Access to InfoComm
exhibit hall and
special events included
in your registration!

Josh Blazer, AVP, Regional Director of IT, EDMC/Art Institutes

William Brewster, Chief Technology Officer, Inter Technologies Corp.

Bill Collins, Principal, DecisionPoint Media Insights

David Defelici, Partner, Affinity Group Media

Amit Dongerdive, Chief Architect Information Technology, Georgia Aquarium

Dos Dosanjh, Customer Solution Manager, Digital Media System, Cisco

Todd Fender, Director of Global Product Marketing Canvys - Visual Technology Solutions

Jim Freyburger, VP, Regional Director of IT, EDMC/South University

Chad Gillenwater, Vice Chairman, AVI-SPL

Brad Gleeson, Managing Partner, TargetPath

Jim Huber, GM/Director Sales & Business Development, NOR-COM

Danny Johnson, CTS, Computer Specialist, Central Florida Community College

Glen Kelley, Audio-Visual Supervisor, The University of Texas at El Paso

Keith Kelsen, Executive Chairman, MediaTile

John Kiru, Executive Director, Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas

Michael Kilgore, VP of Marketing and Customer Experiences, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

Sanjay Manandhar, Founder & CEO, Aerva Inc.

Sean Matthews, President, Visix Inc.

Steen Mertz, CTS, Technology Manager Communications, Jyske Bank (Denmark)

Patricia Mitrano, Director of Visual Communications, Newark Beth Israel Medical

Matt Nelson, CEO & President, AvaLan Wireless Systems

Bud O’Connor, Director of Engineering, Newseum

Jorge Palafox, Digital Signage Coordinator, SAIT Polytechnic (Calgary, Canada)

Luke Scott, Technical Support Specialist, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

Andrew Starks, Co-Founder, Tightrope Media Systems

Ryan Vangoey, Sr. Project Manager for Visual Communications, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics

Josh Blazer
AVP, Education Management Corporation
Regional Director of IT, Art Institutes

Josh Blazer is an assistant vice president and IT specialist for Education Management Corporation, one of the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America. Joshua has been with EDMC for the past 14 years, and currently manages technology for the western region of Art Institute schools, R&D efforts for academic technology, hardware selection and specification, and the integration of technology and curricula. He currently co-leads the overall EDMC standards effort for more than 80 schools, and is particularly involved in projects relating to audio and video installations. In the past two years, he has completed four professional audio studios, three video studios, and is currently working to implement a large digital signage network across a highly distributed network of campuses across the United States and Canada.

Josh has a long history of involvement in media technologies. In the past, he has been a video engineer at Microsoft, a freelance 3d animator, independent game developer, and has taught computer animation and video production at The Art Institute of Seattle. He is a graduate of Argosy University Seattle with a degree in business administration.

William Brewster,
Chief Technology Officer,
Inter Technologies Corp.

Bill Brewster is the Founding Director and current CEO of two entrepreneurial businesses, one in technology and the other in international consulting. Bill Brewster created and directed The University of Notre Dame’s Executive International Programs for seven years. He developed and managed a business portfolio that included programs in over 20 countries in Africa, Asia, South America and North America. Prior to joining the faculty of Notre Dame, he was a project manager and engineer for the United States Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory. He received numerous awards including a congressional honor for completing innovative international projects ahead of schedule and significantly under budget. His project work ranged from high energy physics research and development to multi-national environmental cleanup activities.

He received a B.S in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1991, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1994 and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame in 2002. He is currently pursuing a DBA in Europe. His expertise includes strategy, leadership, communications, particle physics, project management, distance learning, international agreements, six sigma, total quality management and operations. He has authored papers on reliability, control systems, power, communications, particle physics, videoconferencing, environmental cleanup and distance education. He has lectured around the world, including at Oxford in the UK, Notre Dame in the US, Alberto Hurtado in Chile and in China.

Amit Dongerdive,
Chief Architect Information Technology,
Georgia Aquarium

As the Chief Architect Information Technology, Amit Dongerdive oversees multiple aspects of the Georgia Aquarium’s technological operations. His position encompasses point of sale, ticketing, telecommunications, server and network infrastructure and overall management of the Aquarium’s Web site.

