Judging the IAB MIXX Awards

The coveted global IAB MIXX Awards is judged by an independent panel of highly acclaimed thought leaders in the advertising ecosystem—advertising agency executives who create campaigns for the world’s most powerful brands, marketers with direct control over many of the largest advertising budgets in the world and major media company leaders.

Intense scrutiny during the judging process ensures that winning submissions truly reflect the industry’s best work and reward the creatives and brands successfully using innovation to push interactive to new levels. With two intensive phases of judging by some of the most demanding marketing executives, winning a IAB MIXX Award is one of the most sought-after honors in interactive advertising.

Phase One
The screening committee—comprised of senior marketing professionals that are members of the IAB—individually evaluates and scores each submission. Every entry is evaluated by multiple committee members to ensure an accurate, thorough review. The four entries with the highest scores become the finalists for each category.

The 2013 IAB MIXX Awards Screening Committee will be announced shortly.

Phase Two
An independent panel of highly acclaimed representatives of the entire interactive advertising ecosystem—advertising agency experts, brand marketers and major media company executives—convenes in New York for sequestering and a day of intense debate with the goal of selecting the most creative and successful interactive work in each category and determine the Best in Show. These winners are announced and recognized at the IAB MIXX Awards Gala on Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Times Square, in New York City.

The 2013 IAB MIXX Awards Judging Panel includes:

Jeff Benjamin – Chief Creative Officer, JWT North America
Lincoln Bjorkman – Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, North America, DIGITAS
Brad Brinegar – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, McKinney, and Founding Chairman, IAB Agency Advisory Board
Ed Brojerdi – President and Co-Chief Creative Officer, kbs+
Amy Choyne – Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Kenneth Cole Productions
Andreas Combuechen – Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Creative Officer, Atmosphere Proximity
Emma Cookson – Chairman, BBH New York
Susan Credle – Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett
Brian DiLorenzo – Executive Vice President and Chief Production Officer, McCann New York and Commonwealth
Marjorie Dufek – Interactive Marketing Director, Brown-Forman Corporation
Jane Grenier – Vice President, Integrated Strategy, Condé Nast Media Group
Laurie Koehler – Consumer Campaigns Activation Manager, Americas Marketing Group, Intel Corporation
Nick Law – Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA
Michael Lebowitz – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Big Spaceship
Jean-Philippe Maheu – Head, International Brand and Agency Strategy, Twitter
Andy Markowitz – Director, Global Digital Strategy, General Electric Company
Benjamin Palmer – Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Creative Officer, The Barbarian Group
Lou Paskalis –Vice President, Global Media Content Development and Mobile Marketing, American Express
Elizabeth Pizzinato – Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
Suzie Reider – Head, Media Solutions, YouTube/Google
David Roman – Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Lenovo
Alan Schulman – Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro NY
Baba Shetty – CEO, The Newsweek Daily Beast Company   
Shiv Singh – Global Head of Digital, PepsiCo
Marla Skiko – Executive Vice President and Director, Digital Innovation, SMG Multicultural
Rick Song – Executive Vice President, National Digital Sales, Clear Channel Media + Entertainment
Sarah Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Droga5
Steve Wax – Partner, Ladies & Gentlemen and Cooke&Co.

Additional judges will be announced shortly.

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Jeff Benjamin, former Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, joined JWT in 2012 as Chief Creative Officer, North America.

During his career, Jeff has navigated clients through the interactive landscape with great success, creating some of the world’s most famous campaigns. His ability to lead multi-national marketers to break new ground opens up endless possibilities for brands.

The work Jeff has created for brands such as Domino’s Pizza, Coke Zero, Microsoft, Kraft, and Best Buy are among the most successful marketing campaigns of all time.

Jeff has been recognized by every major industry award show, winning the Grand Prix at Cannes in 3 different categories, Best of Show at the One Show, and the Grand Clio at the Clio Awards. He served as the Cyber Jury President at Cannes in 2010, has been profiled in Fast Company and The New York Times, appeared in the ‘Creativity 50’ and is regularly called upon by television networks to comment on the state of the industry.

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As EVP, Chief Creative Officer, North America at Digitas, Bjorkman has creative responsibility for the agency’s North American offices including New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Detroit and one of their largest accounts, American Express. He sits on the Digitas North America Leadership Team and works on a range of other agency clients that include GM, Travelers and eBay. Business Insider recently named him one of the 25 Most Creative People in Advertising.

