
2008 Confirmed Speakers
Have a suggestion for a speaker or topic for 2009? Contact Emily Warren - Emily at IADAS dot Net - with your suggestions.
Keynote Speakers
Confirmed Speakers
Nina Bhatti
Principal Scientist, HP Labs, Hewlett-Packard
A thought leader, Bhatti has worked as in Intrepreneur within HP since 1996, delivering the design and creation of consumer and lifestyle mobile technologies for some of HP's largest customers. She has also done extensive research in consumer connection technologies, web, and networking performance. Bhatti holds a Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Arizona and a BA. from the University of California, Berkeley. She has published 30 papers and has 25 patents filed.
Susan Bonds
President / CEO, 42 Entertainment2008 Webby Winner
Since then, she has produced the most groundbreaking of 42's projects, including 2005's Last Call Poker alternate reality game for Activision/Neversoft's FPS "GUN", 2006's Dead Man's Tale interactive game for Disney/Microsoft, 2007's The Vanishing Point, the first global puzzle game with clues to online puzzles embedded in spectacular events held in a dozen cities around the globe designed to celebrate the launch of Windows Vista and Year Zero alternate reality experience for the launch of NIN's album in April 2007, and the current Why So Serious? alternate reality experience for Warner Bros' The Dark Knight.
Directly prior to joining 42, Susan was Chief Design and Production Officer for Cyan Worlds, where she was responsible for the multiplayer online interactive game URU: Ages Beyond Myst. Susan led the design, production, technology integration, marketing, publishing, music development and project management for the initiative, working with Rand Miller, CEO and co-founder of Cyan, and also produced realMyst, a three-dimensional world version of the popular PC game. Prior to this, Susan worked for ten years as Creative Director/Senior Show Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, where she directed the design and development of major attractions, themed architecture, Internet entertainment projects, and proprietary new ride systems. Her portfolio spanned Tokyo, California, Florida, and New York, and included attractions such as "Indiana Jones Adventure" for Disneyland, "Alien Encounters" for Walt Disney World, "Mission: SPACE" for Epcot and ABC Times Square Studios Exterior in New York.
Susan started her career at Walt Disney in 1980 as an industrial engineer, and then worked for seven years at Lockheed as an Aircraft and Systems Engineer on Advanced Development Projects. Susan has an Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Georgia State University.
Andy Cohen
Senior Vice President / Production & Programming, Bravo
In addition, Cohen writes "Andy's Blog," a daily blog at BravoTV.com about pop culture, television, media, and his daily life and hosts "Watch What Happens," BravoTV.com's first live-streaming online program. On the show, Cohen takes calls, emails and texts from viewers across the country with questions for live guests like Tim Gunn, Jonathan Adler, Padma Lakshmi, Bravo reality stars and tastemakers. Cohen frequently appears on CNN and various media outlets such as "The View" as a pop culture pundit for the Bravo network.
Previous to his current position, Cohen was Vice President of Original Programming for TRIO (pop, culture, tv), beginning in July 2000. In 2005, Cohen won a Peabody Award for his role as Executive Producer of the TRIO documentary "The N Word". Cohen has been nominated for five Emmy Awards as executive Producer of "Project Greenlight", "Project Runway", "Top Chef", and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". Prior to working for NBC Universal, Cohen was Senior Producer for CBS News' "The Early Show" where he oversaw the production of entertainment segments.
Born in St. Louis, Mr. Cohen is a graduate of Boston University where he received his BA degree in broadcast journalism.
Jackie Danicki
Director of Marketing, Qik
Jackie's work has been highlighted by British Vogue, the New York Times, Allure, the Sunday Telegraph (London), the Sunday Times (London), Women's Wear Daily, and many others. She is a frequent presenter at events in the US and Europe.
Mark D'Arcy
SVP / Chief Creative Officer, Time Warner Global Media GroupAcademy Member
Over the years he created numerous award-winning campaigns for clients such as Sony Electronics, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Nissan, The Star Alliance Network, M&M Mars and the Fire Department Museum of New York.
A marketing graduate of the Auckland University of Technology, Mark is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Science and is proud to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the City of New York, the Independent Feature Project and the Ad Council's creative review committee.
