Conference
2008 Speakers
Lisa Guernsey
Lisa is an education, science, and technology writer who has contributed to The
New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Consumer
Reports, and others. Her book, Into the Minds of Babes, (Basic Books, 2007) argues
for the importance of content, context and individual needs when choosing media
for children. Lisa resides in Alexandria, VA., with her husband, two daughters,
two cats and a dog.
Warren Buckleitner
Warren is an expert on the relationship between children and technology. A former
preschool and elementary teacher, he now teaches at NYU, Rutgers and Michigan State
University, and writes for a several publications, including The New York Times,
Scholastic Parent & Child, Parents and Children's Technology Review. He has two
daughters.
Ellen LaPointe
Ellen is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at HopeLab, a nonprofit that combines
rigorous research with innovative solutions to improve the health and quality of
life of young people with chronic illness. Ellen is leverage the potential impact
of its innovative solutions, and raise awareness of its work among thought leaders
and key stakeholders. HopeLab's first product, the Re- Mission video game for young
people with cancer, has been distributed to 78 countries worldwide.
Alice Cahn
Alice is VP of Social Responsibility for Cartoon Network US. She previously headed
the Interactive Media for Children Program at the Markle Foundation and was the
president of the Television, Film and Video group at Sesame Workshop. Alice also
served as Director of Children's Programming at PBS. She and her partner live in
Maplewood, NJ and have three children.
Anastasia Goodstein
Anastasia is an award-winning blogger and expert on tweens, teens and early twentysomethings.
Her blog,
YPULSE.COM, reaches influential
agency, brand and media executives as well as social marketers. Her new book, Totally
Wired, (St. Martin's Press, 2007) is about teens and technology.
Michelle Slatalla
Michelle, who has written extensively about big questions people ask in small towns,
writes a column for The New York Times. A former reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist
at Newsday, she has also written for Time, Rosie and Lifetime magazines. She co-authored
with her husband, Josh Quittner, three mysteries and two nonfiction books. Her latest
book, The Town on Beaver Creek (Random House: 2006) is about her family's hometown
in Kentucky. She now lives in Mill Valley, California, with her husband and three
daughters.
Lauren Nelson
Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson personally knows the threats the Internet can pose
to children. At 13, she and her friends gave their names, ages, sex and location
to someone online who was discovered to be a sexual predator. Today, as part of
her year of service with the Miss America Organization, Lauren works with Symantec
and the company’s Norton Connected and Protected Family Safety Initiative to educate
kids about the dangers of the Internet.
Marian Merritt
Marian brings a decade of Internet security product development to her role as Internet
Safety Advocate at Symantec Corporation. As a mother of three school-age children,
she began championing on behalf of cyber safety after realizing her community was
divided between parents who tended to lag behind in technology, and their children
who embraced it. Marian meets regularly with teachers, parents and children to discuss
Internet issues. She is also consulting with the Norton product teams to ensure
that meaningful parental controls are integrated into Norton software products.
Leigh Ann Brodsky
As President, Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products, Leigh Anne oversees the
$5.3 billion Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products business, which includes the
licensing and merchandising for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Neopets, MTV Networks International,
Comedy Central, and Spike TV. The department represents such properties as
Dora the
Explorer,
SpongeBob SquarePants, and
South Park.
Under her leadership, Nickelodeon has garnered over 30 industry awards including
top licensing and parents’ choice honors in the toy, video, interactive gaming and
apparel categories. Ms. Brodsky has grown Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products
into the world's third largest licensing business. She has been twice elected to
the board of directors of the Licensing Industry Merchandising Association (LIMA)
and currently serves as co-chairman of the association's charitable committee.
Leslie House
As President of Knowledge Adventure Studios, a children’s educational software leader,
Leslie oversees development of the company’s award-winning interactive brands including
JumpStart® and Math Blaster®. She has been with Knowledge Adventure for 16 years
and continues to lead development initiatives to expand the company’s interactive
offerings, while staying abreast of the leading research on brain development. Prior
to joining the company, Leslie was assistant director of an adult education and
English-as-a-Second-Language program in Dallas, Texas and was honored as “Outstanding
Educator of Mexican American Youth.” Her background also includes teaching, training
educators and designing curriculum.
John Davison
As president and co-founder of What They Like, Inc., John jointly manages the company’s
daily operations and directs all brand content generation. He brings over 17 years
of experience in the interactive entertainment media industry to this job. Prior
to What They Like, John was Sr. VP, editorial director of the Ziff Davis Game Group.
There, he shaped and directed all 1UP Network editorial products, including
1UP.com,
MyCheats.com,
GameVideos.com,
FileFront.com GameTab.com,
a suite of podcasts, the 1UP Show video podcast, EGM, Games for Windows: The Official
Magazine, and special issues. Before moving from his native England and joining
Ziff Davis, John was the publisher of Dennis Publishing’s market-leading UK PC gaming
magazine PC Zone.
