Speakers

Sam, 21, is the co-founder of loopt, a startup that has built a revolutionary "social mapping" service to change the way people use mobile phones to keep in touch with their friends. Sam founded loopt while he was still a student at Stanford University to find his friends on campus and to improve the way friends communicate. Sam currently is on leave from the computer science program, where he focused on computer security and machine learning. He also helped develop a patented system for navigation for one of the world's first autonomous helicopter navigation systems, a task for which his experience as a pilot of small aircraft was good training.

Julie manages the wireless and broadband services and also the lead wireless analyst for JupiterResearch, where she focuses on consumer, technology, and industry trends across a range of wireless access technologies. Julie started her career in the wireless industry nearly 18 years ago when she joined COMSAT Laboratories as a microwave design engineer. Prior to joining Jupiter, she worked with service providers, equipment manufacturers and media companies on both corporate and product strategies as a management consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton. Julie holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Dave is Idealist.org's resident expert on emerging Web technologies and how they can be leveraged to create social change. His particular focus has been connecting Idealist with youth through social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Second Life. Beyond social networking, Dave manages Idealist's relationships with companies (such as Google and IBM) and professional associations. His personal interests include getting youth voter registration, Web development with Ruby on Rails, and juggling.

Named one of the Top 20 under 40 by California's most prestigious magazine, Adisa has been a respected journalist for more than 15 years and has been highlighted by MTV News, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Vibe and countless other media outlets. Under the pen name "The Bishop of Hip Hop", he has entertained many with his work on Hip Hop culture, eastern philosophy, martial arts, Islamic culture, African American and youth social issues. Adisa's knowledge has earned him a myriad of invitations to lecture at prestigious universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University and Hastings School of Law. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his family.

Besides founding and running Scriptovia.com, Aseem, 18, is a freshman at the University of Washington studying business administration. At 16, he founded ThinkEssay.com, the proof of concept for Scriptovia.com. During high school he also worked as an intern and consultant with Microsoft as a program manager developing internal tools, as well as for a project called Scenario Voting - a tool that allowed the Windows Vista test team to collect satisfaction data from the millions of beta testers. At age 11, Aseem earned the Microsoft Office User Specialist certification, making him the youngest person on record to earn this achievement.

Before founding Takkle, David was the co-founder of PearTree Equity, a technology-focused venture and incubation firm based in New York. Prior to PearTree, David was a member of the founding management team of Cometa Networks, a company formed by Intel, IBM, and AT&T, and private equity firms Apax Partners and 3i. Previously, he was an investment professional at Apax Partners (formerly Patricof & Co.), a global private equity firm with over $11 billion under management. David also spent several years as an investment banker on Wall Street and helped create the telecommunications group at Furman Selz, LLC. David received a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

danah is a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of California-Berkeley and a fellow at the USC Annenberg Center for Communications. Her dissertation focuses on how youth engage in networked public spaces like MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Xanga, etc. In particular, she is interested in how American teens formulate a presentation of self and negotiate socialization in mediated contexts where the audience is often unknown. This work is funded by the MacArthur Foundation as part of a broader grant on digital youth and informal learning.

Steve is a New York-based editor and freelance writer. He covers online video as a columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, and writes the Reporter's Reel Pop blog. He also covers Google for eWEEK. Steve has written on technology and media for the Online Journalism Review and The New York Daily News, among other publications.

Martina has been places most teenagers only hear about on MTV. With a rock star father, Martina's weekly show focuses on the Emo music scene, interviewing hot bands and the ever-changing production that is her life. Martina, a 15 year old dance student at San Francisco's School of the Arts, is the first teen podcaster to have secured corporate sponsorship with advertising giants like Johnson & Johnson. Not only is she the highest paid teen podcaster in the state, but Martina's success has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal. Emo Girl Talk also is a feature on Adam Curry's PodShow, part of Sirius satellite radio channel 102.

