Variety's Interactive Summit Unites The Entertainment Industry's Leading Revolutionaries
Industry Panel To Discuss The Impact Of AOL-Time Warner Merger On The Interactive And Entertainment Communities
Digitrends Magazine and Daily Variety have teamed to co-sponsor the third annual Variety's Interactive Summit, a gathering of the entertainment industry's leading revolutionaries for three days of insightful presentations, lively debate and revealing roundtable discussions exploring strategies that define success in today's interactive environment. The Summit will be held February 2-4 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego, California. Following in the wake of the America Online and Time Warner merger news, Variety's Interactive Summit will also spotlight distribution, strategic mergers, acquisitions and partnerships. Tapped to serve as keynote speaker is entertainment industry veteran Strauss Zelnick, President and CEO of Bertelsmann Music Group, a $4.6 billion music and entertainment company with more than 200 record labels and operations in 53 countries. Among BMG's worldwide superstars are 'N Sync, Puff Daddy, Whitney Houston, Sarah McLachlan, Kenny G., Toni Braxton, Annie Lennox, George Winston and Eros Ramazzotti. The summit will also feature such top industry executive speakers as Myer Berlow, President, Interactive Marketing of America Online, Inc.; Rick Hess, President of Propaganda Films; Paul Nolgows, Senior Analyst of Hambrecht & Quist; Ed Sullivan, CEO/President of Pittard Sullivan; Jonathan Taplin, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Intertainer; Jim Banister, Executive Vice President of Warner Bros. Online; Josh Greer, CEO of Digital Domain; Yoram Roth, Co-Founder, Chairman of Rotor.net; David Wertheimer, Chairman & CEO of Wirebreak.com; Gary Arlen, President of Arlen Communications; Nicholas Butterworth, President and CEO of The MTVi Group; Ken Goldstein, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Disney Online; Andrew Nibley, President & CEO of GetMusic.com; Lisa Simpson, President of Sony Online Entertainment; John Lack, CEO of Digitar; Stewart Alsop, New Media Commentator; Columnist of Fortune Magazine; William J. Grimes, Partner of BG Media; Larry Kasanoff, Founder & Chairman of Threshold Entertainment; and Thomas S. Wurster, Vice President of The Boston Consulting Group. Through seminars, symposiums and workshops featuring high-level industry executives and opinion-makers, the Variety's Interactive Summit will focus on the dramatic impact convergence will have on the entertainment industry and underscore how Interactive media and the Web are driving today's entertainment revolution, redefining how entertainment products are marketed, sold and delivered to the public. ""From the phonograph to the radio, from film to television, from the PC to the Web, the evolution of entertainment has been inextricably linked to the evolution of the entertainment medium. Each new delivery vehicle has meant explosive growth for the entertainment business, and a revolutionary change in the way the world spends its leisure times,"" said Rick Parkhill, CEO, Digitrends. The three-day Summit is sponsored by AOL, Sabela, Webstakes.com, ThingWorld.com, Intervu, L90 and Alchemedia. Contact: Steve Syatt, SSA Public Relations (Los Angeles) Voice: 818 501 0700 Contact: Donna Rosetta, SSA Public Relations (Los Angeles) Voice: 818 501 0700 Contact: Leslie Tamsing, SSA Public Relations (Los Angeles) Voice: 818 501 0700 Contact: Robin Lawson, SSA Public Relations (New York) Voice: 212 679 4750 Contact: Kerri Tarmey, SSA Public Relations (New York) Voice: 212 679 4750