David-Michel Davies
Executive Director, The Webby Awards / International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences
Last year's Webby Awards received a record 9,700 entries from over 40 countries and was capped by a sold-out ceremony featuring industry luminaries such as David Byrne, Stephen Colbert, Director Michel Gondry, and recording artist will.i.am. Most recently, Davies spearheaded the launch of the The Webby Film and Video Awards, the first major awards honoring original film and video premiering on the Internet.
Ken Eklund
WriterguyCreator, World Without Oil
2008 Webby Nominee
Ken's career spans twenty years and over two dozen game titles plus more than a dozen educational Internet projects. He has helped develop game designs and narratives as commercial entertainment, for universities and non-profits, and for clients in the private sector. His passion is to help games, especially online social games, realize their potential to affect people artistically and promote the public good.
Arlene Fairfield
Principal, Global Change NetworkFounder, DDB BIG
Arlene began her career at DDB focusing on environmental and health-related clients including the US Environmental Protection Agency, Genentech, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and New Organics. Arlene oversaw campaigns that resulted in a gold EFFIE, Cannes Lion, Emmy, Silver Anvils, and Clio.
Her community involvement includes her position as founder of the Pacific Northwest Corporate Social Responsibility Network, board member and former board president of the Women's Funding Alliance, and advisor to the Northwest Women's Law Center. Arlene has a B.S. in Marketing from Georgetown University and a Masters in business and environmental management from the University of Washington. Arlene lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and two-year-old daughter.
Peter Frankfurt
Creative Director and Managing Partner, Imaginary Forces
Also a filmmaker, Frankfurt has produced several movies, among them: Juice, Boys, and all of the Blade films, based on the Marvel comic book character. Additionally, Frankfurt oversees all projects at IF. Frankfurt was the Creative Director on the award winning "Mad Men" main titles for AMC/Lionsgate, the Spike TV and USA Network branding projects, the film titles for The Spiderwick Chronicles and The Number 23, teasers for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers and National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and commercial campaigns for Time Warner Cable, Infiniti, Pontiac, Sears, Nokia, and Nike. In the area of Experience Design, Frankfurt has overseen projects ranging from dynamic signage for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to interactive online communities, including the highly successful MTV Virtual Laguna Beach. Most recently, he collaborated with architect Greg Lynn and filmmaker Alex McDowell to create New City, the world's first architecturally considered virtual environment. New City was a featured exhibit at the critically acclaimed show Design and the Elastic Mind at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
A native New Yorker, Frankfurt spent his youth watching his father, Steve Frankfurt, a renowned art director, advertising pioneer and former president of Young & Rubicam create movie campaigns and television commercials. While studying history at Columbia University, he began working as a production assistant at the innovative design firm, R/Greenberg Associates. Within a few years, he became a creative director and executive producer noted for building strong relationships with artists and clients.
Frankfurt's work has been honored by numerous organizations including: The British Design and Art Directors Club, The New York Art Directors Club, The Clios, The Association of Graphic Artists, and The Association of Independent Commercial Producers. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Matt Freeman
CEO, GoFish2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
Freeman also started and scaled specialized business units in Search (SEM & SEO), Hosting, Database development & Analytics (including proprietary econometric modeling applications), Digital Healthcare Marketing, Gaming, Mobile, iTV and Strategic Consulting.
In January 2006, AdWeek named Tribal DDB Worldwide its Interactive Agency of the Year and in January 2008, Adverting Age awarded it Global Agency Network of the Year. Both publications cited Freeman's leadership as a critical factor in Tribal's enduring success.
In 1997 and 1998, Freeman was Executive Creative Director Modem Media / Poppe Tyson (since then acquired by Digitas, Inc.; now a Division of Publicis Group). There, he led efforts on IBM & other key clients and was part of the merger integration team with Modem Media and Poppe Tyson. Before that, he was Partner, Executive Creative Director at Poppe Tyson (formerly a division of True North, now Interpublic Group) from 1995 to 1997. Earlier in his career, Mr. Freeman was a writer at MTV working on Beavis & Butthead and MTV Beach House and he was a private school English teacher.