Karl helped launch Inner City Enterprises, Inc., a strategic communications and entertainment holding company, to develop and launch creative programs that engage urban youth audiences worldwide. It has four integrated business segments: GTM...It Means A Lot (a youth marketing and promotions agency), Soul Underground (a live, positive entertainment platform for showcasing the best in underground urban talent), Wheat Bread Clothing (a progressive urban streetwear apparel company, and Change the Game (a non-profit community outreach initiative). Karl is responsible for designing innovative media & new business pitches targeting the youth subculture market. Karl received his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from George Washington University, specializing in Electronic Media Marketing.

Anne is a mom, analyst, children's advocate, and journalist who has worked in media (print, radio, TV and the Web) since 1980. Her NetFamilyNews.org is the digital "community newspaper" of the tech-parenting and online-safety community. Its "kid-tech news for parents" is designed to empower and educate grownups with the latest information on children's tech interests and practices, as well as their online safety. Anne also is co-director of BlogSafety.com and co-author of the book "MySpace Unraveled." Previously she served as a stringer for the Christian Science Monitor in Southeast Asia.; Asia editor and associate producer for MonitorRadio; and Tokyo correspondent forWorld Monitor, a nightly TV news program. She also helped launch the Monitor's Web site, CSMonitor.com.

Seventeen-year-old Catherine is a high school senior who leads a not-so-secret double life. Catherine is a co-founder of the fastest-growing social networking site on the Internet, MyYearbook.com. She and her brother Dave brainstormed the idea-a digital yearbook for the modern age-then persuaded their older brother Geoff to jump on board as their first investor. In just over a year, Catherine grew the site to 1.7 million members and achieved low 7-figure annual revenue through partnerships with companies like CliffsNotes and Procter & Gamble. She also just raised $4.1 million in venture capital and won early admission to Georgetown.

Chuck comes to Hearst from Gemstar-TV Guide, where he served as Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing, running newsstand and subscription sales, and TVGuide.com. Previously, at Primedia, he managed online subscription sales and customer service. Chuck held key management positions at Meredith Corporation from 1992-2001. He was Vice President of Broadcasting Interactive and e-Marketing, overseeing online magazine and book sales and the company's TV websites. His experience includes positions as the Station Manager of WGCL-TV in Atlanta and as General Manager of Ladies' Home Journal. Chuck graduated from Harvard University and received an MBA from Stanford University.

Jim has spent more than 25 years in magazine journalism, frequently tracking the radical effect that technology brings to calcified industries. He is the editor in chief of Edutopia, produced under the aegis of The George Lucas Educational Foundation. The publication tracks innovative people and practices in our nation's K-12 public schools. Previously, he served as editor in chief and founder of Business 2.0 magazine. Jim also served as the editor in chief of Redherring.com, as well as a features editor at Wired, senior editor at Forbes ASAP and a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. His freelance writing has appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to the Los Angeles Times.

Zadi has been working in the entertainment and media industry for more than a decade as a producer, writer, and director. She is co-founder and a principal of Smashface Productions, a new media production company specializing in the development and production of original online programming for both independent and traditional media. Zadi is the executive producer and host of JETSET, an award-winning Internet and pop culture show for young adults. She is also co-founder of Pixelodeon, an annual screening festival that showcases the best in online content and entertainment. Other ongoing projects include New Mediacracy, a weekly talkcast about the world of online media, and Vidlicious, a female collective of online video producers.

Dixie is particularly passionate about the innovative, creative and often operatic texture of teen communication. The N consistently delivers the #1 highest concentration of young adults of any cable or network channel. The N recently won an Emmy and boasts the highest concentration of female teens online in the U.S. A writer, speaker, and self-diagnosed "love doctor," before coming to The N, Dixie put the "broad" in broadcasting for media outlets including Oxygen, PBS's Thirteen/WNET, Oprah Goes Online, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, WE, AMC, BUST, and Atomic Magazine, Dixie earned her BA at the University of Pennsylvania, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the defunct Sassy magazine and sugar-coated breakfast cereals.