Robert Franek
As Vice President, Publishing for The Princeton Review, Robert oversees more than
200 titles, including test-prep guides to college and graduate school, and career
and reference books. The company's chief expert on higher education issues, he directs
the yearlyl surveys of college, business school, and law school students upon which
the rankings are based. As lead author of the annual "Best 366 Colleges" guide,
he visits more than 50 colleges a year and is a frequent speaker on the college
admissions process. Prior to joining The Princeton Review, Robert was Associate
Director of Admissions at Wagner College, in Staten Island, NY.
Gary E. Knell
As President and Chief Executive Officer of Sesame Workshop, Gary leads the nonprofit
organization's mission to create innovative, engaging content for kids that maximizes
the educational power of media. He has been instrumental in the expansion of
Sesame
Street’s groundbreaking co-productions worldwide. He also helped found PBS
Kids Sprout, a 24-hour domestic cable channel in the U.S.
Elmo
As
Sesame Street’s high-spirited red monster, Elmo is always raring to go
and eager to try something new. He finds sheer joy in every day activities like
running, playing, spending time with friends and, most of all, being tickled. Elmo’s
spirited laugh is positively infectious! His genuine curiosity, passion for life,
optimistic view of himself and the world around him have enchanted millions of kids---of
all ages---all around the world.
Denise Tayloe
Denise is a pioneer in the field of identity management and protecting families
online. As the co-Founder, CEO and President of Privacy Vaults Online, Inc., d/b/a/
Privo. Denise created the PrivoLock™ protection system to fill the compelling niche
of online registration for kids, verification by families and compliance the Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Prior to co-founding Privo, Denise held roles
as a COO/Controller at a real estate development company. She was also a senior
auditing consultant with Arthur Andersen for small business and developing technology
companies.
Rosie O’Neill
"Chief Barbie Girl" and Brand Manager, Rosie O’Neill leads Mattel’s Barbie Tech
initiatives, which include the Barbie Girls™ platform, Barbie® i-Design™ gaming
system, and upcoming tech segments launched under the Barbie® brand. In April 2007,
O’Neill served as Chief Barbie Girl launching the revolutionary Barbie Girls™ platform,
a hybrid online-offline play experience that blends a fashion-forward, doll-inspired
music player with the first virtual world designed exclusively for girls, BarbieGirls.com.
Under Rosie’s leadership, BarbieGirls.com was named "the fastest growing virtual
world ever" (
Virtual Worlds News) and the "Best Toy and Hobby Website" (WebAward).
Deborah Manchester
Deborah Manchester, Ph.D. began her career as an audiologist specializing in childhood
development, related to the auditory mechanism, speech and language development,
and hearing disorders in newborns. But in 1990, she began an intensive program in
animation at Ohio State University. This led her to create Zula, a medical and orthopedic
products company, which markets printed covers for leg and arm casts. Based on the
cover characters, Deborah then created
The Zula Patrol, an educational TV
series that teaches children about science and astronomy while promoting tolerance
and nonviolent conflict resolution. Bringing
The Zula Patrol to kids around
the world with videos, dome shows, museum exhibits, Teacher Guides, books, and a
reading incentive program, has become Deborah’s passion.
George Cigale
George has served as Tutor.com's Chairman and CEO since founding the Company in
1998. During his tenure, he has raised over $30 million in venture capital and secured
strategic partnerships with top education and media companies. Under George’s leadership,
Tutor.com has created the leading on-demand homework help and online tutoring services,
making professional tutors available to all students the minute they need academic
help. His blog can be found at
ceotutor.blogspot.com.
Alexandra Kennedy
Alix is Vice-President, Editorial Director for
FamilyFun and
Wondertime
magazines, part of Disney Publishing Worldwide. She was on the launch of
FamilyFun
in 1991, and has overseen its editorial throughout its growth. She also conceptualized
and developed
Wondertime, a learning-focused magazine for parents with young
children; it launched in 2005. In addition to the magazines, Alix manages brand
extensions including book publishing, online publications, and broadcast efforts.
She has a B.A. from Colgate University and a Master of Fine Arts in poetry from
the University of Massachusetts. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her
husband and two sons.
Tim Hall
Tim Hall founded Digital Blue in 2002 after more than a decade in the toy industry.
As CEO he oversees all aspects of the business including finance, product development,
and sales and marketing. Prior to founding the company, he was the Executive Vice
President of Cartoon Network. His duties included worldwide branding, product licensing,
program acquisition, and on airpromotions. At Hasbro, he was a senior executive
in the action figure division, where he oversaw the development and marketing of
toys based on popular media. Among his successes were securing rights for three
Star Wars movies and the integration of Hasbro’s acquisition of the Galoob toy company.
