 years of prior experience with Comcast and Primestar (purchased by DirecTV in 1999) he has held roles in product development, business development, new media and operations management. Regardless of title, Mitch usually focuses on the invention, business case development, construction and launch of new technology products or new lines of business. Mitch speaks regularly at national and international industry conferences and has had papers published by the National Association of Broadcasters, the National Cable Television Association, the Society of Cable Television engineers and MIT Press.

Ted Werth, Founder and CEO, PlumChoice

Ted founded PlumChoice, the first remote technical services company for consumers and small businesses, in 2001. The inspiration came after Ted, who spent years trying to help his father resolve computer problems long distance, realized the benefits of desktop-sharing technology used in the enterprise.

Prior to PlumChoice, Ted held various management and operating roles with data networking companies such as Chipcom and 3-Com. He led the creation and delivery to market an online collaboration service and a marketing portal for small businesses prior to starting PlumChoice. Ted started his career working as an engineer for Westinghouse.

Ted is now pursuing his life's passion -- empowering people of all ages and skill levels to use technology effectively, safely and securely so that it may be a source of help and enjoyment in their lives. Ted is forever challenging the status quo in technology services, raising the bar before others have recognized the need and refusing to compromise. Frequently quoted in the media and the author of several patents, Ted remains the foremost expert in the exploding technology services market. Ted studied at Lehigh University, earning his B.S.E.E. in 1982 and earned an MBA from Northeastern University.

Michael Wexler, VP, Business Development and Product Strategy, Radialpoint

Michael Wexler brings over 15 years of business consulting and general management experience in consumer technology services to Radialpoint, where he serves as VP Business Development and Product Strategy. In this key role, Michael manages a team that includes Sales, Marketing and Product Management. He is focused on developing innovative business-led strategies that help the Company’s customers solve their toughest connected home business challenges and enable partners to improve the profitability with Radialpoint’s solutions.

Prior to joining Radialpoint, Michael was Founder and CEO of HiWired, the PC Magazine Editors’ Choice provider of white-label remote tech support and digital home services to consumers and small businesses. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Dartmouth College.

Dan Williams, Associate Partner, Consumer Technology Practice, LEVEL Studios

Dan Williams serves as the Associate Partner of LEVEL Studios' Consumer Technology practice, delivering integrated marketing and product development for some of the world's top consumer technology brands. Dan has spent more than nine years with LEVEL in various leadership roles across project management, account strategy, marketing and business development, and is currently leading market strategy, innovation and services execution for connected products. Dan has more than 15 years of digital experience working with brands across consumer electronics, automotive, content, entertainment and technology, including VIZIO, Visa, Epson, Toyota, ESPN, Disney, Qualcomm and Broadcom. His work includes developing enterprise strategies for brand, content, user experiences and technology platforms, such as designing TV user experiences, multi-resolution UX/UI implementations and Enterprise collaboration platforms. Dan graduated with honors from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. Dan is based in Los Angeles and enjoys long walks on the beach holding a connected device for surf reports.

Parks Associates Analysts / Moderators

Tom Kerber, Director, Research, Home Controls & Energy, Parks Associates

Tom has been a client of Parks Associates’ REM service (2010) while serving Lennox Industries as Corporate Director, Advanced Engineering and as Director of Product Management.

Tom has previously worked in the utilities industry, the consumer goods industry and for Motorola in the telecom industry.

He holds a MS in Software Engineering from the University of Texas and a BS in Systems Engineering from the Unites States Naval Academy.

His roles in product strategy for a home controls company as well as experience in the utilities industry and the telecom space provides him with very strong qualifications to serve our energy and home controls clients’ needs.

Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates

Brett Sappington is currently Director, Research with Parks Associates.

Brett has spent over fifteen years in the industry as an executive manager and entrepreneur, building new businesses and new divisions for technology and business services firms. Previously, he founded and served as vice president of sales and marketing for Teligy, a software company specializing in embedded software for wired and wireless communications systems. Brett established new divisions for audio/multimedia software and networking for Intelligraphics. He has also been involved in the development and marketing of early-market products for 802.11 wireless networking, PC-based VoIP, and other technologies.

With a comprehensive understanding of all areas of marketing for technical product and service companies, including product development, strategic planning, and marketing communications, Brett knows the critical role that market research serves in the success of market-driven companies. He is able to work with Parks Associates’ clients to arm them with the market information they need to succeed in their business.

Brett holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin with a concentration in high-tech marketing and a BA in physics from Baylor University.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: International Digital Living Trends, Television Services (IPTV, cable, satellite/DTH, terrestrial/DTT), Broadband Services, Multiscreen Services, Value-added Services, Cloud-based Consumer Services, Set-top Boxes, Residential Gateways, Electronic Program Guides, Video Search and Recommendation, Video Metadata, Middleware

Kurt Scherf, Vice President, Principal Analyst, Parks Associates

Kurt Scherf studies developments in home networks, residential gateways, digital entertainment services, consumer electronics, and digital home technical support services. Kurt is the sole author or contributing author/analyst to more than 80 research reports and studies produced by Parks Associates since 1998.

Kurt joined Parks Associates following a career in political research and multi-tenant dwelling management. He earned his BA from The University of Iowa.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Home Networks & Residential Gateways, Home Networking Media (Wi-Fi, UWB, HomePlug, HomePNA, MoCA, etc.), Media Center PCs, Set-top Boxes, Networked Consumer Electronics, Consumer Storage, Media Server Hardware and Software, Consumers and Digital Entertainment, Television Services, Broadband Video, Digital Home Customer Support Issues

Stuart Sikes, President, Parks Associates

Stuart Sikes is the president of Parks Associates, a market research firm specializing in consumer adoption of technology products and services. Stuart and team assist clients around the world by predicting trends in consumer technologies and identifying evolving business models. The Parks Associates team serves the world’s leading semiconductor, software, consumer electronics, telecom equipment, and entertainment companies, providing them with industry analysis, consumer research, and go-to-market recommendations. Stuart’s recent industry presentations include the outlook for residential energy management, new business models for the connected home, and the evolution of new video services.

Stuart has served technology companies for over twenty years, designing technical service, software, and hardware solutions for companies ranging from global semiconductor manufacturers to one of the nation’s largest airlines. In his positions with companies including AT&T, NCR, OpenConnect Systems, and Intelligraphics, Stuart’s roles have included sales, product marketing, marketing communications, and executive management.

Stuart holds an MBA from SMU and a BA in economics from Vanderbilt University.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates

Harry Wang studies the consumer electronics and entertainment service industries with a focus on portable CE hardware, software, and associated applications and services. He is also the lead analyst for Parks Associates’ digital health research program. Harry has presented his research in numerous industry events including CES, Digital Hollywood, Photo Marketing Association Annual Show, American Telemedicine Association Annual Show, World Health Congress, and Parks Associates’ CONNECTIONS™ conferences.

Harry earned his MS degree in marketing research from the University of Texas at Arlington. He also holds an MBA degree in finance from Texas Christian University and a BA degree in international business from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, P.R. China.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Digital Health Products and Services, Portable and Mobile Access Platforms and Applications, Digital Imaging Products and Services