:: ECAST NETWORK :: About

John Taylor
President and CEO

As the CEO of Ecast, John has positioned the company as a leader in place-based media and is propelling Ecast into new retail and hospitality markets. Under his guidance, Ecast grew the size of its network to 10,000 locations nationwide and introduced the use of Web-standard targeting, measuring and reporting capabilities to out-of-home media buyers.

John brings Ecast over 18 years of executive management experience in both Fortune 500 and startup companies. John has a proven track record developing new markets and generating revenue growth for leading companies such as Macromedia, Sun Microsystems and NCR and creating new products and technologies for enterprise and new media markets. Before joining Ecast, John was the senior director of new business at Macromedia and prior to that he served as VP of broadband at Quokka Sports, responsible for the company's broadband product and business development efforts. John has also held senior level sales and management positions with Java multimedia tools company Dimension X (acquired by Microsoft), and Illustra Information Technology (acquired by Informix). John holds a B.S. from Cornell University.

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Daniel Ackerman
VP Advertising Sales

As vice president of advertising sales, Dan's charter is to identify and deliver innovative marketing solutions for brand advertisers on Ecast's place-based media platform to tap the power of social networking and relevant, on-demand content to reach and engage millions of consumers across the Ecast network. Most recently Dan served as vice president, worldwide sales and business development for Jivox, a privately held online video ad technology startup providing a video ad platform and network for agencies, advertisers and online publishers. There, Dan led the development and implementation of strategic partnerships with comScore Top 500 properties including publishers such as Gannett, Meredith, CBS, EW Scripps and McClatchy. Prior to Jivox, Dan spent over a decade with CBS where, as an advertising sales executive, he was involved in developing and taking to market cross-platform advertising and marketing solutions to national and regional brand advertisers. Dan's extensive media sales experience and relationships with leading ad agencies and marketers will ensure that the coveted demographic audience Ecast delivers with its place-based media platform are presented in a context that communicates premium value. Dan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from University of Maryland, College Park.

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Michael Miner
VP Business Development

As VP of business development, Michael Miner's charter is to build Ecast's media solutions business. At the core of this effort is cultivating strategic partnerships to facilitate Ecast's ability to help major brands optimize place-based media in their marketing mix. Prior to joining Ecast in May 2010, Miner developed his expertise in business development at numerous high profile technology companies including Amazon, eBay and Yahoo! Serving as director of business development and client services for the A9 business unit of Amazon, he spearheaded building a sponsored link advertising business on Amazon.com and third party publisher sites. While working as senior manager of sales and business development at eBay, he negotiated strategic partnerships with top online retailers to integrate PayPal into their commerce engines. In his role as senior business development and marketing manager for Yahoo! Travel, he secured online and offline partnerships with media giants Showtime, Sony Pictures and A&E as well as major brands British Airways and Budget Car Rental. A passion for philanthropy, Michael sits on the board of A Miner Miracle Foundation and regularly participates in community service activities. He earned a B.A. in communications from San Diego State University and an MBA from the University of San Francisco McLaren School of Business.

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Scott Walker
VP Network Operations

Scott spearheads the Ecast jukebox business, the key driver behind the company's national network footprint of 10,000 locations in bars and nightclubs across the country. Formerly director of sales and marketing, Scott has been a consistent top performer and leader at Ecast since he joined in 2005. A 19-year veteran of the Coin Op/jukebox industry, Scott has played a vital role in the growth of the Ecast business, bringing his insight and experience to the table and serving as the voice of Ecast operator partners. Before his start at Ecast, he was 10 years at Betson Distributing, the industry's largest national distributor, building many of the lasting relationships that have cemented his well earned reputation.

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Charles Pontious
VP Engineering and Information Systems

Charles brings Ecast over 20 years of progressive experience in Global IT service delivery and support. His broad technical background (e.g. mainframe and mini computer systems, world wide networking, database management and Internet delivery) is uniquely suited to Ecast, where the demands of running a sophisticated 10,000-plus node network require the rigors of current software development methodologies and best practices of high availability production operations. Charles holds a Bachelor of Music with a Minor in Computer Science from California State University, Sacramento. He has a long list of certifications and is a member of North American Network Operators Group (NANOG), IT Service Management Foundation (ITSMF) and the International Society of Audit and Control Associations.

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Dennis McMahon
VP Technology

Dennis came to Ecast from Rioport, where he was one of the original members and led the development of the first portable digital media player for consumers. Dennis has more than 25 years experience in computer technology on both the hardware and software sides. In addition to leading Ecast hardware development, Dennis serves as Ecast's technology strategist, working with business development and engineering to identify viable vertical market opportunities and map them to Ecast technology. Dennis has a long track record of fresh thinking and practicality that has lead to success. In his formative years, he was part of the team at International Imaging Systems that developed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology. Dennis founded Asystem in 1991, building it into a leading multimedia software company and selling it profitably in 1996 to Midisoft.

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Darren Clark
Chief Architect

Darren has been with Ecast since 2002 and is a driving force behind the technical innovation and high-performance design architecture that characterize the Ecast platform today. His guidance helps ensure the platform's alignment with the strategic direction of the business as well as its ability to meet enterprise-class scale and performance demands. On the forefront of planning the next generation of the Ecast platform, Darren's deep familiarity with Ecast's technical infrastructure is essential as he leads the development of research projects exploring new opportunities for Ecast. Before joining Ecast, Darren was one of the first employees at OpenTable where he led the design and implementation the company's restaurant reservation management software. Darren's background also includes architecture design and development at software and Internet companies including ArtistDirect and Radiant.

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Jim Pothier
Director Advertising Sales

Jim heads up the Ecast national advertising sales division where he and his team are the forefront of emerging media in the growing digital out-of-home space. Jim brings over 10 years of interactive media experience, including senior sales positions at Sega of America, Playboy Inc. and Mondo Media. Most recently, Jim was Sales Director at Monster Worldwide's consumer media division, where he worked with many of the Web's premium brands and marketers. Jim holds a BS in Marketing from Long Island University.

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Rachel Taylor Alegria
Director Human Resources, PHR-CA

Rachel brings to her role at Ecast more than nine years of experience directing and managing human resources for dynamic, mid-size companies. Well versed in all aspects of recruitment, training, employment law and operations support, Rachel is largely responsible for the friendly, performance driven culture at Ecast that stimulates innovation and cooperation. Rachel is a graduate of San Francisco State University and holds professional certificates from the Human Resource Certification Institute and Cal State East Bay. She is also a member of the Society for Human Resources, Northern California Human Resources Association and World at Work.

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