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June 22, 2007

Jon Arnold / Don Albert - Skype - Canadian Update

On this week's podcast, Jon's guest was Don Albert, VP and General Manager for Skype North America. Don provided an update on how Skype is doing in Canada, and shared some metrics on users and broadband adoption. The discussion touched on several topics, including Skype for Business, SkypeIn/Out, the Canadian developer community, and routes to market for Skype. Don noted how the family of Skype-supported endpoints continues to grow, and that by year-end, their online store will start shipping to Canada.

Don Albert is Vice President and General Manager of Skype North America, in which role he manages North American operations for the Internet communications company owned by eBay.

Don moved to Skype in early 2006 from eBay, where he managed business development in the Strategic Partnerships Group for four years, during which time he formed strategic partnerships with companies ranging from HP to Toyota to Twentieth Century Fox. Don was recognized in 2004 as a Marketer of the Year by Promo magazine for his team's innovative marketing partnerships.

Before joining eBay, he held senior management roles at several leading Internet and media companies. He was Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at wireless technology startup fusionOne and Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales and E-Commerce at rich-media pioneer PointCast. He led early efforts in online classified and directory advertising at AOL's Digital City, where he was head of advertising sales and marketing, and at washingtonpost.com, where he was part
of the launch team and Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales.

Posted at 12:38 PM • Comments (1)

June 21, 2007

Jon Arnold / Deloitte / MyThum Interactive - Canada's New Media Sector

On this week's podcast, Jon hosted 3 guests to talk about the New Media sector in Canada. This podcast was a follow up to the Canadian New Media Awards, which Jon covered on his blog in late May. Joining Jon was Gary Gluckman and Richard Lee from Deloitte, along with Michael Carter, CEO of MyThum Interactive.

As noted on Jon's post, Michael's company won the Company of the Year Award at CNMA, and he talked about what the award means to MyThum, as well as the many positive benefits that have come with the recognition. Gary and Richard spoke about the new media sector in general, and the growth drivers behind it in Canada. Three speakers made for a crowded, but lively session, and anyone interested in New Media will find this of interest.

Michael Carter - President and CEO, MyThum Interactive

Michael Carter is the President and CEO of MyThum Interactive, a leader in interactive mobile media. In his leadership role at MyThum, Michael draws on more than a decade of wireless, e-commerce, interactive entertainment and management consulting experience.

With direct connections to all Canadian wireless operators and access to major U.S. carriers, MyThum enables brands and media companies to build relationships with more than 220 million consumers through their mobile phones. Since 2002, Michael and his team have launched over 600 hundred successful mobile initiatives, many being the first of their kind in North America.

MyThum powers the direct-to-consumer mobile content storefronts for Warner Music Canada, Universal Music Canada and Best Buy USA and interactive television solutions for broadcasters such as MuchMusic, MTV Canada, Global Television and Rogers Sportsnet. MyThum is also the mobile marketing partner for leading brands such as Molson, Nike, Nissan and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Gary Gluckman - Partner: Technology, Media and Telecommunications Industry Practice, Leader: Media and Entertainment Practice, Deloitte

Gary Gluckman is the leader for Deloitte’s Media and Entertainment practice in Canada. He is also a Taxation Partner in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) industry practice and a member of Deloitte’s TMT Executive Management Committee.

Gary has almost 15 years experience as a tax consultant to leading TMT companies. He has significant experience in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and international tax planning. Gary has advised Canadian and foreign-based multinationals on federal and provincial tax planning matters, foreign investment and financing structures, as well as domestic and foreign reorganizations.

Current and past clients include, CHUM Limited, CTV Globemedia, Microsoft, J.L. Albright Venture Partners, Birch Hill Equity Partners, Amp’d Mobile, IRESS Market Technology, Panavision, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Truition Inc., The Cookie Jar Company, and VFM Interactive.

Gary is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, and the Canadian Tax Foundation. He is also invited to frequently speak at events and conferences on a number of topics, including the media industry.

Richard Lee - Partner: Technology, Media & Telecommunications Industry Practice, Deloitte

Richard Lee is the Consulting lead for Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) industry practice in Canada, a member of the firm’s TMT Executive Management Committee, and one of the leaders of Deloitte Canada’s Customer & Market Strategy practice.