Amit is a Pune India native, having graduated from St. Patrick’s High School before earning his Bachelor’s degree in computer information systems at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Cooperative Baptist Fellowship recruited Amit in 2001 to manage their desktops. Over the next 5 years at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Amit managed a number of functions in networking, application development and technical support.

Since joining the team at Georgia Aquarium in February 2005, Amit has enjoyed the opportunity to work with multiple organizations and his extended responsibility over several areas within information technology, including the Georgia Aquarium’s web site and databases.

Amit lives in North Gwinnett, a suburb of Atlanta, with his wife and daughter.

Dos Dosanjh
Customer Solution Manager, Digital Media Creative Service
Cisco

Dos Dosanjh is a Customer Solutions Manager and founded the Digital Media Creative Services initiative at Cisco Systems.  In this role, Dos focuses on the content strategies and policies associated with digital signage.    His audiences are primarily advertising agencies, content design firms and marketing/communication personnel.  He is responsible for all market segments ranging from Financial, Sports, Retail and Healthcare to Education, Transportation, Entertainment and Hospitality.  He also founded the Cisco Academy of Digital Signage and is the lead instructor.

Prior to Cisco, Dos led the content distribution strategy for Entera & Cacheflow.   He advised on content solution strategies for several Hollywood studios for global content distribution.  His career started with Sony.  Dos was the network architect for the next generation content and network satellite broadcast systems for DirecTV USA, DirecTV Japan, Galaxy Latin America and AskyB (American Sky Broadcasting).  He represented Sony on numerous technology summits regarding the future evolution of media and distribution methods.

Dos also participates on the POPAI board (Point of Purchase Advertising International) for digital signage, IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and is a member of SMPTE – Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers.  Dos is a graduate of San Jose State University with a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems. 

Jim Freyburger
VP, Regional Director of IT
EDMC/South University

Jim Freyburger currently serves as Vice President, Information Technology at South University where he is responsible for managing the institution’s IT programs and systems at each of its four main campuses. Freyburger joined South University in 1995.
Prior to his current position, Freyburger served as Range Supervisor Black & Decker and Loral Aerospace based in Beaufort, SC. Earlier in his career, Freyburger served 21 years in the United States Marine Corps most recently as a Gunny Sergeant and is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

Brad Gleeson
Managing Partner
TargetPath

Brad Gleeson is currently Managing Partner and Founder of TargetPath LLC, a consulting company specializing in providing management, strategic planning and business development consulting to digital signage, specialty display and Out-of-home Media clients.
Brad most recently served VP of Business Development and GM of the Coolsign digital signage business at Planar Systems Inc. At Planar Brad was responsible for identifying significant growth opportunities and strategies for all five of Planar’s specialty display-oriented business units, including several M&A events. As GM of Coolsign, Brad established Planar’s digital signage products and strategies and successfully divested the business to buyers at the end of 2008.
Prior to joining Planar, Brad was founder and  President of ActiveLight and CineLight, privately-held nationwide value-added distributors that were among the very first distributors of Plasma and large LCD monitors in the US. Focusing on the emerging Digital Signage application, Activelight created the Digital Signage Resource Directory, the Digital Signage Magazine, and Brad was instrumental in the development of several Digital Signage tradeshows and industry associations.

Jim Huber
GM/Director Sales & Business Development,
NOR-COM

Jim joined NOR-COM in 2001 and has held a variety of leadership positions within the organization.  In 2004, he was appointed to Director of Sales and Marketing in which he was charged with unifying the development and execution of the sales staff.  In 2007, he was appointed General Manager for NOR-COM, Inc.

Over the past few years, Mr. Huber has dramatically improved the manner in which NOR-COM sells and markets to its more than 1,200 customers, across an international platform.  As part of these efforts, NOR-COM installed a robust digital signage system throughout Proctor & Gamble facilities globally.

Mr. Huber is married with two daughters and holds a doctorate’s degree in International Business.

NOR-COM, Inc. is a nationally recognized Audio/Visual and Security System Integration Corporation located in the Greater Cincinnati Area delivering digital multimedia, audio/visual and security solutions.  NOR-COM, as an industry leader; has been named by The International Communications Industries Association, as a CAVSP Gold Company.  This Certification validates our high standards and staff knowledgebase, which is reflected in the quality of the solutions provided.  “Taking pride in providing work of the highest quality and paying great attention to detail, while endeavoring to meet the client’s needs, with systems which are neat, clean and simple to operate."