Ulla has focused her work and study on young people and media. In addition to her recent report for the Kaiser Family Foundation on young people's media multitasking behaviors, she was part of the research team that conducted both of the Foundation's studies on young people's media use habits. That research was the foundation for a book she co-authored, Kids & Media in America, which discusses patterns of media use among 2-18-year-olds. Before earning her doctoral degree at Stanford University in Media Studies, Ulla worked at the Kaiser Family Foundation, managing entertainment media partnerships and conducting research. Ulla began her career in media at JP Kids, a kids' educational media company.

Jay supervises Yahoo! Music's audio and video programming and oversees the execution of artist promotions with record labels and managers. Jay was vice president of marketing and promotions for LAUNCH.com.prior to its acquisition by Yahoo! in 2001. Over the past five years Jay has developed key relationships with all the major record labels, as well as many independent labels, resulting in premieres and performance exclusives from artists such as Madonna, Eminem, Linkin Park, 50 Cent, and Faith Hill. Prior to LAUNCH, Jay was senior music director at The Box Music Network; worked in marketing and A & R for Ignition Records; managed a live music venue; programmed broadcast radio stations; and created two local music video shows. Jay holds a Bachelor's of Science degree from Ithaca College.

Liz is a staff writer at the GigaOM network, where she edits and writes for NewTeeVee.com, a publication devoted to online video, in addition to contributing stories about web software to GigaOM.com. GigaOM is a set of tech news sites combining the power of personal publishing with journalism and analysis. Prior to GigaOM, Liz was a reporter at Red Herring.

Eric is recognized as one of the industry's leading authorities on the intersection of popular entertainment and technology. He is a co-founder of BigChampagne, a privately-held technology and market research company specializing in online media. Eric's commentary appears in the media frequently. Most recently, he has been a repeat guest lecturer at UCLA and the USC Annenberg School for Communication, speaking on the impact of new technologies on entertainment businesses. BigChampagne pioneered the concept of peer-to-peer measurement starting with the popular Napster community, and today is an industry standard research tool. Before co-founding BigChampagne in 1999, Eric was an associate with global management consulting firm Towers Perrin in the Communication and Measurement practice.

Amy joined eCRUSH within months of its launch in 1999. She runs the day-to-day operations, oversees business development and sales, and pilots the strategic management of the business. She has led eCRUSH into emerging markets like online research and wireless and has nurtured top clients in Lead Generation, Sponsorship and Direct Marketing. She is a former Vice President for Global Business Development at the Leo Burnett advertising agency. The eCRUSH Network was acquired by the Hearst Corporation in 2007.

Daniel's career in the music industry began at Brooklyn College radio station WBCR. He served as Vice President of the cutting edge dance/rap indie SAM Records, embracing street bands when larger labels were loath to do so. In 1983, he joined Chrysalis Records, advancing to Senior Vice President. In 1989, he moved to SBK Records, later becoming president with the consolidation of SBK, Chrysalis and EMI Records USA. In 1996, he co-founded Rising Tide Records, which later became Universal Records. In 1999, he joined Artemis Records as Executive Vice President. Recently, he started Glassnote, an entertainment company whose first release is Secondhand Serenade - the number one unsigned artist in the history of Myspace.

Anastasia is an award-winning blogger and often-quoted expert on American tweens, teens and early twentysomethings. Her blog, Ypulse.com, reaches a highly influential audience of agency, brand and media executives as well as social marketers trying to reach youth. The blog has been featured in several leading publications including USA Today, BusinessWeek, Forbes and Fast Company. Anastasia was one of the first graduates of the Medill School of Journalism's new media program at Northwestern University, where she earned an MSJ in 1999. She just completed a book about teens and technology called "Totally Wired," published by St. Martin's Press.

Jane is a 20-year publishing veteran. She's spent most of her career at Condé Nast, where she most recently served as associate publisher, marketing, on the highly successful launch of Teen Vogue. Previously, Jane worked at Gourmet, where she was able to partner with CondeNet colleagues at Epicurious.com on joint programs. Her experience also includes stints at Vogue, Esquire and Details.

