Judging

Marko Balabanovic

Head of Innovation, lastminute.com

Marko manages the lastminute.com innovation team, focused on developing new web experiences for travel and entertainment (earning a 2008 Econsultancy Innovation Award). Previously he has created personalization, recommendation and SEO systems for the lastminute.com and Travelocity websites across Europe. He led the development team at Collectivity and led product design and worked on development at the 8th employee at flutter.com/betfair.com. Marko's impressive internet CV also includes a PhD in Computer Science at Stanford and a BA in Computer Science at Cambridge.

Lars Bastholm

Chief Digital Creative Officer, Ogilvy

Lars has been working in the interactive marketing industry for over 10 years. After starting up Grey Interactive in Scandinavia, he joined Framfab in Copenhagen, Denmark as Creative Director. There he worked on some of the world's most recognized brands, including Nike, LEGO, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg. He joined AKQA in 2004 where he worked on brands such as Coca-Cola, Xbox, Sirius Radio and Dos Equis. Lars is one of the most award-winning creatives in the digital marketing with over 25 international awards to his name, including 3 Cyber Lions Grand Prix from Cannes.

Pete Blackshaw

Executive Vice-President, Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services

Throughout Pete's varied experiences in marketing, government and entrepreneurship runs a common theme - the power of the Internet to give individuals a voice and change the way things are done. He coined the term "consumer-generated media" (CGM) and authors a blog by that same name. Earlier this Spring, Pete received one of three "Industry Achievement" awards at Ad-Tech San Francisco. The award honors "those who have given long-term dedication and consistent outstanding service to online marketing." He's also a recently elected board member of the National Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB).

Pete presently serves as Executive Vice-President of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services, a newly established group within Nielsen dedicated to helping brands develop data-grounded online strategies in a host of key areas: online content, reputation management, brand advocacy, and customer satisfaction. The group draws from Pete's core expertise in helping companies promote and protect their brands through the measurement, analysis, and interpretation of CGM — or online word of mouth — across forums, message boards, social networking sites, direct company feedback, online communities and blogs. Nielsen Online is a combination of BuzzMetrics (a firm Pete helped co-found) and Nielsen NetRatings. Prior to BuzzMetrics, Pete was Chief Marketing and Customer Satisfaction Officer for Cincinnati based Intelliseek.

Adrian Blair

Head of Ecommerce Partnerships, Google

Adrian Blair is Google's Head of eCommerce Partnerships for Europe, leading a team responsible for 3 major partner programmes across the region. He joined Google in California in 2004, and was initially responsible for software distribution and mobile partnerships in the US and Europe. Prior to Google, Adrian taught undergraduate Economics at Harvard, and was Head of European Business Development for Ask Jeeves, where he led Ask's entry into the paid search and mobile content businesses. He holds an MA from Oxford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Susan Bratton

CEO and Co-founder, Personal Life Media

Susan is CEO and co-founder of Personal Life Media. She's also Vice Chairman, Association for Downloadable Media, as well as Chair Emeritus, ad:tech Conferences.

A highly regarded digital marketing entrepreneur, Susan sits on the boards of a number of technology companies including ZEDO, Inc., Jingle Networks, Collarity, Inc., MerchantCircle.com, NewsForce, Inc., and Powered, Inc., as well as the board of the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association. She is a founder of two industry associations, the IAB and the ADM and the Bay Area Interactive Group.

AdAge magazine recognized Susan twice — first as a "Digital Media Master" and as one of the "10 Internet Pioneers." The Business Journal has named her "2009 Women of Influence" in Silicon Valley.

Noam Buchalter

Marketing Manager, Unilever

Noam Buchalter is Marketing Manager for Marmite, Bovril, Pot Noodle and Peperami with responsibility for strategy, innovation and communication in the UK and Ireland. He has held this position since February 2008.

Since joining Unilever in 2001 as a graduate, Noam has managed a raft of brands such as Boursin, Elmlea, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Bovril and Marmite before taking on his current portfolio role. Over the years, Noam has enjoyed working on some famous campaigns such as Ozzy Osbourne for ICBINB, Paddington Bear and Snacks for Marmite, The Animal for Peperami and Songs for Pot Noodle.

Most recently, Noam has led Peperami's move into Crowd Sourcing to generate the brand's next advertising campaign.

Dr. Dave Chaffey

Director, Marketing Insights Limited

Dave is Director of Marketing Insights Limited, a consultancy and training company offering the WebInsights™ service for evaluation and recommendations on e-marketing strategy and execution. Dave has worked with companies including 3M, BP, EMI (KPM Music), HSBC, Intel Reseller Channel, NCH, Siebel and Tektronix to improve their e-marketing using this approach. He also works for cScape Strategic Internet Services as an E-marketing consultant.