Prior to Digitas, Bjorkman worked at Y&R serving first as director of concepts for the Wunderman New York office, and then later as creative director and principal of Y&R’s new BRAND BUZZ. At BRAND BUZZ he leveraged his multi-discipline background to create award-winning programs across all disciplines and media channels for Y&R clients like SONY, Colgate, Dr.Pepper/7up and many more.

Bjorkman’s work has won multiple CANNES LIONS, MIXX, CLIO, ECHO, EFFIE, NY Festivals, PROMO Pro, OMMA and REGGIE creative awards and has been featured in Communication Arts. During his tenure at Digitas, the agency’s creative has been repeatedly recognized at Cannes (including two Gran Prix and Titanium Lion awards) and with WEBBY, CLIO, MIXX, EFFIE and One Show awards. Digitas was also honored with first ever CLIO Special Award for Facebook Integrated Media, Grand and Gold Clios, top “Blue” honors at the inaugural Facebook Studio Awards, multiple OMMA Agency of the Year awards (including 2012 & 2011) and other industry honors.

He shares a U.S. Patent for digital work developed on behalf of American Express and holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University (with Honors in English). While there he wrote his honors thesis on William Faulkner’s short fiction and reported for The Associate Press. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, twins and a dog named Scout.

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Brad joined McKinney in 2002 to build what Effie Worldwide called “the most effective independent agency in the world” for 2012. He led a buyback of the agency in 2008 followed by a recent sale to Cheil Worldwide, giving McKinney access to 30 countries. Brad is on the 4A’s board and was founding chair of the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Agency Advisory Board. Over two decades prior to McKinney, he rose from trainee to CEO of Leo Burnett USA. He has an Anthropology AB from Dartmouth and a Finance MBA from Columbia. His move of McKinney to Durham helped spark a renaissance of the city, now ranked consistently tanked one of the best places to live and work in America.

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Ed is a life-long entrepreneur and avid technologist. He began his career at the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), overseeing the global enterprise application development teams. Most recently, he was co-founder and COO of SPLIT, a creative technology organization at IPG.

With over ten years of experience on blue-chip brands such as Microsoft, MasterCard and Verizon, Ed brings a progressive, digital focus into the agency environment. During his tenure, he’s deployed scores of enterprise and consumer-facing applications, across all mediums [web/mobile/desktop]. Ed is also the kbs+ creative lead on the BMW North America account.

At kbs+, Ed enjoys directly infusing emerging technology trends and capabilities into the ideation and execution phase of client and brand work. In addition to overseeing various client-based development initiatives, Ed and the kbs+ technology teams work to concept and build white-label digital tools and platforms for consumers and brands.

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Amy Choyne has 15+ years marketing executive leadership and global marketing experience. She currently holds the title of SVP/CMO Kenneth Cole Productions where she oversees all marketing, advertising, visual display, social media, cause marketing, public relations, customer insights and data analysis. Prior to that Ms Choyne served as Global Executive Director of Marketing for Anthropologie, a division of URBN Inc., from 2010 to 2012. Ms. Choyne also served as Vice President of Marketing at Barneys New York from 2006 to 2010. An expert in consumer brand management and brand-building across all channels, Amy has also held senior marketing positions within Giorgio Armani S.p.A., The Limited Brands and A|X Armani Exchange.

Ms. Choyne earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She also holds a secondary degree in Graphic Design & Advertising from Parsons School of Design.

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Andreas is Atmosphere’s Chairman, Chief Executive and Creative Officer and is recognized as one of the digital industry’s foremost creative branding experts.  He’s renowned for his ability to aid both online and offline brands in establishing their identity and positioning in the marketplace. Andreas has worked on all key assignments in the agency’s history, many of which have received critical acclaim.

Andreas has guided Atmosphere through a decade of double digit year on year growth based on these core principles, a clear understanding of the consumer, compelling, engaging work that positions brands in a relevant way, leading to a change in the way consumers think, feel and act. This has been particularly evident in important brand initiatives with Target, GE, Frito Lay, FedEx, Global Johnson & Johnson and Conservation International.

Andreas serves on the Board of the AAAA’s Large Digital Agency Management Committee, the National Advertising Review Board, a member of BBDO North America Board of Directors, and the International Academy for Digital Arts and Sciences.