Richard has more than 20 years experience as a consultant, including over 15 years working with leading telecom and media companies. In that time, he has worked on three continents, staying at the forefront of changes in the communications and media sectors. Current and past clients include, Allstream, Bell Canada, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the BBC, Lucent Technologies, MasterCard, Reuters, Rogers Communications, Sprint, and SBC.

Richard specializes in working with senior management to develop and implement practical, growth-oriented, customer-facing business strategies. His recent work focuses on building his clients’ capabilities to increase revenue by improving customer interactions. Specific projects cover customer strategy development and implementation, customer segmentation, channel strategy, and sales force effectiveness.

Richard started his consulting career with Deloitte in London, England. He moved to Toronto in 1993 after two years with Deloitte in Sydney, Australia.

He is the co-author of the white papers The Case for Using Mobile Phones for Payments (November 2004) and The Wallet Goes Wireless (July 2005) and is a frequent media commentator on trends and events in the communications industry.

Posted at 06:19 PM • Comments (0)

June 15, 2007

Jon Arnold's Waterloo Mini-Tour, Part 3: Podcast with Dave Bullock, LiveHive Systems

For the third podcast of the mini-tour, Jon visited the offices of LiveHive Systems, and met with Dave Bullock, the company's President. LiveHive's flagship offering is called NanoGaming, which greatly enhances the interactive component for watching live events on television, especially sports and reality shows. They have been doing this quite successfully with the NFL and the reality show Survivor. Dave explains their business in more detail, especially the two screen interactive concept that their business is built around. If you're following disruptive broadcasting and the future of interactive entertainment, this podcast is for you.

NOTE - this podcast was not recorded under ideal conditions, and we have done our best to make it as good as possible.

Posted at 04:15 PM • Comments (0)

Jon Arnold's Waterloo Mini-Tour, Part 2: Podcast with Linda Fegan and Mark Whaley

On the second podcast, Jon spoke with Linda Fegan and Mark Whaley. Linda is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Canada's Technology Triangle Inc., and Mark is a Councillor for the City of Waterloo. Linda provided additional insight to John Tennant's comments about what makes the Waterloo Region so attractive for tech companies. Mark did the same, as well as talk more about what it means for Waterloo being selected as the #1 Intelligent Community in the world by the Intelligent Communities Forum.

NOTE - this podcast was not recorded under ideal conditions, and we have done our best to make it as good as possible.

Posted at 04:11 PM • Comments (0)

Jon Arnold's Waterloo Mini-Tour, Part 1: Podcast with John Tennant, Canada's Technology Triangle

On June 7, Jon spent the day in Waterloo, Ontario, doing a mini-tour of their thriving tech scene. More detail about his trip can be found on Jon's blog. Part of Jon's trip included a series of 3 onsite interviews that he has shared with PPN, and are being posted here as podcasts for your benefit.

The first podcast was conducted with John Tennant, the CEO of Canada's Technology Triangle Inc. This organization is a major focal point for suppporting tech companies and investment in the Waterloo Region. John discusses this in detail on the podcast, along with the many initiatives they have underway to promote the region to the world.

NOTE - these podcasts were not recorded under ideal conditions, and we have done our best to make them as good as possible.

Posted at 04:05 PM • Comments (0)

June 12, 2007

Jon Arnold / Mike Barry - Vecima Networks and the State of WiMax

On this week's podcast, Jon spoke with Mike Barry about the current state of WiMax, and what his company is doing to move it forward. Mike is the CFO of Saskatchewan-based Vecima Networks, one of the few publicly-traded Canadian IP communications vendors. Jon and Mike talked about where fixed WiMax is today, including issues around standards, in-building coverage, what's driving adoption and what types of operators are embracing it. Mike also commented about emerging trends and applications, especially around video. He also touched on elements that make Saskatchewan a good place for their company to be based.