David is the Founder and CEO of MOG, the Web's most raging music scene created by a passionate community of music lovers and powered by cutting edge music discovery technology. A digital media pioneer who helped start the first music website, Addicted to Noise, and sold one of the first ads on the Internet, David is former CEO of Gracenote, the world's largest music database and music identification service. He also served as SVP-Marketing at MTV Interactive.

Henry is the Director of the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities. He is the author or editor of nine books on various aspects of media and popular culture, including "Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide" and "Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture." Henry recently developed a white paper on the future of media literacy education for the MacArthur Foundation; is one of the principal investigators for The Education Arcade, a consortium of educators and business leaders working to promote the educational use of computer and video games; and one of the leaders of the Convergence Culture Consortium, which consults with leading players in the branded entertainment sector in hopes of helping them adjust to shifts in the media environment.

Claudia is a Community Developer at Linden Lab, creators of the trailblazing virtual world, Second Life. Claudia supports K-12 educators in facilitating extremely immersive, constructivist learning experiences. She has provided leadership on Internet education projects in the U.S., Brazil, Fiji, Europe, and the Middle East since 1985. She co-founded the Meta-Learning Lab. Her work has been featured on New Dimensions World Broadcasting Network and BBC World Radio. Claudia co-authored the book Creating Learning Communities.

Jacqueline joined C&R in 2006 and is responsible for leading its TeensEyes division. As an experienced researcher, she brings with her a wealth of experience in the teens/young adults market. Over her career, Jacqueline has conducted a variety of unique quantitative and qualitative research projects, immersing herself in the youth culture. Before joining C&R, Jacqueline worked as a independent consultant for a wide variety of clients and industries, including publishing, Internet/e-commerce, automotive, fashion and consumer packaged goods companies. Prior to that, Jacqueline held positions at Time Inc. and Scholastic Inc. assessing and developing marketing, brand awareness and research platforms. She holds a B.A. in Political Science & Sociology from Columbia University.

Amanda has been with the Pew Internet & American Life Project since its inception. Prior to that she worked in communications and journalism, notably as editorial coordinator of Civilization magazine. She graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College with a double major in English and Anthropology, and holds a Masters in Communications, Culture and Technology from Georgetown University. For her research about and knowledge of youth and their use of the Internet, as well as issues of the digital divide, Amanda has been widely quoted in major print news outlets, as well as numerous local, national and public radio and television programs. Her research areas cover children, teens, parents and the Internet, the digital divide, education, content creation, blogging, and instant messaging.

Cory joined Epic Records in 2000 as Director, New Media/Marketing. During his tenure with Epic he has introduced a wide variety of innovative initiatives, including a program that facilitated the placement of third-party advertisements and sponsorships on Epic's online properties. He also has played a key role in building the label's online social network communities through its artist sites as well overseeing the online marketing strategies for the label. Cory began his career in 1989 as a sales manager for The Wall music retail chain. He also has worked as a market research analyst for WMMR-FM, a Philadelphia radio station; at Warner/Elektra/Atlantic; PolyGram Group Distribution; and The Island Def Jam Music Group.

Amy co-launched the first interactive character education-based social network. Her previous entrepreneurial experiences include co-founding a Web 1.0 consulting firm that was Houston's fastest growing privately held company and the largest mid-cap IPO offering in the high-tech sector in 1999. Amy left to co-found MindOH!, a socially responsible company reaching out to youth through innovative and evidence-based technology solutions. Amy speaks at numerous venues across the country and participated in the President's White House Conference on School Safety. She is a contributing author and co-author of several books including a tween/teen anthology on bullying, a project through the MindOH! Foundation.

Chris owns and operates his own artist management company out of New York. After spending years as a senior producer in radio, he redirected his focus and joined The FORCE Artist Management team. It was there that he began molding the careers of a number of East Coast acts and specialized in TV/film placements. In 2006, he opened up Chris Maltese Management and immediately signed Secondhand Serenade, focusing on a marketing plan designed to take advantage of the digital platform. This would lead to a deal with Glassnote Records. In addition to management, Chris continues to represent over 30 artists/bands for TV/film placements.