Freeman, a graduate of Dartmouth College and the NY School of Visual Arts, has been inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement; is the Founder of the Interactive Agency Board of the IAB, is an active Board member of the Advertising Club and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) and is a member of the Marketing Advisory Board of the Modern Museum of Art (MOMA).
Mike Geiger
Chief Digital Officer, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
Work that Mike has produced has won numerous awards at the most prestigious award shows including: One Show Interactive, Cannes Cyber Lions, Clios, The Art Directors Club, D&AD and FlashForward.
Mike is also involved in many speaking engagements at venues like the Future Marketing Awards, Boards Creative Work Shops and Summits, the Media Strategy Forum and Flash Conferences like FITC and OFFF. He also guest lectured in the MBA program at Stanford University. In 2008 Mike was inducted into the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and also judged the New York Festivals, The Webby Awards and the London International Advertising Awards.
Before joining the world of advertising, Mike worked at design & production studios like Method, Spyplane and Thunk Design. Originally from Munich, Germany he now lives in San Francisco. Mike graduated from the University of San Diego with a BA in Business Administration and received an MBA in Marketing Management from the University of San Francisco in 1995.
David Gensler
Co-Founder and President, Keystone Design Union2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
He also serves as Editor in Chief of the Royal Magazine a print and online magazine that focuses on the collision between art, design and business - the Cultivation of Culture fueled by global youth. Gensler is an active lecturer and speaker on Dynamic Competitive Brand Strategy, Design Innovation and Youth Culture and is passionately engaged in research connecting media, economics, philosophy and design. Gensler has been credited with pioneering Human Brand Development - the strategy of applying corporate brand development tactics to Human (celebrity) based brands to achieve more predictable and sustainable results. Gensler also is credited for his early work in recognizing the emerging Mash Culture, a term now used to define global youth segments active roll in the development of transparent culture.
Before founding the KDU, Gensler was Chief Brand Officer of ROC brands, and President of Native DBG (the ROC's internal innovation division) where David managed all brands under the Rocafella umbrella, including Rocafella Records (Universal / Def Jam), Rocawear, State Property, Armadale Vodka and approximately 10 other related global brands. Before the ROC, Gensler was CEO of Human Brand, a Brand Development and Design firm located in Philadelphia, PA. He also served as Chief Creative Officer of Monsoon, a Philadelphia based marketing and design firm.
Rob Giampietro
Vice President, AIGA/NY
From 2003 to 2008, he was co-founder and principal of the award-winning design studio Giampietro+Smith with clients ranging from Gagosian Gallery to the United Nations. He teaches at Parsons The New School for Design in New York and in the graduate graphic design program at RISD in Providence, RI.
Rob is the vice president of AIGA/NY and a graduate of Yale University. His design writing is available at linedandunlined.com.
Virgil Griffith
Founder, Wikiscanner
He is now graduate student in the computation and neural systems department at the California Institute of Technology.
Amy B. Harris
Writer / Producer
Amy is currently developing a one-hour dramedy for Fox Television, a half-hour single camera comedy with best-selling author Plum Sykes for NBC, and a family comedy for Universal Films. "Puppy Love," a new series Amy created, will premiere on the content site Lstudio.com. This series of scripted shorts, benefiting the ASPCA, is a comedic look at people who love their dogs, and the people who love them. Amy developed the series, wrote and directed many of the episodes, and was luckily enough to bring in much of the "Sex and the City" creative and production team to contribute to the anthology. This Fall, Puppy Love will be unleashed on the website Lstudio.com. Amy B. Harris currently resides in Manhattan with Oscar, her King Charles Cavalier.
Virginia Heffernan
Columnist, The New York Times Magazine
In 2002, she received a Ph.D. in English from Harvard.
Graham Hill
Founder, TreeHugger.comVice President / Interactive Media, Planet Green
2007 Webby Winner; Academy Member
He currently focuses on pushing sustainability into the mainstream through TreeHugger.com, which in 4 short years has become one of the most respected and trafficked environmental sites on the web.
Hill and the TreeHugger.com team recently joined the Discovery Communications family of networks as part of its Planet Green multi-platform, global environmental initiative. Additionally, he owns a product business that sells a New York souvenir he designed a few years ago into150 stores including MoMA.
