Panel 1 — Digital Disruption

The intersection of business and technology in Sport, Entertainment, and Media. This panel will focus on shifting business models and opportunities as the result of new technologies. In addition, we will address controversial issues such as distribution, and intellectual property protection.

Panelists:

Dennis Self — EA

Dennis Self is the SVP, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Electronic Arts. Previously, he served as the lead for EA’s Europe IT and Asia IT teams from 2005-2007. Prior to joining Electronic Arts, Dennis held various positions at HP, and worked as an IT strategy consultant for Andersen Consulting, A.T. Kearney and Deloitte Consulting. Dennis holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Old Dominion University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Allen Hooser — Sports Illustrated

Allen has been with the Sports Illustrated Golf Group for three years. In this role, he is responsible for creating multi-media marketing programs across Time Inc.’s sports properties including: Sports Illustrated, GOLF Magazine, SI.com, FanNation.com, Golf.com as well as experiential customer events. Allen works with various top brands and agencies in the Southwest United States on accounts including: American Airlines, Pepsi, MasterCard, ExxonMobil, Redhook Ale, United States Air Force, Pennzoil/Shell, Chili’s and more. Prior to joining the SI Golf Group, Allen was project manager for new business at Match.com in Dallas and responsible for launching the new Chemistry.com program and the Dr. Phil application. He also spent five years at Dell, Inc. in the U.S. consumer division where he managed the online advertising programs and website.

Jason Brenek — Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Jason Brenek serves as senior vice president, Worldwide Digital Cinema and Cinema Programming, for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In his role, he is responsible for developing and overseeing Cinema Programming (any non-movie content, including 3-D or live events, delivered to theatres enabled by Digital Cinema), setting Disney’s Worldwide Digital Cinema strategy and negotiating and closing Digital Cinema deployment deals around the world. Brenek also works closely with all areas of production and distribution to ensure smooth transitions from 35mm to digital exhibition of motion pictures that fall under The Walt Disney Studios.

During his tenure, Brenek played a pivotal role in helping place Disney as the first Studio in the industry to enable movie theaters to the upgrade to Digital Cinema equipment by signing financing and deployment deals in the U.S. and abroad with Dolby, Christie/AIX, Sony Electronics, Digital Cinema Implementation Partners and others. Brenek has also been instrumental in Disney’s emergence to the forefront of the Digital 3-D world with the Studio’s first 3-D release in 2005, “Chicken Little,” for which he led the deployment of the first commercial Digital 3D systems across the Top 25 markets. In February 2008, Brenek once again brought Disney to the forefront of Digital 3-D by conceiving and overseeing the release of the record breaking film ‘Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert’. In November 2007, he was responsible for overseeing the theatrical exhibition of NCAA football and basketball games – the first live, true HD D-Cinema sporting event in theatres. Most recently, Brenek was co-producer of the first 3D sports documentary film ‘X Games 3D: The Movie.’ And in September 2009, he oversaw the distribution of ESPN’s first live 3D broadcast, the NCAA football game between USC and Ohio State.

Prior to starting the Digital Cinema group at Disney, Brenek joined the Distribution Strategy group in 2003 as vice president of Distribution Strategy. While in this group, Brenek incubated and introduced new distribution models and technologies for the studio. During his time in the group, Brenek assisted in the negotiation of the studio’s first electronic sell-through deals, in the decision to support Blu-Ray as the next-generation optical disc format and in the creation of the first Disney-branded SVOD channel, Disney Family Movies.

Brenek originally joined Disney in 1996 where he worked in Buena Vista Home Entertainment International (now known as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment International). He then went to 20th Century Fox’s International Theatrical group followed by a position at the Los Angeles office of the strategy consulting firm Bain & Company.

Tom Higley — iggli

Tom Higley is the President and CEO of iggli, inc., an invitation-based social application that uses friend-to-friend communication to help sports teams, artists, promoters, venues, and ticket companies generate event awareness and increase ticket sales.iggli’s customers, including AEG Live, StubHub, Nederlander Concerts, the NBA and many others, use the service to provide fans with a powerful and convenient way to invite friends to ticketed events and buy tickets together.