A frequently quoted industry leader, Andreas is a regular judge at high-profile creative award shows including The Circle Club, The ANDY Awards, The ONE Show, The Cannes Festival and The New York Festival.

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Emma’s advertising career began in the UK where she worked as a Strategic Planner for a variety of agencies – big and small, good and bad – before finding her career home at Bartle Bogle Hegarty in 1992.

In 1999, Emma left London for the bright lights and bagels of New York City. As Head of Strategic Planning, she was part of the new BBH NY office’s start-up management team and her role later evolved into that of Global Head of Strategic Planning, accountable for the quality of BBH’s strategic planning output in its six offices around the world.

From 2007-2009, Emma stepped into the CEO role at BBH New York and she now serves as the company’s Chairman. The agency has been voted AAAAs mid-sized agency of the year for an unprecedented four years running, and its most significant client relationships today are with Google, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company and Diageo.

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Every agency says it wants “to do great creative,” but for Chief Creative Officer Susan Credle, it’s the reason why that matters. “Great creative has to build helpful, meaningful brands for the long-term,” she says. “That’s the sum of what we at Leo Burnett do, and what I’ve set out to do my entire career.”

She came to Leo Burnett in the fall of 2009, after more than two decades at BBDO in which she rose from “bathroom-break girl” for the agency’s receptionists to EVP Executive Creative Director. There, Susan reinvented the iconic M&M’s characters; turned Cingular Wireless from a start-up into a leader brand; and created other consistently award-winning work for such clients as Bank of America, FedEx, Gillette, Lowe’s, PepsiCo, Pizza Hut, and Visa.

Since joining Leo Burnett, Susan has spearheaded a creative renaissance at the agency through an eye for new top talent, a commitment to work that benefits brands and the world, and a vision for clients that always looks beyond a single campaign or ad.

Susan’s leadership, inspiration and in-the-trenches contributions have led to legacy-respecting yet forward-looking campaigns like McDonald’s Happy Meal “Happy Tales,” Kellogg’s Special K “What Will You Gain When You Lose?”, Secret’s “Mean Stinks” anti-bullying campaign and, one of the most beloved and awarded platform ideas, Allstate’s “Mayhem.”

“I believe in purpose-driven brands and having pride in something in lasts,” she says. “And, as we say here at Leo, that creativity can transform human behavior.”

Susan serves on the Boards of the University of North Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Foundation for EXXcellence and the Creative Circus. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Media Council at the Paley Center for Media in New York, the Creative Review Board of the Ad Council and is a supporter of Marwen and One Million Degrees in Chicago.

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Brian is the Chief Production Officer of McCann New York and Commonwealth. He leads the agency’s integrated production operations and content development.

Prior to McCann, Brian was Executive Director of Integrated Production at BBDO, New York, where he managed the department and produced transmedia content for clients such as AT&T, HBO and Starbucks.

HBO Voyeur became the single most awarded campaign on the planet in 2008. The Starbucks Love Project, a 2009 holiday campaign, helped raise millions of dollars for Product Red and in the process earned a Guinness World Record, a Cannes Lion and numerous technical awards for its global live sing-along event.

Prior to BBDO, Brian was Head of Production for Fallon, Minneapolis and executive produced “The Hire” films for BMW, which received the first-ever Cannes Titanium Lion in 2003.

In 2011, The One Club honored BMW Films and HBO Voyeur as two of the “Ten Best of the Digital Decade”.

Brian serves on the Advisory Board of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

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Marjorie Dufek is Director, Digital Marketing for the Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands. She has, has worked in digital marketing with Brown-Forman Corporation since 2000, guiding the development of consumer digital marketing strategies for a number of Brown-Forman’s brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Herradura and El Jimador Tequilas, Canadian Mist and Finlandia Vodka. In her current role, she is responsible for global digital strategy for Jack Daniel’s, leading a team that builds the brand’s global web presence, digital advertising, and consumer relationship marketing through email and social channels. The Jack Daniel’s brand is sold in more than 150 countries around the world, the brand’s web presence supports 22 languages, and the brand has more than 5 million Facebook friends. Marjorie earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the College of William and Mary and her MBA from Old Dominion University.

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Jane Grenier is a veteran of more than 25 years in the publishing industry, currently serving as Vice President, Integrated Strategy at the Condé Nast Media Group. In this post, Jane spearheads development of channel-neutral custom solutions for the company’s largest marketing partners, inspiring consumer engagement with innovative, contextually relevant programs and creative executions.