Graham has a Bachelor of Architecture with distinction from Carleton University in Ottawa and did advanced studies in Industrial Design at E.C.I.A.D, Vancouver. Graham has lived all over the world and his guiltiest sin is air travel (offset of course). He speaks English, French, German and Spanish and is addicted to squash.
Jason Hirschhorn
President, Sling Media Entertainment Group
The Sling Media Entertainment Group is also chartered with managing Sling Media's existing and future collaborative efforts with content creators, distributors and advertisers.
Prior to joining Sling Media, Hirschhorn was a Founding Partner at TripleH Media Advisors, a digital media consultancy. Before TripleH, Jason was Chief Digital Officer at MTV Networks. At MTV Networks, Jason was responsible for the company's digital media businesses and interactive strategy. Hirschhorn joined MTV Networks in March 2000 via the acquisition of his company, Mischief New Media, a leading web site design and content development firm he founded to serve the entertainment industry.
Xeni Jardin
Co-Editor, BoingBoing; Host & Executive Producer, BoingBoing TV
Her work has appeared in online and print venues including the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, WIRED News, Playboy, Popular Science, Gotham, Nerve, Grammy Magazine, Make, and elsewhere. Online culture projects include the SENT phonecam art show, and the digital culture event "Live From the Blogosphere." She has hosted, produced, and/or created tech culture events including Wired Magazine's Nextfest, and the Investment Capital Conference (which, in its 15th year, is the world's longest-running venture capital conference).
Previously, she was Vice President of Rising Tide Studios (RTS), the publishing company behind Silicon Alley Reporter, Digital Coast Reporter, and other tech publications. Xeni served as Senior Writer and oversaw the company's annual conference series, which included The Rising Tide Summit (hosted by Charlie Rose of "The Charlie Rose Show" and "60 Minutes II"), Silicon Alley 2001, Wireless 2001, The International Network, Internet Healthcare 2001, The Venture Capital Summit, Digital Coast 2000, as well as a series of invite-only CEO gatherings. Participants and speakers included CEOs, authors, artists, and thought leaders from business, media, academia and government.
Before joining RTS, she worked with former executives from Sun and BEA to launch an internet technology company in Silicon Valley. She was previously Supervisor of Enterprise Web Technology at Latham & Watkins, one of the world's largest law firms. The online litigation support projects she directed were cited as industry-leading examples of legal technology. Based in Los Angeles, she travels extensively, and has studied over a dozen languages including Maohi (Tahitian), Quiché and Kakchikel Maya (Guatemala), Nahuatl (an indigenous language of Mexico), Mandarin Chinese, and Yoruba (Nigeria).
David Karp
Founder, Tumblr
Steve Kirsch
Founder, Chairman / Abaca2008 Webby Winner
While at Infoseek, Steve was responsible for creating many of the company's award-winning products, including the NetSearch service, Ultraseek Server, Infoseek Express, GO Guides, and GO Auction. Steve's first start up was Mouse Systems Corporation. Afterward, he founded Frame Technology, which was acquired by Adobe.
Steve is also an active philanthropist and together with his wife Michele, started a $75 million foundation, which donates to a wide variety of charitable causes. In 1999, Steve and Michele were named Outstanding Philanthropists of the Year by the Silicon Valley chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, and recognized by Slate Magazine as the 8th largest charitable givers in America.
Steve holds both B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Aaron Koblin
Google Creative Lab
MFA Design|Media Arts UCLA
Jane Levere
Freelance Journalist
She also has written for Conde Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Brides and Advertising Age, and served as the on-air travel specialist for WNBC's "Weekend Today in New York." Before embarking on her freelance career, Jane held editorial positions at Frequent Flyer, Travel Weekly and Editor & Publisher, and served as the deputy public affairs director of the White House Conference on Families.
She holds a bachelor of arts degree in American Studies from Smith College.
Adam Lowry
Co-Founder & Chief Greenskeeper / Method Products, Inc.
As Chief Greenskeeper, Adam's focus is bringing sustainable innovations to the method business. He also directs the sustainability aspects of product design, sourcing, and production, and provides strategic input for consumer marketing and the press.
Adam holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University, and resides in San Francisco with his wife, Mara.