Since joining HarperCollins Children's Books five years ago, Diane has experienced the shifting of marketing emphasis and dollars from offline to online programs. She spent the last year and a half re-directing responsibilities as well as budgets to reflect the huge online growth including the kid, teen, parent and educator communities. In 1998, she joined Sesame Workshop as Director of Marketing in the Publishing and New Media Group, and in 2000 was named Vice President, General Manager, Publishing. Her responsibilities included developing brand strategies, overseeing new product development, and directing the marketing and licensing programs for all Sesame Workshop properties. Prior to that, Diane spent eight years in marketing and publishing at the National Basketball Association.

Dorrian is the founder of Mozes, a service that allows anyone - from bands to brands to fans - to create interactive mobile experiences. Mozes works directly with music labels to connect fans with the artists they love, including Akon, Hinder and Fall Out Boy, on the mobile phone. Prior to Mozes Dorrian co-founded and served as cEO at HigherMarkets, an on-demand software company focused on higher education. Previously, Dorrian practiced law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he represented a wide range of technology companies. He received his law degree and MBA from the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelors in Public Policy from the University of Ottawa.

Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Qualls. I created Whateverlife.com. I have a passion for colors and design, and allowing others to be creative. Whateverlife.com is a place to express yourself, be it in myspace layouts, custom tutorials, and even more exciting graphics. I created Whateverlife.com back in 2004, but only in 2005 did I decide to add graphics and layouts for others to take. Soon, Whateverlife bloomed and I hope for it to continue its success and growth. :)

VelvetPuffin Co-founder and CEO Chandrasekar (Chandra) is acutely aware of the possibilities presented by the emerging "always on" market. He formed his first company Radixs, at 23, with a vision to distribute content over any wireless network. Radixs' MXI technology became the first wireless operating system capable of running and distributing all content forms on any carrier. MXI now is the technology behind VelvetPuffin, a service that is redefining how social networking communities interact. VelvetPuffin enables users to stay "socially" connected by viewing, creating and sharing all forms of on-line content instantly and seamlessly online and on mobile handsets.

During his 25 years in the record business, Steve has always had one foot in the street and the other in the corporate boardroom. One of the earliest rap entrepreneurs, he recognized the crossover potential of hip-hop at the very beginning as the originator of the "Street Team" concept of grass-roots marketing. Steve started Loud Records in 1992 as the first bicoastal hip-hop label, where he discovered and helped break such acts as Three 6 Mafia and Wu-Tang Clan. He started Loud Films in 1999. After Sony Music took control of Loud Records, Steve started the Street Records Corporation (SRC) label at Universal Records. His latest project is Kids Block, an educational puppet show with an Urban flair, aimed at 2- to 10-year-olds.

Ariel joined Virgin Mobile USA (VMU) in 2006 and brings a record of high performance in leading teams and organizations in successful branding campaigns with almost a decade of experience in the philanthropic sector. She has had a significant role in the launch of VMU's RE-Generation, a partnership with YouthNoise and StandUp For Kids to help build awareness and funds for the millions of young homeless people across the country.

Before joining VMU, Ariel served as the Director of Marketing and Business Development for the UK Sports Charitable Trust in London. Ariel also is the founder of Girls on the Run NYC and School Inc. Mentors, and creator of Girls-in-Sports Day.

Elizabeth rejoins Declare Yourself after spending two years as an Account Supervisor at Current Lifestyle Marketing promoting and planning several events for the Clorox company. Prior to that, as an account lead at LA-based Bragman Nyman Cafarelli, Elizabeth played an integral role in coordinating and executing large-scale PR programs in the entertainment, nonprofit and sports industries. Elizabeth's vast experience has made her a valuable asset in spokespeople media training and pitching and securing placements in local and national media outlets. Elizabeth graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Art Studio.