Tom founded and led four tech start-ups prior to iggli, developing disruptive technologies for music & entertainment, network security and internet services industries. In 2001, he co-founded StillSecure with Rajat Bhargava. StillSecure continues to deliver comprehensive computer network security to some of the world’s largest enterprises and agencies in government, financial services,healthcare, education, and technology. Prior to StillSecure , Tom founded and ran Service Metrics (acquired by Exodus Communications for $280 million), collecting and distributing web performance data to customers that included Merrill Lynch,MapQuest, Akamai and many others. Before Service Metrics, Tom created and ran NETdelivery, one of the first Internet subscription based digital delivery services. Tom also invented the patented technology used by NETdelivery. Prior to Netdelivery, Tom served as Chairman and Executive Director of FortNET, a community computer network and the first ISP in Northern Colorado.

Currently residing in Boulder, CO, Tom is an advisor and coach to many Colorado-based start-up teams and has a lifelong passion for music and technology. He holds a BA from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Chris Dacey — Houston Rockets

Chris Dacey enters his fourth season as the organization’s Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer. He oversees all aspects of business strategy, market research, team marketing, brand development, corporate partnerships and game presentation. Dacey also serves on the Senior Management Team for the Rockets and Toyota Center.

Dacey joined the Rockets after a seven year stint with The Parthenon Group, a strategic advisory firm based out of Boston, Massachusetts. After three years at Parthenon, Dacey was elevated to Senior Principal, where he managed client relationships across a number of industries. Dacey led engagements within the Firm’s Private Equity Practice as well as the Consumer Products Group. His work included acquisition due diligence, pricing analysis, operational improvement, online strategy, inventory management and growth strategies.

After graduating cum laude from Fairfield University in 1993 with a B.S. in Accounting and Finance, Dacey immediately went to work with KPMG LLP in Stamford, Ct and obtained his Certified Public Accountancy (CPA) license. After four years, he was promoted to Manager of Corporate Transaction Services, leading numerous project teams on acquisition diligence and integration.

In 1999, Dacey enrolled in Harvard Business School where he earned his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) Degree in June 2001.

A native of Rhode Island, Dacey currently resides in The Woodlands with his wife Maribeth and two daughters, Sarah and Amanda.

Moderator:

Jeffrey Schneider — Lifetime Networks

Jeffrey Schneider is the Senior Vice President, Business Affairs and Deputy General Counsel for Lifetime Entertainment and the Lifetime Television Networks. In his role, he oversees all business affairs and entertainment-related legal policy for Lifetime’s programming, including scripted series, alternative/ reality series, made-for-television movies, marketing initiatives and digital product. He works closely with CEO & President, Andrea Wong, as well as Executive Vice President of Programming JoAnn Alfano and Executive Vice President of Business, Operations and H.R. Pat Langer. Among his achievements, he negotiated the deals to bring the program Project Runway to Lifetime and helped plan the establishment of Lifetime Studios, Lifetime’s in-house production unit. He is based in Los Angeles.

Mr. Schneider is also currently an adjunct law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, Pepperdine Law School and the Carnegie-Mellon University Heinz School of Business, where he teaches classes in the legal, economic, theoretical and practical aspects of the television industry.

Prior to joining Lifetime, Mr. Schneider served in executive and/or legal positions at Fox Television Studios (a division of 20th Century Fox Television), MTV Networks, Paramount Pictures Corp. and was an associate at the entertainment law firms Katz, Golden & Sullivan and Slaff, Mosk & Rudman, where he represented talent, producers, writers, directors and production companies in all manner of television and film transactions.

Mr. Schneider began his legal career in 1991 as Law Clerk to the Chief U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Nevada, the Hon. Edward C. Reed, Jr. He then spent two years as a litigator before embarking on his current career as a transactional entertainment attorney.

Mr. Schneider holds a J.D. from the University of Southern California (1991; with honors; Law Review), as well as a B.A. in Communication Studies from UCLA (1987, cum laude). He is the author of Unsportsmanlike Conduct: The Lack of Free Agency in the NFL [64 S. Cal. L. Rev. 797 (1991)].

He is married, has three children, resides in Southern California and enjoys cooking, sports and tinkering with computers.