Chris Ahearn | President, Reuters Media at Thomson Reuters; Moderator

Chris Ahearn is head of media in the markets division of Thomson Reuters. He is responsible for the overall business performance of the media business and oversees all business, product development, and sales operations.

Prior to his appointment as President of Reuters Media in 2002, Chris was the EVP who founded the Reuters Knowledge product line. Prior to joining Reuters in 2001, he worked as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse First Boston. Chris sits on the board of The Kitchen, a non-profit arts organization in New York. 

David Carey | Group President, Condé Nast

David Carey is group president at Condé Nast, overseeing the company’s properties that reach a business and executive audience, including Condé Nast Portfolio, WIRED, Golf Digest, Golf World, Golf for Women and its related event and digital platforms. Most recently, he led the startup Condé Nast Portfolio and Portfolio.com.

Previously, David was the VP and publisher of The New Yorker, where in 2002 he helped the company post its first profit in 18 years. He was also a founding publisher of SmartMoney and a publisher of House & Garden. In 2001, he served a brief stint at Gruner & Jahr’s business information group as president and CEO. David was named by Adweek as the industry’s “executive of the year” in 2004, and in 2005 he was named by Folio: as a member of its “Dream Team” of publishing executives.

Bob Carrigan | CEO, IDG Communications worldwide

As CEO of IDG Communications worldwide, IDG’s media and events subsidiary, Bob Carrigan oversees IDG’s media operations in 85 countries. Prior to assuming this role in 2008, he was responsible for business units in the U.S., including CXO Media, Computerworld, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World, PC World, IDG Entertainment, Industry Standard, IDG World Expo.

Bob returned to IDG in 2003 as president and CEO of Computerworld. He rejoined IDG from AOL, where he was SVP in the interactive marketing group.  He joined AOL through its acquisition of Spinner.com. Bob also spent seven years in multiple roles at IDG’s PC World. He is a board member for the Interactive Advertising Bureau and American Business Media. 

Jim Casella | Chairman and CEO, Case Interactive Media

Jim Casella launched Case Interactive Media (CIM) in March of 2007 and serves as its chairman and CEO. CIM is affiliated with Austin Ventures, where Jim also serves as CEO-in-Residence for their Growth/Private Equity practice.

He retired as vice chairman of Reed Business in January of 2007, having joined the company in 2002 as CEO of its US operation. Over the course of his career, Jim has held numerous leadership roles. These include the position of COO at IDG, as well as president and CEO of PennNet (now PennEnergy), among others. Jim has served on the boards of IDG Books and Ask Jeeves, prior to its sale to Interactive Corp. 

Liz Claman | Anchor, Fox Business Network

Liz Claman joined Fox Business Network as an anchor in 2007.  She co-anchors the Fox Business block with David Asman and Fox Business Bulls & Bears. She also hosts Countdown to the Closing Bell.

Before joining FBN, Claman served as an anchor at CNBC and earlier as an anchor and reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV.  She was also a contributing correspondent for NBC’s syndicated daytime program, RealLife.  Prior to that, she anchored a daily talk show, The Morning Exchange, for WEWS-TV in Cleveland, for which she received an Emmy. Claman began her on-air career at WSYX-TV in Columbus, Ohio.  Earlier, she was a news associate for KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, where she was the youngest person in the station’s history to win a local Emmy for Best Spot Producer.

Kevin Delaney | Deputy Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal Online (Moderator)

Kevin Delaney is deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Online. Prior to his current position, he was a senior special writer in the San Francisco bureau of The Wall Street Journal and covered the Internet beat. He joined the Journal as a reporter in 1999 and spent five years reporting from the paper’s Paris bureau before moving to San Francisco in 2004. Kevin first joined Dow Jones & Company in 1996 as an assistant producer with Dow Jones Television.

He became a producer for WBIS+, a television station jointly owned by Dow Jones and ITT, in 1996. Next, he moved to SmartMoney as a reporter in 1998. Prior to joining Dow Jones, he was a coordinating producer and writer for World Affairs Television in Montreal. 

Graham Earnshaw | President, Xinhua Finance Media

As president of Xinhua Finance Media, Graham Earnshaw is responsible for content in both XF Media and the parent Xinhua Finance Limited and for maximizing content synergies among all parts of the Xinhua Finance group, also partaking in strategic decisions and investor relations activities.