Danny Johnson, CTS
Technology Specialist
Central Florida Community College

Danny Johnson is the Technology procurement manager for Central Florida Community College and has been part of the college’s IT team since 2001. Danny is a graduate of a maritime academy and has a strong background in electrical and mechanical engineering. This was a key factor in joining the team at CFCC, for it has been Mr. Johnson’s mission to automate the college’s classrooms and labs.

Central Florida Community College currently has more than 170 classrooms and labs with a standard footprint for technology and all of these rooms are on a monitor system. CFCC campuses are spread out over three counties in central Florida and it is important to share information between campuses in order to fulfill the college’s commitment of service and support to the community. The utilization of digital signage has become a key element for delivering timely and instructive information to the students, faculty, staff, and visitors while on the campuses.

Although the college’s digital signage system is a “home grown” system operating on an early generation of signage software; Danny states “we are still able to post information with relative ease but need to upgrade our current structure because of the growth of our campuses”. Mr. Johnson has been on a quest for over a year researching available digital signage solutions from numerous companies to find a remedy that will integrate seamlessly into the college’s technology plan.

Michael Kilgore
VP of Marketing and Patron Experiences
Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

After a lengthy career in media, Michael Kilgore joined the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center in late 2001 as vice president of marketing and patron experiences. His department handles public relations, institutional and show marketing, group services, ticketing and customer service, new media and publications for the five-theater TBPAC, which is the largest PAC in the southeast. He is the immediate past co-chair of the Broadway League’s Road Marketing Forum and the immediate past chair of the Performing Arts Center Consortium marketing committee. When he's not working, Michael reads, watches movies, runs marathons and attends theater and concerts.

Steen Mertz,
CTS - Head of Communications Technology,
Jyske Bank

Since  1988, Steen Mertz has worked for several Danish broadcast and AV systems integrators as a project manager and a  department manager.  
At  Jyske Bank’s Communications department, Steen has, since 2004, headed the  planning of the bank’s development, design, strategy and implementation of its  use of all forms of broadcast and  audio-visual communications technology.  

Over  the past three years, Jyske Bank, the 2nd largest Danish bank, implemented the  – beyond comparison - most comprehensive broadcast, AV and digital signage integration in Scandinavia.  

More  than 900 digital signage displays as well as about 250 digital signage audio players  have been installed at the bank’s 120 branches.  In  addition, more than 600 conference rooms throughout the bank’s branch network  have been fitted with interactive plasma screens.  

Moreover,  Jyske Bank operates the world’s only financial web TV station.  Up  to 25 live and VOD broadcasts are produced daily by the two studios at Jyske  Bank’s headquarters in Silkeborg, Denmark.  Right  now the broadcasts target primarily Danish customers at www.jyskebank.tv but as of 1  August 2009, broadcasts will also be available to the rest of the world in  English-language versions at www.en.jyskebank.tv . Moreover,  the station supplies financial news to Danish broadcasters on a daily  basis.

Today  Jyske Bank has a unique technological platform for marketing, communication  and branding - and this platform has proven most efficient.  As  a natural consequence of this development, Jyske Bank established on 1 June  2009 an independent department responsible for its communications  technology.

Patricia Mitrano
Director of Visual Communications
Newark Beth Israel Medical

Patricia Mitrano is Director of Visual Communications at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, the largest integrated hospital system in New Jersey. Patricia has extensive experience in content creation, graphic design, internal event staging and communications and event planning.
 
With the responsibility to communicate management messages to 3,500+ employees, she became intrigued with digital signage as an innovative way to attract employee’s attention. After being asked to manage the implementation of a digital signage project for the employees of the 673 bed-facility, and also to provide ongoing content, Patricia developed time-saving creation tips to aid in this endeavor.
 
“Employee digital signage is our institution’s electronic billboard. We slice our messages down to the ‘what’s in it for me.’ We compare it to driving by a billboard on the highway at 65 mph. If your message doesn’t pop out, it will just be another blur of words.” Patricia also works as a passionate advocate offering assistance to other medical facilities starting their own digital signage projects, utilizing internal resources and infrastructure that may already be in place.