Previously, within the Condé Nast Digital division, Jane facilitated collaboration among sales/marketing, advertising operations, product and development groups, consumer marketing and editorial teams with the goal of developing and executing cutting-edge programs connecting advertisers with Condé Nast Digital’s consumer audience. Jane’s tenure on the digital side of things began as Vice President and Publisher of Flip.com, a forward-thinking social network that was designed to fuel teen girls’ creativity, ambition and desire for celebrity.

Prior to Flip, Jane was Associate Publisher, Marketing for Teen Vogue, one of the most successful magazine launches in recent history. Previous Condé Nast posts include Gourmet, where Jane moved up the ranks from Creative Services Director to Associate Publisher, Creative Services, and participated in the development of some of the industry’s first print/digital integrated marketing programs in partnership with Epicurious.com. Jane’s Condé Nast tenure includes marketing stints at Vogue and Details. Jane also held posts at Esquire, a Hearst Publication, and in the corporate marketing department at Family Media Inc.

Jane holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the Asolo Conservatory, a division of Florida State University. She and her husband Jean-Marie, a ceramist, live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and visit France whenever they can.

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Laurie is a Consumer Campaigns Activation Manager for the Americas Marketing Group at Intel. With 25 years of marketing experience, Laurie has worked on both business-to-business and consumer campaigns. From industry leading corporations like Tektronix, Nike, and Intel…to boutique companies in the fields of coffee roasters, healthcare and software services, her #1 goal is to consistently break boundaries and break through with never-been-done-before campaigns. Whether delivering programs for retail, product marketing, event activation, media, or online executions, it’s always about focusing on the customer. In addition to creating award winning marketing programs on-the-job, Laurie is an Adjunct Professor at George Fox University teaching Principles of Marketing, Business Management, and Consumer Engagement/Social Networking, as well as co-teaching graduate and MBA classes.

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As Global Chief Creative Officer, Nick is responsible for the creative vision of R/GA, the New York-based agency for the digital age. He guides teams of visual designers, copywriters and experience designers as they create award-winning work for a many of Fortune 500 companies. He also ensures that R/GA stays true to the company’s unique legacy of collaboration between world-class creative and groundbreaking technology.

Nick’s background is extensive and diverse, spanning multiple marketing disciplines during 20 years at agencies in the United States and abroad. He began his career in branding and corporate identity and design before switching to advertising, and then ultimately, focusing on digital marketing.

Nick has won every major industry awards, including a Titanium Lion and Grand Prix Cyber Lion at Cannes, and a prestigious Black Pencil from D&AD. Three times he has been named in Creativity Magazine’s “Creativity 50”, a list of the world’s most influential creatives.

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Michael Lebowitz is Founder and CEO of Big Spaceship, one of the most recognized and awarded creative agencies in the world. Since launching Big Spaceship in 2000, Michael has been integral in acquiring and serving clients, including 20th Century Fox, A&E, ABC, Adobe, Chobani Champions, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Glaceau, Google, Gucci, HBO, Linden Lab, Microsoft, MoMA, NBC Universal, Nike, OfficeMax, Royal Caribbean, Sony Pictures, Target, Victoria’s Secret and Wrigley.

Over the past decade, Michael has led Big Spaceship to attain countless awards of high distinction, and he has been named among the 2010 Creativity 50 and the 2008 OMMA Online All-Stars. Michael is a founder and was an inaugural board member of the Society of Digital Agencies. He is also a member of the Google Creative Council, P&G’s Design Board, AIGA’s Visionary Design Council and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Michael currently serves as Chairman of the IAB Agency Advisory Board.

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Jean-Philippe (JP) heads International Brand & Agency Strategy and global accounts and at Twitter. JP was most recently CEO of Bluefin Labs, the leading social TV analytics company, which was acquired by Twitter in February 2013.

A proven leader in advertising and innovation, JP previously served in executive leadership positions at Razorfish, Ogilvy & Mather and Publicis. He spent six years with Razorfish, where he ascended into the role of CEO for the last two years of his tenure, leading the vision, strategy and growth of the company. Following Razorfish, JP was Chief Digital Officer of Ogilvy & Mather, where he was responsible for digital growth and innovation across the company's operating units. Prior to joining Bluefin Labs, he was the Global CEO of Publicis Modem, the digital marketing unit of Publicis Worldwide, which is the largest agency within Publicis Groupe.