A longtime journalist, Graham has lived in China and worked in media for over 30 years. He previously served as editor-in-chief of Xinhua Finance Limited and was earlier Asian editor for Reuters from 1990 to 1995. He is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English and has written a number of books, including translating Louis Cha’s The Book and the Sword.

Sarah Fay | CEO, Aegis Media North America (Spotlight Q&A)

Sarah Fay serves as CEO of Aegis Media North America, overseeing the operations of all of the Aegis Media operating units in the U.S. and Canada.  Sarah previously served as CEO of Carat and Isobar U.S. Carat. In her role with Isobar, Sarah managed the growth and integration strategies for Molecular, iProspect, Freestyle Interactive and Ammo Marketing.  She is a 20-year veteran of the media services business.

Sarah is the recipient of many awards, including ad:tech’s 2007 Industry Achievement Award, Advertising Age’s 25 Women to Watch, MediaPost’s Top 100 Media Influentials and OMMA’s Top 50 To Know in Online.  She was also one of BtoB’s Top 100 Business Marketing Influencers in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and recently was named a Future Legend by the Ad Club. 

Lauren Rich Fine | Research Director, ContentNext; Moderator

Lauren Rich Fine, CFA, is currently practitioner in residence at Kent State University’s College of Communications and Information. She was, until recently, a managing director at Merrill Lynch in Equity Research, covering the publishing, information, advertising and online industries. She was a ranked member of the Institutional Investor All-American Research Team for 14 years, holding the number one position for 11 years. She has an MBA from NYU.

Lauren is on the boards of Brand Muscle, the Cleveland Film Society, the Cleveland Jewish News, the Chautauqua Foundation, Dolan Media, In Counsel With Women, Laurel School, and Urban Community School. She is on the advisory board of Dix & Eaton, a public relations firm in Cleveland and the leadership board of the Lerner Research Institute. She previously was on the Poynter Institute advisory board. Lauren has also written a number of analytical pieces for paidContent.org. 

Keith Fox | President, BusinessWeek

Keith Fox was named president of BusinessWeek group, a global business media organization, in April 2007. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the BusinessWeek franchise.

Previously, Keith was president of McGraw-Hill Professional, the premiere professional publisher of printed and digital products and services, since September 2004, where he was responsible for launching BusinessWeek TV, among other products and services. Prior to joining McGraw-Hill, Keith was VP of new media at Reader’s Digest Association, where he launched Readers Digest Health with Web MD and ReadersDigest.com. He is currently on the board for Magazine Publisher’s Association. Keith holds an M.B.A. in marketing from the Columbia Business School. 

Chrystia Freeland | U.S Managing Editor, Financial Times

Chrystia Freeland is the U.S. managing editor of the Financial Times. Previously, Chrystia served as deputy editor in London. Other notable positions she has held at the FT include editor of FT Electronic Services, the FT’s Weekend edition and FT.com; UK news editor; Moscow bureau chief; and Eastern Europe correspondent.

Chrystia worked for two years at The Globe and Mail as deputy editor. She began her career working as a stringer in Ukraine, writing for the FT, The Washington Post and The Economist. She received her bachelor’s degree in history and literature from Harvard University, and earned a master of studies degree from St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University, which she attended as a Rhodes Scholar. The World Economic Forum has honored her as a Young Global Leader.

Gordon T. Hughes II | President and CEO, American Business Media

Gordon T. Hughes II is president and CEO of American Business Media. He joined ABM in 1994 as president, and took on the title of CEO in 2000. During his tenure at ABM, he has repositioned the association from a traditional publishing group to a global organization of business information providers.

Prior to joining ABM, Gordon was president of the marketing division for the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. He also served as vice president of marketing for CBS stations division. While at CBS, he won two Emmy Awards as a producer of major sports and entertainment events. Earlier in his career, Gordon was vice president and station manager at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, and director of sales at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles.

David Jackson | Founder and CEO, Seeking Alpha

David Jackson worked for five years as a technology research analyst for Morgan Stanley in New York. He left in early 2003 to manage money (long/short) and explore new approaches to financial publishing, ultimately leading to the creation of Seeking Alpha. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he worked in technology venture funding and macroeconomics (at HM Treasury in London and The Bank of Israel).

David has a B.A. from Oxford University and an M.Sc. from The London School of Economics. He is married to a very patient and loving woman, and has four young children. He is also on the board of the food rescue organization Table to Table.