Bud O’Connor
Director of Engineering
Newseum
 
In 1996 O’Connor came to the Newseum from the television broadcast industry.   In the decade prior, he worked within the engineering departments of ABC Network News and W*USA-TV, in Washington DC.  O’Connor was brought on board to work on the design and implementation of the first Newseum in Arlington Va.  In 2004 Bud became part of the team to design and develop the new Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.  Open in April of 2008, the 250,000 sq ft Newseum sports magnificent exterior views of Washington, two HD Broadcast studios and control rooms, 14 major galleries, 15 theaters, 125 touch-screen systems and 28 discreet electronic signage monitors.
 
Since its opening, Newseum has hosted some significant events and broadcasts.  Some examples of these are: Clean Energy Summit with T. Boone Pickens, Al Gore and Bill Clinton; Saban Center for Middle East Policy with President George Bush; United Nations Foundation fund raiser with Ted Turner; Two major movie releases in its Annenberg Theater; Disney’s ‘Wall-E’; Fox Film’s ‘Secret Life of Bee’s’; Major broadcasts produced within Newseum are the weekly ABC News show ‘THIS WEEK With George Stephanopoulos, hosting ABC, CNN, FOX and Bloomberg network coverage of the presidential inauguration, and the NCAA Awards ceremony.  

Jorge Palafox
Digital Signage Coordinator
SAIT Polytechnic (Calgary, Canada)

With a bachelor’s degree in information technology, a graphic design apprenticeship and over 18 years of professional experience in creating and designing new media products, Jorge has a unique mix of creativity and technical knowledge that has proven to be successful for his professional career in personal business endeavors and as a team member. He has applied his skills to projects for organizations that include adidas international, the Discovery Channel, the University of Calgary, the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (Mexico), and the governments of the Netherlands and Uruguay.
 
Jorge is currently the digital signage coordinator at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary, where he executed the planning, design and implementation of SAITVIEW, the Institute’s multi-campus digital signage system.  SAITVIEW has been recognized as a “best practice” system among educational institutions in North America, receiving an award in the creative use of technology and new media category from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in 2008. SAITVIEW’s deployment, under Jorge’s administration, also earned Omnivex Corporation a bronze medal in the annual POPAI 2008 International Digital Signage Contest. Jorge is part of the beta software testing group for Omnivex digital signage solution.

Andrew Starks
Co-Founder
Tightrope Media Systems

Andrew Starks is a co-founder of Tightrope Media Systems, a leading provider of Television Automation, Video Servers, and the Carousel digital signage system. He and his partner, JJ Parker, founded Tightrope while in college over 12 years ago. The company has grown by over 50% in every year since its founding and Carousel has grown into a mature product that is now driving hundreds of digital signage installations. John Deere, Proctor and Gamble, the University of Minnesota, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Microsoft are a few of the schools, municipalities and corporations utilizing Carousel.

Ryan Vangoey
Sr. Project Manager for Visual Communications
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
 
As a former employee of Micro Conversions, a Dallas, Texas, high-level R&D company, and as past-co-owner of DTI (Definitive Technologies, Inc.) of Arlington, Texas, working on the technical side of unique web based applications and hosting of web servers, Ryan VanGoey developed a personal discipline and vision that allowed him to take the next big step in his career, moving-on to a new set of challenges where he has since made his way up through the ranks of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to become one of the most qualified Systems Integration Analysts for at their Headquarters facilities in Fort Worth, Texas.

Over the years at LM Aero his work has included Management of the full compliment of servers and networking for the three corporate national sites, including the oversight and management of over 2000 servers and the physical network topology that connects more than 23,000 users. His mark is indelibly stamped on the LM Aero computer and communication networks as a result of his establishment of the official corporate policy for infrastructure design and standards and the advanced programming changes that have dramatically enhanced the deployment efficiency and operational effectiveness of a broad category of software programs. In the past few years Ryan has been selected by Senior Management to act as the conduit for and manager of multi-million-dollar upgrades-of and additions-to the LM Aero company-wide visual communication videoconference enterprise.