JP is @jpmaheu on Twitter.

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Andy leads a Global Digital Strategy Group across GE with a focus on driving stakeholder connection and commercial acceleration. The COE will drive first-class digital capabilities in areas including search, content social media and customer engagement, as well as training and development to help businesses gain marketplace understanding. Andy’s group works across businesses on a global basis.

Prior to GE, Andy worked at Kraft Foods, Inc., where he was Director, Digital Services, leading a Center of Excellence for all Digital activity including: digital strategy, on-line media, creative agency relationships, social media marketing, search engine marketing, standards & training. In this role, he led efforts to create scalable best practices by providing thought leadership in the management and development of a wide range of on-line marketing principles, a pipeline of emerging media opportunities, and leading the digital medium towards accountability for Kraft brands.

Before joining Kraft, he worked at Send.com, the on-line gift company, as well as Dentsu Corp., Ammirati & Puris, and Lintas.

He is a frequent industry speaker and was recently named as one of the iMedia 25: Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators.

Andy graduated from Indiana University and currently lives in NY with his wife and 2 children.

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Benjamin Palmer has spent the last fifteen years working in the ever-changing world of the Internet. As co-founder and CEO of The Barbarian Group, he has evolved a small production house into an award winning full-service creative agency with over 100 employees and clients ranging from GE and Pepsi to Virgin, Bloomberg and Beam Spirits. Benjamin also serves as President of The Art Directors Club.

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Lou Paskalis is the Vice President of Global Media, Content Development and Mobile Marketing, at American Express. For the past five years, he has driven innovative, cross channel communications, and engagement for the American Express brand and core U.S. product portfolios.

Most recently, Lou launched American Express’ interactive branded TV channel on cable and satellite in nearly sixty million homes making it the first brand to have a channel dedicated specifically to communicating its products and services. In addition, he forged the first T-Commerce programs in partnership with NBC and FOX, which enables consumers to purchase products in real-time while watching their favorite TV shows.

Lou also leads communications planning and media investment for the American Express brand and the annual Small Business Saturday campaign, which was recently awarded the Grand CLIO in the Content and Contact category. Small Business Saturday also won the CLIO Special Award for Facebook Integrated Media and the Gold CLIO for Interactive/Social Media. In addition to his media responsibilities, Lou is highly engaged in thinking about the best ways that American Express can utilize branded content and social media to drive advocacy for their products and services.

When Lou joined American Express in 2006 he led media and sponsorship marketing for American Express OPEN and the co-brand portfolio. Some of his work included a strategic partnership with NBC News that lead to the creation of Your Business a weekly news program that serves the small business community and airs weekly on MSNBC. Lou also lead the team that developed American Express’ Syndicated Content Player and first-ever content management system, which was recognized for its digital advertising innovation with several MIXX Awards in 2009.

Lou has been an innovator in the media, consumer promotions, and sponsorship world for more than fifteen years. He began his professional career at the E. & J. Gallo Winery where he ultimately was responsible for crafting and implementing the U.S. media and promotions strategy for the world’s largest winery.

Lou holds an MBA in finance and marketing as well as a bachelor’s in business management from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

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Elizabeth is responsible for global digital marketing, social media, marketing communications, public relations, corporate communications and reputation management on behalf of the Four Seasons brand. With an ever-expanding portfolio of hotels in more than 35 countries, building the brand’s reputation and leadership in the luxury sector through strategic marketing activities is both challenging and rewarding.

“I started my career in retail operations many years ago, and gained a real appreciation for the work and attention to detail that make great customer service possible,” says Elizabeth. “Four Seasons, with its combination of quality, top talent and a passion for excellence, is a dream brand to promote, because it truly does bring the best to bear in creating memorable experiences for our guests the world over; experiences that are rooted in an exceptional service culture.”

Her scope of responsibility encompasses the company’s brand-level communications activities in interactive, digital, advertising, promotions, direct marketing, and the Four Seasons magazine and newsletters. Elizabeth also oversees strategic media relations outreach; crisis management; corporate social responsibility initiatives and reputation management.