Mike Barry, Chief Financial Officer, Vecima Networks, Inc.
Mr. Barry joined Vecima Networks in March 2000. Mr. Barry worked for the Government of British Columbia as a First Nations land claims negotiator from 1996 to 1999 and as an energy efficiency and technology manager, developing energy efficiency requirements for equipment and appliances, from 1990 to 1996. He also worked as a consultant from 1987 to 1997, specializing in venture capital financing, project management and initial public offerings. From 1983 to 1987, Mr. Barry was Director of Corporate Development at SED Systems. From 1971 to 1981, he worked for the Government of Saskatchewan as Executive Director of Revenue. Mr. Barry has been a director of a number of companies including Agra Industries, SaskTel, Prince Albert Pulp, Prairie Malt and Intercontinental Packers.

Mr. Barry received a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with honours in finance, from the University of Saskatchewan in 1969, and a Master of Arts degree in economics from the University of Washington in 1971. Mr. Barry was presented with a Canadian Standards Association Award of Merit in 1995 for his contributions to the development of energy performance standards.

Posted at 05:45 PM • Comments (0)

June 05, 2007

Jon Arnold / Chris Lyman - Fonality and Open Source Telephony

On this week's Canadian IP Thought Leaders podcast, Jon spoke with Chris Lyman, CEO of Fonality. The topic was open source telephony, a space that Fonality has become a leading player in. Chris and Jon talked about the state of open source telephony, and how using Asterisk, Fonality has been driving adoption not just in the business market, but in the home as well.

Looking ahead, Chris also talked about how new features will be the key to growth, and how over time, open source will become increasingly stable, which itself will set the stage for broader adoption. On the Canadian front, Fonality has a local footprint, and Chris talked about the market opportunity he sees there, as well as how Canada differs from the U.S.

Chris Lyman, Chief Executive Officer, Fonality
Fonality is Chris' third startup. Prior to Fonality, he founded and led Virtualis, a top-ten Web Hosting company. Chris bootstrapped Virtualis for 3 profitable years until raising $8 million in venture capital, and eventually growing the firm to over $7 million in recurring revenue. Keys to Virtualis' growth were its Web-based control panel and its 44,000 member online reseller channel. Chris sold Virtualis to Allegiance Telecom (NASDAQ: ALGX) in late 2000, re-branded it to hosting.com, and joined the Allegiance management team as Vice President of Web Hosting Services. There he led the acquisition and roll-up of additional hosting firms. In 1994, before Virtualis, Chris founded a media-focused systems integration firm in Los Angeles. Chris is a licensed SCCA-Pro driver and owns a motor sports racing team.

Posted at 06:13 PM • Comments (0)

Per Björklund, Efftel, with Carl Ford

As is the usual in Carl Ford's podcasts, this conversation with Per Björklund from Efftel covers a lot of ground, from Sweden's place in the high-tech world, to mainstream acceptance/adoption/understanding of VoIP services, to the ever-decreasing price of phone calls and the resulting focus on flexibility and features rather than simple dialtone for Efftel.

Per Björklund founded Efftel in 2004 together with Håkan Lund. Efftel (www.efftel.com/english.htm) is a rapidly growing service provider and operator delivering complete and extremely flexible VoIP solutions to small and medium enterprises in Northern Europe. Prior to founding Efftel, Per had over 13 years senior telecoms and venture capital experience from e.g., Telia and Telenor. Already in 1997 he initiated and managed Telia Light AB, Telia’s pioneering VoIP spear head company publicly launched at VoN 1998 in San José. He then as the VP Products had the P/L responsibility for Telia/Telenor’s 4 Bn EUR consumer services portfolio. After 9 years at Telia, he was a Director and co-owner of the Nordic VC Startupfactory for three years and then spent a year on the build-up of Sweden’s fastest growing and 4th largest mobile operator Telenor/djuice as the Product Portfolio Director.

Per holds an MSEE from the Royal Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics. He has contributed as a speaker to several VoN conferences from 1998 and onwards. In his spare time, Per chairs the VoIP Section of the 27.000 member Swedish Computer Society, that was proud having Jeff Pulver as their guest speaker a month ago.

Catch up with Per and others from the Efftel team at Von Europe Spring.

Posted at 03:34 PM • Comments (0)