Betsy Morgan
CEO, Huffington Post2008 Webby Winner
Prior to joining HuffPost, Betsy was general manager of CBSNews.com, the network's 24-hour news service, and was a senior vice president at CBS News, where she was in charge of business development, digital media and new television ventures.
She has also worked for News Corporation's American Sky Broadcasting and in investment banking. Betsy is a graduate of Colby College and the Harvard Business School.
Justin Ouellette
Founder, Muxtape
Fascinated by the intersection of digital and analog, he also maintains chromogenic.net, an early photoblog featuring exclusively film photography.
Justin came to New York in 2006 and worked as a photo editor before becoming the head of front end development at Vimeo. In 2008 he left to focus on personal projects, launching Muxtape in late March. He lives and works in Chinatown.
Jamie Pallot
Editorial Director, CondéNet2008 Webby Winner
This year, Pallot was inducted to MIN's Digital Hall of Fame, joining previous honorees including Chris Anderson and Christie Hefner; in 2005 he received the ASME award for General Excellence Online as editor of Style.com.
Pallot came to CondéNet from Time Inc. Interactive where, as an editorial consultant, he oversaw a redesign of People.com. Previously, he spent three years as the Executive Producer at New York Sidewalk, the acclaimed online city guide published by Microsoft. Pallot has also served as Editorial Director of Canadian magazine, web and tv company Shift Multimedia; Editorial Director, New Media, for NewsCorp; and Editor of Britain's Virgin Movie Guide. He was written a syndicated movie review column, and appeared on CNBC as an expert on the entertainment industry.
Mr. Pallot was educated at the University of Sussex, the University of the Sorbonne, and St. Catherine's College, Oxford.
Aaron Patzer
Founder and CEO, Mint2008 Webby Winner
Aaron holds an MSEE from Princeton University and a BS in computer science, computer engineering, and electrical engineering from Duke University. He has ten patents filed or pending.
David Pescovitz
Co-Editor, BoingBoingResearch Director, Institute for the Future
2006 Webby Winner; Academy Member
photo credit: Bart Nagel
In 2002, he won the Foresight Prize in Communication, recognizing excellence in educating the public and research community about nanotechnology and other emerging technologies. Pescovitz holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Electronic Media from the University of Cincinnati and a Master's in Journalism from UC Berkeley.
John Poisson
Founder and CEO, Tiny Pictures
John earned his undergraduate degree in cinematography from Boston University, where he also later served as an adjunct professor in the graduate film program.
Lenn Pryor
VP Product Marketing / Services and Software, Nokia
Lenn started his career as a designer and creative director building websites for AOL and MCI as co-founder of Ironlight Digital in San Francisco. Lenn attended George Mason University in Fairfax, VA from 1990-94 and studied German Language and Literature and Design Arts. He holds no degrees.
Dr. Vicki Rabenou
Chief Measurement Officer, TruMedia Technologies
She was founder and CEO of SearchLINC, a videoconferencing network for human resource applications and co-founder of VCON, which provides videoconferencing solutions. In addition to her positions with the above mentioned "edge" technology companies, Dr. Rabenou has served as a Director of the Steering and Investments committee, with the Chief Scientist Office in the Israeli Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor, securing financing to early stage companies.
Dr. Rabenou is a graduate of Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem with training in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Scott Roesch
Vice President / General Manager, Atom.com
He aligned Atom.com with Comedy Central in 2008, becoming the network's exclusive partner and anchor brand for original digital comedy programming. Atom is currently developing dozens of comedy properties for multiplatform distribution, and premiered a half-hour late-night TV series, "Atom TV," on Comedy Central in June 2008.
Scott spent 4 years in online gaming as VP of Marketing for Shockwave.com between 2001 and 2005, helping to launch the brand's innovative and successful e-commerce and subscription businesses. He began his career in digital media at Starwave Corporation in 1994, serving as an editor and producer for several of the Web's early consumer media properties, including MrShowbiz.com and ESPN.com.
Nicolas Roope
Creative Partner, POKE London2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
He is a frequent contributor to ICON and Design Week, and his work and ideas have been widely distributed through the on and off-line worlds. Nicolas also founded the Pokia / Hulger project (www.hulger.com), another creative slant on technology, but in this instance physical. Three of Hulger's products have recently been included in MoMA's permanent design collection.