She joined Four Seasons in 1999 from Hill & Knowlton Canada, where she was Vice President and Practice Leader for the Marketing Communications group. Prior to Hill & Knowlton, Elizabeth was an Account Director with Strategic Objectives Inc., an award-winning consumer media relations boutique agency. She began her marketing career managing media and employee communications for a women’s wear retail chain.

Elizabeth graduated from Ryerson University with a business degree in retail management. Before focusing on communications and public relations, she worked in operations as a sales trainer and sales manager in the retail sector.

When she’s not at the airport suffering through another security line, Elizabeth lives in Toronto with her husband. Her favourite pastimes include cooking up a storm for family and friends, reading the Sunday papers, and spending time in the garden.

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Suzie was hired as the CMO of YouTube in summer of 2006 and prior to that served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Games and Entertainment Division of CNET Networks (now CBS Interactive). Before joining CNET Networks, Suzie spent 14 years with Ziff-Davis Publishing.

Today, Suzie leads a team within Google focused on media solutions. She has been engaged with all things digital, brand, and video for the past 6.5 years.

Suzie is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont. A native of Cambridge, MA she now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two teenage daughters.

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David Roman is the Chief Marketing Officer at Lenovo responsible for driving all marketing activities for the global personal computer maker.

Prior to joining Lenovo, David was vice president of worldwide marketing communications for HP’s Personal Systems Group (PSG), responsible for driving advertising, media relations and marketing services. He was responsible for HP’s award winning “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign.

Before HP, David was vice president of Corporate and International Marketing at NVIDIA. He also held a number of different marketing leadership roles at Apple Computer in Europe, Asia Pacific and the USA. His last Apple role was vice president of worldwide advertising and brand marketing.

David graduated in Architecture and Industrial design from the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) after starting his architectural studies at the Polytechnic of Torino (Italy). He also pursued executive MBA studies at INSEAD in Paris.

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Alan Schulman is VP, Chief Creative Officer of SapientNitro, NY. Known both as a thought leader and innovator in the evolution of branded storytelling for new emerging digital platforms and devices, Alan has served as an award-winning creative executive at both traditional and digital agencies. He has helped steward such noted integrated campaigns as myM&M’s “Faces” for MARS/Wrigley, Diet Coke’s “WEAR RED for Heart Truth”, Splenda Journeys™ branded content series for Johnson & Johnson, the launch of ALLI for GSK, and many others. His 10+ years of advertising innovations in Web-based, Mobile, iTV and Digital Out of Home platforms earned him the distinction of 2011 Creative ALL STAR by OMMA Magazine.

Prior to SapientNitro, Alan served as Chief Creative Officer of imc2 – one of the US’s leading interactive marketing agencies. There, he oversaw the development and deployment of digital programs and emerging media deployments for such global brand marketers as Procter & Gamble, The Coca-Cola Company, Samsung, Johnson & Johnson and Nestle among others.

Prior to imc2, Alan was the first creative executive to serve within a major media services company as Senior Vice President/Creative Director of Universal McCann Futures - the emerging media group of Universal McCann North America. There Alan was responsible for the extension of McCann-Erickson’s traditional advertising into Online, Video on Demand and Wireless media for such global brands as Coca-Cola, Microsoft, SONY, L’OREAL, Johnson & Johnson and many others. Prior to joining McCann-Erickson, Alan served within the Interpublic network as Executive Director of the Media & Entertainment Practice for FutureBrand Worldwide, the top 5 Branding Consultancy where he created digital branding programs and applications for such noted brand launches as MSN, Dreamworks SKG, AOL, Terra and others.

Alan has served on the Board of Agency Advisors of the IAB, TiVO, DPAA, Tremor Media, the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (EMMYS) and is a member of the New York Marketing & Media Technologies Council. He has served on the AAAA Advanced Media Committee, Interpublic’s Convergence and Branded Entertainment Advisory Committees and has been a judge of the YAHOO! Purple Chair Award, the IAB MIXX awards and the OMMA Awards.

Alan has appeared as a regular speaker on the evolution of creative assets in the digital age for such global brand marketers as The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, M&M MARS, Johnson & Johnson, In-Bev and many others. He has won many awards across the branding, advertising, and digital spectrum including One Show, Clio, AICP, AIGA, ADDY, TELE, and ProMax/BDA. He has also earned Global Branding and Marketing Awards from both the Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble marketing organizations.