Paul Kedrosky | Senior Fellow, Kauffman Foundation; Moderator

As a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, Paul Kedrosky shares his experience as a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist and academic to explore new programming opportunities. Previously, he was the executive director of the William J. von Liebig Center. Paul is an analyst for CNBC; a columnist for TheStreet/RealMoney; and the editor of Infectious Greed, a business blog. He also is the chair of the Money:Tech conference.

He is a venture partner with Ventures West, and is currently on the board of Marqui and Dabble DB. Earlier in his career, Paul founded the technology equity research practice at HSBC James Capel. In 1999, he financed and launched one of the first hosted blogging services, GrokSoup. 

Larry Kramer | Senior Advisor, Polaris Venture Partners; Moderator

Larry Kramer is Senior Advisor at Polaris Venture Partners, a national venture capital firm with over $3 billion under management.

From March 2005 until November 2006, he served as the first president of CBS Digital Media, creating a new division that put together all new media operations. Prior to joining CBS, Larry was chairman, CEO and founder of CBS Marketwatch, which he launched in 1997 and ran until its sale to Dow Jones for $528 million in 2005. Previously, Larry spent more than 20 years in journalism as an award winning reporter and editor for the San Francisco Examiner and the Washington Post. Currently, he sits on the board of Discovery Communications, Answers.com and Xinhua Finance Media, among others. He is a graduate of Harvard University (MBA). 

David Levin | CEO, United Business Media

David Levin is CEO of United Business Media. Prior to joining UBM, David was CEO of Symbian, which he joined after serving as COO of Psion, Symbian’s parent company. While at Psion, David led the acquisition of Teklogix and managed Psion’s exit from the consumer handheld business.

Previously, David held senior management positions at the Euromoney Institutional Investor. He also worked for the venture capital firm Apax Partners, and for Universal Grinding Wheels of Stafford and in Asia. David began his career with Bain & Company, a consulting firm where he worked in several world regions, including West Africa, North Asia, Southeast Asia, and the U.S. David Levin holds a master of arts in politics, philosophy, and economics from Oxford University. 

Gordon McLeod | President, The Wall Street Journal Digital Network

Gordon McLeod is president of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which includes the flagship WSJ.com, MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com, AllThingsD.com, WSJ.com Classifieds and all digital out-of-home, mobile, podcast/audio and video consumer products for Dow Jones.

Gordon previously served as general manager of Time Inc. Interactive, president of SportsIllustrated.com and SI Pictures, creative director for CBS News, and cofounder of Grisanti-McLeod, a strategic and creative political consulting firm.  He has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in political economy from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of Google’s Publisher Advisory Council and currently serves on the boards of the Online Publishers Association, The Interactive Advertising Bureau, and FiLife.com, a joint venture between Dow Jones and InterActiveCorp.

Marty Moe | SVP, AOL Money & Finance

Marty Moe is SVP for AOL Money & Finance, News, Sports, KOL and Weblogs, overseeing the operation of the financial portal and the commercial blog network, with sites such as Engadget, Autoblog, and Joystiq, as well as AOL News, Sports and KOL and the new AOL technology network. Under his direction, these properties reach more than 40 million monthly unique users.

Having joined AOL in 2001, Marty previously worked as its executive director of business affairs and development. He also supervised the management of partner relationships for various AOL businesses. Earlier, he was deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, practiced corporate law and served as a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

Scott Moore | SVP and Head of Media, Yahoo

As head of media for Yahoo, Scott Moore oversees all of the company’s media properties. This portfolio includes Yahoo’s most popular media properties such News, Sports Finance and Entertainment sites, as well as many of Yahoo’s commerce businesses.

He joined Yahoo in May 2005, as head of news information. Scott joined Yahoo from Microsoft’s MSN division, where he served as general manager of the MSN programming group. Scott concurrently served as president of MSNBC.com. While at Microsoft, Scott also founded MSN Video, one of the first advertising-supported video initiatives on the Internet. Prior to these roles, Scott served as publisher of Slate. During his tenure, Scott also worked with National Public Radio to create the national daily radio program Day to Day, a production of NPR West and Slate. 

Joe Nocera | "Talking Business" Columnist, The New York Times

Joe Nocera writes the “Talking Business” column for The New York Times. He became a business columnist for the paper in 2005. He also contributes to The New York Times Magazine as a business writer. In addition, Joe serves as a commentator for NPR’s Weekend Edition. Joe previously spent 10 years at Fortune. He also was the Profit Motive columnist at both Esquire and GQ. He previously served as a contributing editor at Newsweek, executive editor of New England Monthly, senior editor at Texas Monthly and an editor at The Washington Monthly.

