SPEAKERS
ACG Boston Tech Conf. 2005 Moderator and Panelists

Dr. Paul Barth
Managing Partner/Founder
NewVantage Partners
www.newvantage.com

Paul Barth was a founder and CTO of Tessera Enterprise Systems, a nationally-known systems integration firm formed in 1995. He became CTO of iXL Enterprises, a leading international Internet integration firm, following the merger of Tessera/iXL in December 1999. He holds a PhD in computer science from MIT, and a MS from Yale University. Paul was formerly vice president of technology at Epsilon Data Management (an American Express company), and held senior technology positions at Thinking Machines and Schlumberger. He is a recognized thought-leader and speaker on business and technology issues. pbarth@newvantage.com

Ron Chaimowitz
Chief Executive Officer
PixelPlay
www.pixelplay.com

Mr. Chaimowitz has been an entertainment and media entrepreneur for more than 20 years. In 1999, as CEO of The Auction Channel, Mr. Chaimowitz transformed the company from a UK based start-up to a worldwide provider of iTV auction content and technology. He sold the company in 2001 to Cablevision. Prior to that, Mr. Chaimowitz co-founded GT Interactive Software in 1993 and built the company from profitable first-year sales of $10 million to $531 million in 1998. Games published under Mr. Chaimowitz include Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem and Unreal. Over the five-year period Mr. Chaimowitz strategically acquired 10 companies that effectively transformed the company from a distribution-centered company to one that created and built its own content, brands and intellectual properties on a global basis. Mr. Chaimowitz brought the company public in 1995 and raised $140 million in one of the largest IPOs of that year. Prior to his stepping down, GT had 650 employees and sales offices in 14 countries. Mr. Chaimowitz also spent 13 years at CBS where he launched three divisions in the music & broadcast Groups. He was awarded "Entrepreneur of the Year Award" for the New York area in 1997 by Ernst & Young and he has also been featured as one of "Silicon Valley's 100" by Silicon Valley Magazine. Mr. Chaimowitz served as Vice Chairman of the Interactive Digital Software Association for more than four years. He received his MBA degree with Distinction from The Stern School at NYU Graduate School of Business

Maureen Chew
Chief Information Officer
Department of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
www.doe.mass.edu

Maureen Chew is the CIO of the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE). Currently, she sits on the Massachusetts CIO “Kitchen Cabinet” and is a member of the Massachusetts Education Technology Advisory Council. The Information Services and Technology unit is responsible for the collection, reporting and analysis on student, educator and school district data. The Information Services and Technology unit also provides a stable, secure and robust infrastructure for the deployment of software applications for DOE’s operating units, as well as the development of new systems and projects. The nationally recognized Educator Licensure and Recruitment (ELAR) system was implemented under her direction and played a major role in the online re-certification effort of over 75,000 MA teachers.

Ms. Chew has over thirteen years with state government and has served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the MA Information Technology Division and as Legislative Liaison on IT issues. She has been successful in coordinating the passage of two technology bond bills; accounting for over $380 million. Maureen has served as the Project Manager for the Mass Trial Courts and as Executive Director of the Criminal History Systems Board.

In addition to her career in the public sector, Maureen has years of work experience in the private sector and has held positions with AT&T and State Street Research and Management Co. She holds a Masters Degree from Boston University and Bachelor of Science Degree from Boston State College.

Todd Dagres
Founder and General Partner
Spark Capital
www.sparkcapital.com

Todd Dagres is a founder and General Partner of Spark Capital. Todd was most recently a General Partner and Executive Committee Member at Battery Ventures, where his investments generated profits of over $1.1 billion to Battery Limited Partners. At Battery, Mr Dagres led the Communications Investment practice while focusing on the Media, Entertainment and Communications Industries. Some of his investments at Battery include: Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ:AKAM), Qtera (sold to Nortel Networks); XCOM (sold to Level 3 Communications), Redstone (sold to Siemens), and River Delta Networks (sold to Motorola), Arbor Networks, Broadbus Technologies, and Cedar Point Communications.

In each of the last three years, Todd was named to the Forbes "Midas List," which ranks top venture capitalists who have created the most wealth for their investors. Todd has been a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he taught a course entitled: New Enterprise.

Todds’ Entertainment and Media endeavors have included establishing two film and television production companies (Prospect Pictures and Ealing Studios) that together have produced over 10 films and TV shows since 2003. He has been involved in the production of several films including Pretty Persuasion which won entry into the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and has been released by Samuel Goldwyn and Sony.

In 2004, Todd established the Face of an Angel Foundation. Face of an Angel is a non-profit, charitable foundation dedicated to education, research and treatment in the area of vascular malforma and tumors that cause severe birthmarks and disfigurement in .2% of newborns. He serves on the board of Fellows at Trinity College and on the Board of Trustees at Governor Dummer Academy.

Prior to Battery Ventures, Todd was Principal and Senior Technology Analyst at Montgomery Securities, Senior Technology Analyst and Vice President at Smith Barney/Robinson Humphrey, Vice President of Communications at the Yankee Group; and, Business Development Manager for Networks and Communications at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Todd holds a BS in Psychology from Trinity College, Hartford CT and an MBA from Boston University.

Douglas Emond
Chief Technology Officer
Eastern Bank
www.easternbank.com

With more than 20 years experience in the financial services industry, Douglas Emond oversees management information systems, technology risk management, systems engineering & architecture, data center operations, the technology service center and eSolutions at Eastern Bank.

