MobileBeat’s panel of experts

I’m pleased to announce our esteemed panel of experts for MobileBeat.

They’ll listen to the pitches from the MobileBeat presenting companies, and select the winners in various categories. We introduced the MobileBeat Tesla Award yesterday and explained the competition categories.

The panelists are as follows:

John Smelzer, FOX Interactive Media, SVP & General Manager — John Smelzer is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobile for Fox Interactive Media (FIM), a role in which he is charged with overseeing the mobile extensions of FIM’s online assets, including FOXSports.com, IGN.com, MySpace.com, MyFOX.com and others. His group, which was formed in March 2006, manages diverse FIM-branded mobile product offerings on a global basis, spanning the wireless product spectrum from WAP to video. Smelzer joined FOXSports.com as Director, Business Development in August 2001. Promoted to Vice President in 2003, he pioneered Fox Sports’ mobile business, including the top-ranked FOX Sports mobile video offering, available on all major carriers and aggregators. Smelzer also led negotiations with Microsoft for the exclusive distribution of FOXSports.com on MSN.

Sandi Isaacs, Paramount Digital Entertainment, SVP, Interactive & Mobile — Sandi Isaacs has been with Viacom since 2000, and currently serves as Vice President, Interactive and Wireless representing Paramount Pictures. In this role, she is responsible for identifying, negotiating and securing business and licensing partnerships to develop video game franchises and wireless applications based on Paramount Pictures intellectual properties. Isaacs has more than a decade of interactive entertainment industry experience and an extensive background in licensing and business development.

Jeff Brody, Redpoint Ventures, early mobile investor, on boards of Danger, MobiTV, WebTV — Jeff Brody is a founding partner of Redpoint Ventures. Jeff is focused on investments in new technology companies spanning both enterprise and consumer customers, and has led his firm’s mobile investments. He currently serves on the board of directors of Danger (one of the largest exits for a mobile company to date, acquired by Microsoft), Fraud Sciences (acquired by eBay), HomeAway, JumpTap, Kodiak, LifeSize, Loopnet (LOOP), Mobilygen, MobiTV and ZING Systems (acquired by Dell). Jeff was an early investor and director of Concur Technologies (CNQR), GetThere (GTHR), mySimon (acquired by CNET), NextCard (NXCD), Onebox (acquired by OpenWave), ViaVideo (acquired by Polycom), and Web TV (acquired by Microsoft). Previously, he worked at venture firms Brentwood, Comdisco Ventures and Crosspoint Venture Partners.

Ross Levinsohn, Velocity Interactive Group, Partner — In 2004, he was tapped by News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch to devise the digital strategy for the company. In executing that plan, he made various decisions on investments, including the acquisitions of Myspace and IGN.com. He also oversaw the acquisitions of Askmen.com, Scout.com, Newroo, KSolo, amongst others. As President of Fox Interactive Media, Ross managed all day-to-day operations for the company from its inception until December 2006. Under his leadership, the FOX Network of sites became one of the largest on the Internet with more than 140 million monthly users. He also oversaw a partnership with Google, which will yield the company nearly $1 billion in advertising from the search and monetization leader. Previously, Ross served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fox Sports Interactive Media, and held positions with AltaVista Network, CBS Sportsline and Saatchi and Saatchi. Ross currently serves on the board of Napster.com, storage and media management company Fabrik, Inc., Virtual World innovator VSIDE, and Indian Internet holding company, Fuse+Media.

Stephen Saltzman, Intel Capital, Head of mobile investment — Stephen is a Director of Strategic Investments for Intel Capital, focused on Intel’s investments in wireless networking. Prior to joining Intel Capital in 2002, Saltzman was the general manager of Intel’s Wireless LAN Operation, where he led its growth as an emerging leader in the wireless Ethernet market.

Steve Hegenderfer, Microsoft, Group Manager, Windows Mobile (no photo) — Steve Hegenderfer is Group Manager of Windows Mobile Solutions Delivery at Microsoft, responsible for conducting and analyzing market research that helps Microsoft deliver effective mobility solutions for medium and large businesses and partnering with these businesses to deploy Microsoft’s full range of mobility products. Steve is an industry veteran with over 15 years experience in architecting software and managing sales life cycles, business processes, and organizational development. Prior to his current role, Steve, who joined Microsoft in 2005, was a technology evangelist responsible for broadening Microsoft’s partnerships with the mobile technology industry.

Lars Kamp, Accenture, Head of wireless strategy — At Accenture, Lars Kamp has led the firm’s wireless strategy pratice. He has developed numerous relationships with carriers, having worked for Accenture’s offices in Vienna (2001-2002), Rome (2003-2005) and San Francisco (2006 – current) where he developed and implemented strategies for blue chip clients in the Communications & High Tech Industry in Europe, Asia and the U.S.

Sales of MobileBeat 2008 tickets are moving quickly, so go here to get yours. It’s a week away on July 24.

Finally, thanks to our sponsors, Blackberry Partners Fund, Forum Nokia, Sun Microsoystems, Norwest Venture Partners, Amiando, Zanox, mTouch and Mippin for making this possible. If you’re interested in sponsoring the event, please contact Jacob Mullins.