His book, A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class, won the New York Public Library’s 1995 Helen Bernstein Award as the best nonfiction book. Joe edited The Smartest Guys in the Room. He was a 2007 Pulitzer finalist.

Norman Pearlstine | Chief Content Officer, Bloomberg (Spotlight Q&A)

Norman Pearlstine joined Bloomberg in June 2008 as chief content officer. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Norman was a senior advisor to The Carlyle Group’s telecommunications and media group in New York.

Before joining the private equity firm, Norman had spent nearly four decades working as a reporter and editor. He was editor-in-chief of Time from 1995 through 2005 before becoming a senior adviser to Time Warner in January 2006. He also worked for The Wall Street Journal for 23 years, including nine years in which he was responsible for the Journal’s news department, as managing editor and then executive editor. He is the author of Off the Record: The Press, the Government, and the War over Anonymous Sources, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in June 2007.

Scott Peters | Managing Director, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.

Scott Peters, a managing director with JEGI, represents a wide array of consumer and business information, marketing services and online media companies in an M&A advisory capacity.

Before rejoining JEGI, Scott was the co-founder of AngelSociety, an information, communications and transaction company serving the early stage investing or ‘angel’ investing market.  Prior to his initial employment with JEGI, Scott was with Veronis Suhler Stevenson, where he served as director of research and later, director of business development for the investment bank and private equity fund. He currently serves as a media and entertainment sector advisor to The New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF) and on the advisory board of Columbia Business School’s social enterprise program. He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School.

William Pollak | CEO - North America, Incisive Media

William Pollak has served as CEO - North America for Incisive Media since the company’s acquisition of ALM in 2007. He is also a member of Incisive Media’s board. Previously, William had served as ALM’s president and CEO, and as a member of ALM’s board since the company’s formation in 1998. 

William joined ALM after 16 years with The New York Times. During his tenure at the Times, he held a variety of senior marketing, advertising and circulation positions. William is a director of ProBono.Net, a nonprofit organization that utilizes information technology to expand delivery of legal services to low-income individuals and communities by public interest and pro bono lawyers.  He is also a director of the American Business Media and of BPA Worldwide.

Seth Rosenfield | Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets

Seth Rosenfield is a Managing Director in the BMO Capital Markets Business Services and Media Group, where he focuses on the publishing and information industries. His prior experience includes over 15 years as a banker and operator in the media industry, including 8 years at Veronis Suhler Stevenson where he was involved in both strategic advisory and equity transactions across a variety of media segments including business media, professional information, and consumer publishing. His prior operating experience includes serving on the management team at the Scholastic SOHO Group and in senior financial positions at Simon & Schuster, a division of Viacom. Seth earned an MBA in Marketing and Operations and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University.

Paul Rossi | Managing Director, EVP and Publisher, The Economist

In June 2008, Paul Rossi was named managing director and executive vice president of The Economist Group for the Americas. Paul’s portfolio of businesses includes The Economist magazine, Economist.com the Economist Intelligence Unit, Economist Conferences, and the CFO brand businesses in the region. 

He joined The Economist in 1987, managing advertising sales for the Middle East and Africa, and became publisher of The Economist in North America in 2005. In 2007, BtoB’s Media Business named Paul one of its top publishing innovators.  In 2008, Adweek called The Economist the hottest magazine in America, naming Paul one of two “Executives of the Year” along with The Economist’s editor-in-chief. Paul currently serves on the board of the Hope Program, a career development program for homeless and welfare-dependent adults in New York City.

Elisabeth Sami | SVP, Global Business Development, CNBC

Elisabeth Sami is CNBC’s SVP of global business development, responsible for driving growth through organic initiatives, strategic partnerships and investments.  She is also responsible for CNBC’s digital and new platform partnerships and transactions, and provides overall strategic leadership for CNBC.  Prior to joining CNBC in October 2005, Elisabeth was VP of business development for NBC Universal, where she identified new investment opportunities and strategic partnerships.

Before joining NBC in 1997, Elisabeth was VP of international business development at Discovery Communications, where she launched Discovery Asia. She began her career at The Bancroft Group, an investment consulting firm.

Andy Serwer | Managing Editor, Fortune; Interviewer

Andy Serwer is the managing editor of Fortune, responsible for overseeing and directing the multi-media proposition, including the bi-weekly magazine and online properties, as well as television and radio.