Since 1991, Gary has focused on qualitative market research among teens and young adults. Before founding GTR Consulting, which specializes in market research and strategic planning targeting kids, teens, and young adults as well as their parents, teachers and coaches, Gary worked as a planner for Foote, Cone and Belding and J. Walter Thompson. He also spent five years as Director of Qualitative Research with Teenage Research Unlimited. Gary has consulted and conducted research for clients in virtually every category including retail, fashion, packaged goods, personal care products, insurance, Web site planning and design, print media, beverages, video games, as well as social marketing. He lives in Mill Valley, California with his wife, and their sons.

Founded in 2005, MySpace Records - a wholly owned subsidiary of MySpace and News Corp. - signs artists featured on the wildly popular social networking site such as Hollywood Undead, Sherwood and Kate Voegele. J. joined in September 2006 and actively searches for talent. Prior to MySpace, J. was at Hollywood Records for six years building and overseeing the artist development department. He developed and collaborated with a diverse roster of artists ranging from Hillary Duff, Jesse McCartney and BB Mak to Los Lobos, Duran Duran, Polyphonic Spree and Breaking Benjamin. Prior to Hollywood Records, J. spent seven years with various companies in artist management including stints with his own Sellout! Management, Bill Graham Management and Worlds End.

John Vesely started getting into music around the age of 12. When it came time to choose a name, he decided to go with Secondhand Serenade because "it basically sums up what I do. I write my songs about events and feelings that occur in my life, and I sing the songs to my wife. Everyone else gets the Secondhand Serenade." John put together a MySpace page and as the number of listeners at his shows began to grow, so did his on-line fan base. Secondhand Serenade shot to the #1 position of all unsigned bands on the site and his demos claimed the #1 position on the Adult Alternative station of Yahoo! Launch. He signed with Glassnote Records and his album was released to retail in February 2007.

Craig leads the company's strategic planning, management, and technology development with a focus on maintaining Gaia's rapid growth as a company and one of the most popular online destinations for teens. Prior to joining Gaia Online, Craig served as an Entrepreneur in Residence for Benchmark Capital. Craig was also COO of MyFamily.com, where he helped grow the company from $23 Million to $150 Million in sales. During his tenure, Craig helped re-focus the company on its consumer subscription business and grew that from 200,000 to over 2 million subscribers, taking the company from significant losses to profitability.

Tim is responsible for the creative development of networks and programming. He has been a creative executive in interactive and mobile media for over a decade, working widely in emerging media including interactive television, mobile entertainment, and social networking. In 1996, Tim co-founded Proteus, a pioneering interactive agency and mobile content company, where he was responsible for the first-ever interactive television broadcast in the U.S. using mobile phones during Fox's Super Bowl XXXVI; co-produced four seasons of interactive TV for Fox Sports' MLB, NFL, and NASCAR broadcasts; and developed numerous other innovative projects for HBO, ABC and Fox. After Proteus' acquisition in 2004, Tim worked with a number of organizations on their interactive strategies.

Jed oversees the company's mobile strategy. Previously, Jed played key partnership, business operations, and strategic roles at high-growth businesses. Prior to Facebook, Jed spearheaded mobile initiatives for Yahoo!, building the company's efforts to empower seamless communications across multiple access technologies. At Tellme, Jed managed distribution, promotion, and licensing relationships with leading online and telecommunications partners. Jed holds a law degree from Santa Clara University and a bachelor's degree in economics and public policy from Duke University.

Perfect happiness: Miles of uninterrupted singletrack. Losing track of time. Old growth forests.
I most admire: Katherine Switzer and Joan Benoit Samuelson. If you're a woman and you've ever run a marathon, you have both these ladies to thank.
Favorite athlete: Dick and Ricky Hoyt. At age 60 Dick ran faster than me at the Boston Marathon, pushing his son Ricky in a wheelchair.
Favorite sports moment Watching the Wolverines win the Rose Bowl in 1981 with my dad. RIP Bo.
Top personal sports achievement: Hiking up and boarding down Mt St Helens.
I've been a teacher, editor, and investigative reporter. My careers have changed, but I've always been an athlete and sports fan.