His books include: E-marketing Excellence; Total E-mail Marketing and Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. He has been recognized by the CIM as one of 50 marketing gurus worldwide who have shaped the future of Marketing and by the Department of Trade and Industry as one of the leading individuals who have provided input and influence on the development and growth of E-commerce and the Internet in the UK over the last 10 years.

Sarah Fay

President, Isobar

Sarah Fay is a veteran of the media services industry: in her two decades of experience, she has developed and implemented groundbreaking new models for advertising and media. Over the course of her career, Sarah has become a well-known voice in the advertising industry on the topics of digital marketing and media integration. She has helped to build one of the most recognized digital companies in the world through a combination of acquisitions, new business wins, and organic growth.

In her role as President of Carat Interactive and then President of Isobar, Sarah orchestrated the successful acquisitions and merging of several companies including Lot21, Vizium, Freestyle Interactive, Molecular, iProspect, Ammo and Bluestreak. Sarah is also responsible for launching Isobar Mobile, a highly regarded mobile marketing entity.

An industry thought leader, Sarah initiated several ground breaking studies including "Born to Be Wired" (2003), which examined rapidly increasing internet use by teens, and "Never Ending Friending" (2007), which considered the increasingly vital role of social networking as a component of social behavior and also calculated marketing ROI for Social Marketing campaigns. Sarah has been widely quoted in such sources as Ad Age, Ad Week, DM News, B2B Magazine, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Additionally, Sarah regularly addresses audiences at major marketing conferences and participates on a number of company and industry boards.

Steve Forde

Head of Marketing & Communications for Future Media & Technology, Channel 4

Steve has over 10 years digital marketing experience; a large chunk of which has been with Channel 4, where he was tasked with evangelising digital through the marketing department. This led to him leading the pioneering new approaches to the marketing of the channel's shows and seasons; such as the hugely successful Skins, Shameless & Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong; He also developed and managed the innovative BAFTA nominated international ARG, The Lost Experience.

Whilst at 4 he also helped manage the launch and of the trail-blazing TV on-demand service, 4oD.

He moved away from Channel 4 at the beginning of 09, to manage the launch of a social media start-up, before returning to the Channel as the Head of Marketing & Communications for Future Media & Technology in October. Steve's remit is to continue to evolve and innovate the channel's digital marketing.

Jonny Freeman

Digital Marketing Manager, Honda

Jonny began his career at BMW UK managing their advertising campaigns and then internet operations.

In 2007 he moved to Honda (UK) and took responsibility for their digital marketing activities, driving forward and delivering their digital strategy, including content creation, technology innovation, social media and Honda TV.

During this period Jonny has delivered Honda's next generation digital platform as well as some of their best loved and most respected digital brand campaigns and product launches.

Jonny is also a member of ISBA's Digital Action Group and a member of The Marketing Society.

Avinash Kaushik

Author & Analytics Evangelist for Google

Avinash Kaushik is the author of the bestselling book Web Analytics: An Hour A Day. He is also the Analytics Evangelist for Google and the co-founder of Market Motive Inc.

As a thought leader Avinash puts a common sense framework around the often frenetic world of web research and analytics, and combines that with this philosophy that investing in talented Analysts is the key to long term success. He is also a staunch advocate of listening to the consumer, and is committed to helping organizations unlock the value of web data.

Avinash works with some of the largest companies in the world to help them evolve their online marketing and analytics strategies to become data driven and customer centric organizations. He recently received the 2009 Statistical Advocate of the Year award from the American Statistical Association.

He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences in the US and Europe, such as Ad-Tech, Monaco Media Forum, iCitizen, and SES, as well as at major Universities, such as Stanford, University of Virginia and University of Utah.

Sara Linfoot

Digital Innovation Manager, The Guardian

Sara Linfoot is The Guardian's Digital Innovation Manager, responsible for promoting digital knowledge across the commercial department and maximizing revenues in new technology areas.

Having spent 2 years with start ups during the dotcom boom and bust, she joined The Guardian 7 years ago and has worked across a range of commercial digital roles including B2B and creative solutions.

As a specialist in creating brand building campaigns for a broad spectrum of clients, she has developed numerous multi-platform campaigns incorporating groundbreaking digital opportunities, including audio and video, user generated content, blogging and virtual worlds.

Ciarán Norris

Director, Invention, Mindshare

Ciarán has been working online since getting a job in a Sydney internet cafe in 1999.

Upon returning to the real world he initially worked in digital publishing, firstly at Centaur Media and later at RBI, where he was a founder member of the company's first ever search marketing team. He moved agency side in April 2007, going to Altogether, the digital arm of the Engine Group, where he eventually led Altogether's search, affiliate & social media capabilities.

He recently moved to Mindshare where he's heading up their new social media offering, Mindshare SocialMedia8, and working with clients such as Nike, Diesel, Unilever & BP. As well as speaking at events such as New Media Age Live, a4uExpo & Search Engine Strategies, and for organizations including the IDM, he writes a monthly column on social media for Search Engine Land, the #1 ranked blog in Ad Age's Power 150.