Previously, Andy had been editor-at-large at Fortune since 1998 and wrote the “Street Life” column, which evolved into a daily market round-up that appeared on CNNMoney.com. He has also been the business anchor of CNN’s American Morning news show. He was named 2000 “Business Journalist of the Year” by TJFR Business News Reporter and Marketing Computers also ranked him sixth on its “Top Ten Web” list of Internet journalists. Andy joined Fortune in 1985 as an intern from Columbia Journalism School and he also has an MBA from Emory University.

Vivek Shah | President, Fortune|Money Group

Vivek Shah is president of the Fortune|Money Group, which includes the magazines Fortune, Money and Fortune Small Business, and the website CNNMoney.com. Vivek formerly served as president of digital publishing for the group, overseeing CNNMoney.com, which has more than 22 million unique visitors each month. 

Previously, he was the general manager of group, functioning as its senior financial and business development executive, helping to develop and implement strategy and manage day-to-day operations.  Prior to that, Vivek was the vice president of new business ventures of the group, where he was responsible for launching and managing a portfolio of new businesses. Vivek has been named online Publisher of the Year by min and Innovator of the Year by BtoB’s Media Business. 

Jim Spanfeller | President and CEO, Forbes.com

Jim Spanfeller is president and CEO of Forbes.com.  He also oversees the company’s affiliated properties, which include ForbesAutos.com, ForbesTraveler.com, Investopedia.com, RealClearPolitics.com, RealClearMarkets.com, RealClearSports.com, Clipmarks.com and the Forbes.com Business and Finance Blog Network.

Spanfeller joined Forbes.com in 2000. In 2007 and 2008, he was recognized by BtoB’s Media Business in its annual “Who’s Who In Business Publishing” and in 2006 named Jim “Top Innovator in Business Publishing.” He was also inducted into min’s first-ever Digital Hall of Fame. Prior to joining Forbes.com, Spanfeller was president of the Consumer Magazine Group of Ziff Davis Media. Previously, he was publisher of Inc. magazine and also held senior positions at Playboy Enterprises Publishing Group and Newsweek.

Robert Thomson | Editor-in-Chief, Dow Jones & Company; Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal (Keynote Q&A)

As editor-in-chief of Dow Jones and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, Robert Thomson oversees the news section of the Journal and the editorial operations of Dow Jones News Wires. Previously, Robert was publisher of Dow Jones & Company and responsible for flagship publications such as the Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.com.

Before joining Dow Jones in 2007, Robert was editor of The Times of London. Prior to that, he was editor of the U.S. edition of the Financial Times. Before arriving in New York for the Financial Times, Robert was editor of the Weekend FT and assistant editor of the Financial Times. Earlier, he was the company’s foreign news editor in London, overseeing its network of correspondents. He previously was a correspondent himself, in Tokyo and Beijing. Robert has been a journalist since 1979, when he joined The Herald in Melbourne, Australia. 

Kevin Wassong | President, Minyanville Publishing & Multimedia

Kevin Wassong is the president of Minyanville Publishing & Multimedia, a next-generation digital network that creates branded business content to entertain, inform and educate all generations. Kevin joined Minyanville in March 2005 after creating and building digital@jwt within the world’s first advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson.

With a diverse background in marketing, communications, technology and entertainment, Kevin spearheaded the development of various digital communications firsts. He was instrumental in creating Sotheby’s first web site; Mercedes-Benz’s first networked kiosk system; the first user-generated commercial website for Unilever’s Lever 2000. Prior to his career in marketing management, Kevin worked as an assistant to the chairman of Creative Artists Agency, as well as a television development executive on shows such as The Golden Girls, Empty Nest and a host of others. Kevin has been featured on FOX Business Network, CNN, CNBC, in The New York Times, BusinessWeek and Advertising Age, among others, and has been on the cover of The Wall Street Journal.

Michael Wolff | Founder, Newser

Michael Wolff, a columnist for Vanity Fair and two-time National Magazine Award winner, writes about media, culture and politics. He is a commentator for CNBC and the founder of Newser, the news aggregator.

In 2003, he achieved international recognition for his dispatches from the Persian Gulf as the Iraq War began. His work, which has been widely anthologized, has appeared in numerous publications in the U.S., including New York Magazine, where he was a columnist, and the Guardian and Spectator in the U.K. He is the author of five books, including Autumn of the Moguls, Burn Rate and the forthcoming The Man Who Owns the News, a biography of Rupert Murdoch, based on nine months of interviews with Murdoch and his family and associates.