Lance is a co-founder of RockYou!, and brings more than 15 years of software and management experience to the company. Prior to RockYou!, Lance held Vice President & Chief Technology Officer positions in consumer and enterprise Web services companies Iconix and Open Harbor, and was an early employee at Resumix, now Yahoo! HotJobs. Lance holds patents in text extraction and document categorization, with an email patent pending as well, and has received the American Association of Artificial Intelligence Award of Innovation for work on spatial text understanding. He received his Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaii, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas.

Javan manages the company Web presence, spanning online marketing to site design and deployment. During the last two years, he's been responsible for the design and implementation of the redesigned home website, the Schools for Schools site, and the Displace Me event site. Previously, he spent three years at Digitaria, one of San Diego's leading Web design agencies. With his transition to Invisible Children, Javan brought his expertise in design, as well as a strong background in the capabilities of Web 2.0 and current Web-based technologies.

Peter began in the beverage business when he founded Urban Hand Ltd. in 1987. Urban Hand was the largest independent distributor of New Age beverages in Western Canada. In 1995, Peter initiated the creation and launch of Jones Soda Co. and its own brands. Jones Soda is best known for its innovative labeling technique that incorporates always-changing photos sent in from its consumers. Jones Soda was a pioneer in launching its soda to alternative channels as well as creating an interactive soda, which further allows its consumers to create their own personalized case of "myjones" online, With such a strong emotional connection between the brand and its consumer, Jones has quickly developed a cult-like following in the youth demographic in North America as well as becoming the leader in the premium soda category.

Larry's 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry encompasses nearly every area, including marketing, sales, advertising, merchandising and event management. As Vice-President of Artist Development/Artist Relations at A&M Records, he was instrumental in developing the careers of Sheryl Crow, Gin Blossoms, Blues Traveler, Soundgarden, MxPx and Dishwalla. While at A&M, Larry simultaneously operated a personal management firm representing multi-platinum Artists such as Korn, The Offspring and Social Distortion. In 1998, Larry co-founded Fanscape, the leading new media marketing agency. He also runs Amp Management, a band management company, and manages a band called Taking Back Sunday. Larry is a two-time recipient of Pollstar Magazine's Artist Development Executive of the Year award. He has a degree in Economics from University of California, San Diego.

As CEO, Alex is responsible for developing the overall vision, strategy and product roadmap for the company. In 2003, Alex and his Co-Founder Darren Crystal observed that e-commerce and social networking users were in need of an easy-to-use centralized "hub" to store and publish images. Alex and Darren have spent three years building, tuning, and enhancing the application and core infrastructure of Photobucket. Prior to founding Photobucket, Alex was a software engineer at Level 3 Communications, where he was responsible for developing advanced networking software and services. Alex received his BS degree from Colorado State University, with an emphasis in Computer Information Systems.

Tina began writing reviews at age 16. The overwhelming response to her innovative ideas was the motivator that shaped the Buzz Marketing Group. With the help of a worldwide network of 9,000+ teen consultants, Tina has created ground-breaking marketing strategies and youth market research for numerous genres that include major music industry and fashion label icons. Tina has a B.A. in Communications Arts from Hood College and is currently in a post-baccalaureate program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business for marketing management. Tina is a proud member of the Christopher Reeve Foundation advisory board, as well as the Friends of the Orphans Project FRIENDS advisory board.

Adam recently served as a mobile media strategist to Infospace Mobile, Disney MVNO, Moviso, and Flame Ventures. At Infospace and Disney, Adam led strategic planning for their next generation mobile media applications. He was vice president of North American distribution at WorldRes, where his team managed more than a thousand affiliate and strategic online travel partners including Travelocity, Yahoo, AOL, Lodging.com, Verizon, Rand McNally, and Sidestep. Adam was VP, Business Development & Strategy at a company that now is part of Agency.com, securing Mandalay Bay, Warner Home Video, Six Flags, Princess Cruises, and Fox FX as clients. He started his career as a McKinsey consultant.