Roy Sekoff
Founding Editor, Huffington Post2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
Tim Shey
Co-Founder / Head of Entertainment Programming, Next New Networks
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 NBC's 2004 Olympic Games, and developed numerous other innovative projects including network-wide mobile content offerings for HBO, ABC, Discovery Channel, and FOX.
After Proteus' successful acquisition in 2004 by the Japan-based For-Side Group, Tim went on to work with a number of organizations on their interactive strategies and produced original content for the web and mobile devices including Amanda Across America, with Amanda Congdon, the animated series Afterworld, and the everydog show Worldwide Fido.
Tim's personal blog is at shey.net.
Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
Chairman and Publisher, The New York Times2008 Webby Winner
During Mr. Sulzberger's tenure as publisher, The Times has earned 34 Pulitzer Prizes and provided its readers with innumerable examples of momentous journalism such as its breakthrough series "How Race is Lived in America," its internationally acclaimed coverage of the September 11 terrorist attack in a "A Nation Challenged" and "Portraits of Grief," "Class Matters," a 11-part series exploring class in American society, "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts," an expose of the Bush Administration's use of wiretaps and "China Rises," a four-part, multimedia series.
Before coming to The Times, Mr. Sulzberger was a reporter with The Raleigh (N.C.) Times from 1974 to 1976, and a London correspondent for The Associated Press from 1976 to 1978.
Mr. Sulzberger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Tufts University in 1974. He is also a 1985 graduate of the Harvard Business School's Program for Management Development.
Iain Tait
Creative Partner, POKE London2008 Webby Winner; Academy Member
From Syzygy he moved to become the Director of Product Development for First Tuesday, a networking organisation connecting entrepreneurs to VCs. After playing a supporting role in causing the .com boom he realised he missed the creative opportunities of agency life. So he moved to Oven Digital. Which went bust.
After a short period of running an ahead-of-it's-time (i.e. irrelevant in the marketplace) startup focussing on hybridised entertainment properties, it once again dawned that what Iain really likes is solving problems for brands using internet stuff. So he started Poke with 5 other homeless digital veterans. Poke is a creative agency that focuses on the digital space.
As well as working with clients like Orange, WWF, American Express, Zopa and Yahoo! Iain writes a blog at crackunit.com and gets involved with a bunch of industry things. As a winner of some awards he's ended up being a judge for D&AD, OneShow, Art Directors Club of New York, The Clios and Creative Circle. He's also especially proud to be a member of IADAS. These experiences have left him with a brain full of other people's great work and a nagging sense of inadequacy.
And finally, he absolutely hates writing about himself in the third person, it makes him feel very odd.
Joan Walsh
Editor in Chief, Salon.com2007 Webby Nominee; Academy Member
Before starting at Salon, she worked for many years as a consultant to national and regional foundations, including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and California's James Irvine Foundation.
An avid baseball fan, she is the author of "Splash Hit: The Pacific Bell Park Story" (Chronicle Books, 2001) as well as "Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America" (Rockefeller Foundation, 1997). She lives in San Francisco with her daughter, Nora.
Michael Zimbalist
Vice President / Research & Development Operations, The New York Times2008 Webby Winner
Since joining the Times Company in January 2006, Mr. Zimbalist has successfully extended the reach of the company's brands onto emerging platforms such as the mobile Web, mobile messaging and online video.
As a member of the Times Company's digital leadership, Mr. Zimbalist has been instrumental in structuring strategic alliances including partnerships with Monster.com, Yahoo and Google. And under his direct leadership, Boston.com has extended its reach in New England through the introduction of local products and services, while growing a robust display advertising business. Mr. Zimbalist is a frequent speaker on digital media and advertising. He has been widely quoted in publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Advertising Age, and has been a guest commentator on NBC News, CNN and BBC Radio.
Before joining the Times Company, Mr. Zimbalist co-founded the Online Publishers Association and served as its president. He currently serves on the board of QuadrantOne, an online sales organization focused on premium advertisers seeking high-quality audiences and national reach.
Mr. Zimbalist received a B.A. degree in chemistry and philosophy from Brown University in 1979. He lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife and three children.