Jeremiah Owyang

Partner, Altimeter

Jeremiah is a Partner focused on customer strategy at Altimeter Group and author of the popular blog "Web Strategy", which focuses on how corporations connect with their customers using web technologies. According to Technorati, the Web Strategy blog is in the top 1% of all blogs, and has over 40,000 subscribed readers.

In the realm of social technologies, Jeremiah is frequently sought after and has appeared on Bloomberg TV and is quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USAToday, the Associated Press and other technology and business related publications. He was featured in the 2009 "Who's Who" in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Tamer Ozmen

VP, Online, Orange Plc

Mr Ozmen is responsible for Orange's Online Channel, which represents over €1bn of revenue today. In this newly created role, his goal is to increase the channel's share amongst other retail and indirect channels.

Prior to joining Orange, Mr Ozmen was the founding CEO of TouchLocal, a local search website which provided local search and online advertising toolkit for businesses which used arbitrage tools to maximize the return.. Prior to TouchLocal, Mr Ozmen was the CEO of DOL, the largest integrated internet company in Turkey.

Mr Ozmen began his internet career with priceline.com in the United States as Senior VP Product and Sales.

Sidharth Rao

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Webchutney

Sidharth Rao is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Webchutney, India's leading and most awarded full service, interactive marketing agency.

A self-educated entrepreneur, a digital evangelist and an astute visionary, Sidharth opted out of regular academia at 19 and cofounded Webchutney.

Today as India's number one digital agency (Ranked by Brand Equity, Economic Times, December 2008), his vision has been translated to a 150 people strong organization directed by an enviable executive management team across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

His thought leadership and industry expertise, have propelled him to infuse the Indian digital landscape, and contribute to it with other exciting ventures and start-ups, he has been involved as an incubator with JuxtConsult, India's leading online research consultancy firm and India's number one brand ad-network, Networkplay

A speaker at various panel discussions and seminars, he has often been quoted in leading and major Indian publications and national dailies. A prominent figure in the Indian digital landscape, he is popular among peers and colleagues alike in the industry.

Deborah Schultz

Partner, Altimeter

Deborah leads Altimeter's Innovation and Best Practices business focused on bringing together the ecosystem of emerging technologies including investors, start-ups, businesses, end users, service providers, and thought leaders for experimentation, active learning and real-world application. Most recently, she architected the Procter & Gamble Social Media Lab to study the impact of the social web on customer relationships and the business benefits of "open innovation." She continues as a member of P&G's Digital Advisory Board. Deborah is an internet industry veteran and early social and open web advocate focused on the adoption and impact of the social web on culture, society & business. She has worked with and advised startups, Fortune 50s and VC's on technology adoption.

Gary Stein

VP, Isobar

As VP of the recently formed dedicated social media practice, Gary works with clientsto create social media marketing programs built around a framework of strategy, analytics and ROI. Gary has been engaged in digital and influencer marketing for more than a decade. Most recently, he led the strategy departments for Ammo Marketing and Freestyle Interactive (both Isobar units). Prior to joining the Isobar network, Stein was the senior advertising analyst at Jupiter Research, where he covered interactive and traditional advertising as well as the emerging worlds of search and social media.

Iain Tait

Partner, Poke

Iain has been working in the online space since the mid nineties. After graduating from Edinburgh University with a Psychology degree he built websites for many of the Edinburgh Festivals. But before he had time get involved with the Puppet Festival he moved to London (the rumour was that they had a better version of the Internet down south).

At an unpronounceable agency called Syzygy he work on projects for The Royal Opera House, Boots, Wilkinson Sword and Siemens.

He moved on to become the Director of Product Development for First Tuesday, a networking organisation connecting entrepreneurs to VCs.

After playing a part for the .com boom he realised he missed the creative bit of agency life. So he moved to Oven Digital. Which went bust.

From the ashes of Oven Iain set up a hybridised entertainment startup which proved to be ahead-of-its-time (i.e. irrelevant). So in the depths of the .com trough he started Poke with 5 other homeless digital veterans.

Poke is a creative agency that focuses on the digital space. As well as working with clients like Orange, Manchester City FC, WWF, American Express, Zopa and Yahoo! Iain writes a blog at crackunit.com and gets involved with a bunch of industry things.

Finally, he absolutely hates writing about himself in the third person, it makes him feel very strange.

John Willshire

Head of Innovation, PHD Media

John is Head of Innovation at PHD Media, which is about "the creation and cultivation of ideas through the study of social, cultural and technological trends". John works across the majority of PHD's clients; most recently Cadbury, Sainsbury's, Act On Co2 and Simple. His continual search for the interesting and inspiring is documented on the Feeding The Puppy blog.