Among his other creative endeavors, Alan is an avid jazz guitarist who has appeared with such noted jazz artists as Anita Baker, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock and Michael Feinstein. He resides in Harlem, NYC.

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Baba Shetty serves as CEO of The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Baba has extensive experience across multiple facets of the media landscape, including digital strategy, media planning, and brand strategy. Previously, as Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Media Officer at Hill Holliday, Baba led brand planning, consumer research, content, and media planning and buying. Under his stewardship, Hill Holliday was named 2011 Media Agency of the Year in the full service category by MEDIA magazine.

Prior to Hill Holliday, Baba led digital at Fallon Worldwide, and spent three years as a research director and principal analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, MA. While at Forrester, Baba advised clients on a wide variety of digital topics, including Web site design best practices, digital marketing, and e-commerce.

Baba also worked as a client at BMW, first in product planning then leading marketing communications for the U.S. market. He helped initiate the BMW Films project, which won the first ever Cannes Titanium Lion, became a Harvard Business School case study, and was named one of the 10 Best digital marketing campaigns of the decade (2000-2010) by The One Club.

Baba has served on the advisory board of Maven Networks, a broadband video company acquired by Yahoo! in early 2008 for $160 million. Baba also serves as a judge for the IAB MIXX awards and for the Webby Awards.

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Shiv is a recognized digital marketer who focuses on how brands are being forced to transform with the rise of digital marketing and media. In his day job he serves as the Global Head of Digital for PepsiCo Beverages (across paid, owned and social media), where he drives PepsiCo Beverages's digital marketing agenda. 

He is currently driving the business's foray into Real-Time Marketing and is hands on with brand Pepsi and portfolio wide digital media strategy, innovation, optimization and measurement efforts. His team also is responsible for digital marketing across Pepsi, Mountain Dew, SoBe, AMP, Sierra Mist, Propel, Aquafina as well as the Lipton and the Starbucks partnerships.

Prior to PepsiCo Shiv worked at Razorfish Inc for over twelve years in its New York, London and San Francisco offices serving most recently as its VP & Global Social Media Lead and working with companies like Mercedez Benz, Philip Morris International, Citigroup, Microsoft, Victoria Secret and Ford Motor Company.

In  August 2012, Shiv was recognized by Adweek as a Top 50 Marketer (#18) and in September 2009, he was recognized by Ad Age as a Media Maven and was featured on its cover.

Shiv who is the author of Social Media Marketing for Dummies has been published widely and has spoken or keynoted conferences such as Digital Book World, the Online Publishers Association Annual Summit, South by Southwest Interactive, Web 2.0 Conference and the Direct Marketing Association's Leader's Forum.

He is frequently quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Associated Press, Ad Age, Adweek, USA Today, The New York Times, Fortune Magazine and several other similar publications discussing digital strategy and social influence marketing.

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With an extensive media background covering the U.S. consumer spectrum, Marla Skiko found her niche in multicultural marketing. Skiko was instrumental in creating and articulating the philosophies that now define SMG Multicultural, a division of Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) and the country’s leading multicultural contact entity that includes dedicated offices in Chicago, New York and Miami. Her combined talent in marketing, emerging media and an awareness of ethnic cultures inspires first rate ideas that connect her clients with evolving technology and the ever-changing and diverse face of American consumers.

In her current role, Skiko drives digital innovation across SMG Multicultural, a unit that has unfounded expertise in all facets of the digital arena and how they impact and captivate the multicultural consumer. They have pushed the envelope in the multicultural space weaving digital elements into holistic contact plans including the areas of online video, social and mobile. While continually educating the marketplace about the growing importance of the digital arena in connecting with multicultural consumers, Marla and her team work with top digital vendors to further develop arenas such as Spanish-language search, custom dual-language digital content development and mobile marketing. SMG Multicultural has developed a strong foothold on the multicultural digital marketplace, servicing clients such as P&G, Kraft, Kellogg’s, Walmart, Allstate and Burger King.

In addition to studying trends in emerging media, Skiko has forged partnerships with major research companies and spearheaded proprietary research studies to hone in on the digital behaviors and preferences of the multicultural consumer. In 2005, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) honored Marla with the 2005 “Los Pioneros” Award – an honor that recognizes 10 forward-thinking marketers who have paved the way for Hispanic online advertising and successfully incorporated interactive components in their advertising/marketing plans. In 2006, Skiko was named a Marketing y Medios All-Star for Interactive. In 2009, Skiko was named one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch” based on her forward thinking initiative in the multicultural digital space. Most recently, Skiko and her team were awarded a Gold Award at the IAB MIXX awards in 2011 for their innovative interactive work on Allstate. An active industry spokesperson and participant, Marla is also a member of the AOL advisory board.