Prior to joining Eastern, Emond spent 10 years with FleetBoston Financial and BankBoston. At FleetBoston, he was director of the eCatalyst Initiative for credit infrastructure. He was Chief Operating Officer for the Wholesale Bank Global Financial Services Unit at BankBoston. At BankBoston Emond was responsible for the day-to-day operations of Global Financial Services, including, managing the strategic planning process and key business initiatives.

Emond also worked for American International Group, Inc. in New York. Before that, Emond was a vice president in financial markets for Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation where he worked in New York, London and Hong Kong. Emond began his career as a corporate program administrator for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Emond earned his MBA and bachelor’s degree at Manhattan College. He lives in Marblehead, MA with his wife and their two children.

Dave McCool
President, Muzzy Lane Software
www.muzzylane.com

Muzzy Lane is a software developer and publisher dedicated to creating multiplayer educational gaming solutions that complement and improve on traditional teaching tools.
Dave holds a degree in Computer Science from MIT. He was a founding employee of Shiva Corporation and worked with them for nine years through their IPO; he left Shiva to co-found Aptis Communications, which was purchased by Northern Telecom 14 months later.

Dennis Miller
General Partner
Spark Capital
www.sparkcapital.com

Dennis Miller is a General Partner at Spark Capital. Dennis was most recently a Managing Director of Constellation Ventures in New York City where he focused focused on niche programming services, distribution opportunities on new platforms created by the increasing fragmentation and dislocation in the media marketplace, and technologies that allow media to be provided in ways that reflect today’s consumer.

His investments at Constellation include College Sports Television, TVONE (a joint venture between Comcast, Direct TV, and Radio One); K-12- an online education service founded by Bill Bennett, Lowell Milken and Larry Ellison; The Gospel Channel, Fathom Online (a leading search engine marketing company). He has also served on the Board of Directors of Capital IQ which has been sold to McGraw Hill.

Prior to Constellation Ventures, Dennis has served in a number of high level executive positions at leading media companies. From 1998 to 2000, Dennis was Executive Vice President of Lions Gate Entertainment. In this capacity, Dennis was integrally involved in Lions Gate’s aggressive acquisition and growth strategy which in two years, acquired a film production and distribution entity, an animation company, a film studio plant, and started a television division resulting in annual sales of $175 million. At the end of Dennis’s tenure, Lions Gate was able to successfully sell a roughly one third interest in the company as a result to Scandinavian Broadcasting System, Telemunchen, and Paul Allen in early March of 2000.

Prior to joining Lions Gate, Dennis was Executive Vice President of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Dennis was responsible for the television operations of SPE which accounted for roughly two thirds of SPE’s operating income, and was actively involved with strategic planning and new media. During Dennis's tenure, Sony's television operation became the second largest supplier of television programming in the United States. Dennis had responsibility for Sony's television operation that included, network, first-run, cable, international channels and new media. Under Dennis's direction, Sony became the second largest supplier of programming to the networks. Sony owned, operated or had and interest in 12 channels or platforms including HBO Ole, the Action Channel in Asia, two movie channels in Australia, and a general entertainment channel in India. During Dennis's tenure, Sony's new media division launched its primary internet initiative - the Sony Station. Dennis's division included over 750 individuals with annual revenues of $1.4 billion and EBITDA of roughly $180 million.

From 1990-1995, Dennis was Executive Vice President of Turner Network Television, with responsibility for production, business affairs and original programming for the TNT Network, overseeing all aspects of the network's operation. Dennis’s responsibilities included oversight of 100 million in annual original programming, scheduling and marketing both the NBA and the NFL programs and the management and day to day operations of a 256 person team. During this period, Turner Network Television grew from 34 million subscribers and 240 million in revenues to 55 million subscribers and 525 million in revenues with 150 million in free cash flow. In 1997, Dennis took on the additional responsibility for the Turner Entertainment Company, which spearheads the utilization of Turner's library of more than 3,000 motion picture titles.

Dennis began his career as an attorney with Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg and Phillips in Los Angeles. He received his Juris Doctorate from Boalt Law School at the University of California at Berkeley in 1982.

Bo Peabody
Managing General Partner
Village Ventures
www.villageventures.com

Bo's entrepreneurial abilities are widely recognized in the business world and beyond. Currently, as co-founder and Managing General Partner of Village Ventures, he is executing his latest initiative: Transforming how and where successful businesses are built. Together with co-founder Matt Harris, Bo has been responsible for building Village Ventures into a network of over a dozen regionally focused venture funds with over $250 million under management.

While still a student, Bo founded Tripod, Inc., one of the original developers of webbased personal publishing and communities. Tripod was sold to Lycos in 1998 for $58 million. Bo then became Vice President of Network Strategy for Lycos, which was sold to Spain's Terra Networks for $12.5 billion in stock in 2001. In 1998, Bo co-founded Streetmail (now called Waterfront Media); in 2000, he co-founded VoodooVox (formerly RadioVoodoo); and in 2004, he co-founded FullTurn Entertainment.

Bo is an expert in consumer-oriented businesses including advertising, subscriptions and e-commerce. He is featured regularly in major business and consumer publications, and has received numerous honors. Bo recently wrote a book for entrepreneurs called Lucky or Smart?, which was published by Random House in January 2005.

A graduate of Williams College, Bo resides in Williamstown, MA. He is on the board of The Academy at Charlemont and The Williamstown Theater Festival.

Jeffrey Peterson
Vice President, Information Technology
UNICCO Service Company

Mr. Peterson joined the company in September 1998. Prior to that, he held several managerial positions with Arthur Andersen LLP, most recently as Managing Director for Internal Systems in the Arthur Andersen Technology Solutions (AATS) group. Mr. Peterson was with Arthur Andersen for 17 years prior to joining UNICCO.