Prior to her current role, Marla forged a solid background at Tapestry/SMG handling investment and strategy across both the general market and Hispanic market. During her tenure with the agency, she has serviced blue chip clients such as General Motors, Ameritech, P&G, Kraft, Nintendo and Walt Disney World.

Marla earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.

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In his role as EVP of Digital Sales, Rick oversees Clear Channel’s digital sales efforts and strategy, working closely with the company’s national divisions including Strategic Partnerships, National Programming Platforms, National Advertising Platforms and iHeartRadio, Clear Channel's industry-leading digital radio service. Rick leads a U.S. sales organization focused on developing innovative national and local advertising programs for key marketers and agencies, leveraging Clear Channel’s massive reach and unique digital assets. He also works closely with the company’s local market teams to ensure Clear Channel’s centralized resources are utilized to maximize revenue opportunities.

Rick is a 20-year media sales and management veteran and has spent the last 15 years working in digital. Prior to Clear Channel, he worked at Microsoft Advertising for six and a half years, last serving as the General Manager for Eastern U.S. Sales. At Microsoft, Rick drove four-fold revenue growth, leading sales across Microsoft’s digital portfolio including MSN, XBOX Live, Video, Branded Entertainment and Mobile. He founded Microsoft Digital Showcase, the company's first video upfront and led advancement in multi-screen marketing solutions, launching the first 3-screen advertising campaign for Discovery Channel. Rick previously held various sales leadership roles at Yahoo! and Forbes.com and began his media career in print at Ziff-Davis Publishing.

Rick is active in the advertising community and co-chairs The Advertising Club of New York’s Committee on Diversity. In 2010, he was honored with the Ad Club’s “President Award.” He has also served as President and Board Director of the 212 NYC Interactive Ad Club. Rick is a recurrent juror on the IAB MIXX Awards Jury and sits on the advisory board of Martini Media. Rick is based in NYC and is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

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Sarah Thompson is CEO of Droga5, a global advertising agency founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. The agency is a three time Agency of the Year winner and also has an office in Sydney, Australia.

Before joining Droga5 in 2008, Sarah worked at BBH New York as Head of Account Management and Head of International Accounts. Prior to settling in New York City, she made her way from Western Maine to San Francisco to Boston, with stints at Goodby Silverstein and Partners and Mullen along the way. Her client experience ranges from Levi's to Vaseline to Norwegian Cruise Line and includes just about every category in between.

After two years at Droga5 as General Manager, Sarah was promoted to President, continuing her role of overseeing all client relationships and expanding her focus to include the growth and evolution of the agency as a whole. In addition to leading the agency to two Agency of the Year wins, Sarah was recognized earlier this year with the Advertising Women of New York’s Quantum Leap award.

Outside the office, Sarah likes to spend her time at home in Brooklyn Heights with her husband, son and daughter.

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Steve Wax attended Reed College and the UCLA Film School; he received one of the first American Institute short film grants, was a member of the landmark San Francisco film collective, Cine Manifest.

Steve was also a founding board member of the Independent Feature Project. In the first phase of his career, he produced a number of independent feature films.

Steve founded Chelsea Pictures in 1987; Chelsea pioneered the use of feature and documentary directors in commercial production.

Under Chelsea’s banner Wax produced the feature film Unmade Beds. He also exec-produced the Oscar Nominated short film, Killing Joe, and the Emmy-nominated documentary Following Sean.

In 2000 Steve began working with two of the Blair Witch filmmakers, forming Campfire, the narrative ad agency. Campfire’s social marketing projects include brand clients such as GM, Verizon, Dr Pepper/Snapple, Harley-Davidson, and many entertainment brands, including True Blood, Game of Thrones, and Shark Week.

Steve is now working as a consultant on web-based creative, and producing marketing projects via a new startup, Ladies and Gentlemen LLC.

Steve is also a member of the Agency Advisory Board of the Interactive Agency Bureau, as well as Board Chairman of Issue Project Room, the landmark experimental theater in Brooklyn.

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