Speakers

Speakers confirmed include:

Laszlo Horvath, Founder and President, ActiveMedia

Nahel Menon, eComms Director, Corporate Communications, DU

Nathalie Turpin, Regional Director of Marketing - Arabian Peninsula & Indian Ocean, Hilton Hotels

Terry Kane, Director of Digital Strategy, Jumeirah Group

Michael Stellwag, Manager - Digital Marketing, Qatar Airways

Dan Healy, CEO, Real-Opinions

Jimmy Leigh, Editorial Director for Digital, The Independent

Alain Portmann, Founder, Web Liquid

Omar Koudsi, President and Co-founder Jeeran

Jon Dodd, Managing Director and co-founder, Bunnyfoot

Ali Assy, Senior Manager for Online Sales and Marketing, Nokia Middle East and Africa

Ali Sinaei, Head of Online Advertising, BAYT.COM

Husni Khuffash, Country Business Development Manager UAE, Google

Mohammad Itani, Digital Director, MEDIACOM

Yousef T. Tuqan, CEO, Flip Media

Richard Mullins, Director, ME ACCELERATION

Sander den Hartog, CEO, MOBITRANS

Ziad Khammar, General Manager, AME Info

Caroline Whyatt, Portal Manager, AME Info

Ziad Skaff, Group Director, INTEGRAL

Chris Averill, Founder and Managing Director, CADINTERACTIVE

Robert Salomone, Associate Media Director, STARCOM IP

Jassim Ali,Director Digital, PHD IQ

Sajid Abdul Rahiman, Business Consultant - Middle East and North Africa, Yahoo

Fadi Khater, Marketing Communications Stream Leader, DU MEDIA LAB

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Speakers biographies

Nathalie Turpin
Regional Director of Marketing, Hilton Hotels, Arabian Peninsula & Indian Ocean

Nathalie Turpin's life has been truly international with British/French parentage and an involvement with the Arabian Gulf Region since her early years when her parents moved to Bahrain.

She graduated from Marymount International School in London with the International Baccalaureate and spent her university years in the University of St Andrews in Scotland, receiving an M.A.

She has subsequently worked in the UK with Scottish & Newcastle, Bahrain with BMMI, Qatar BMMI/QMI and more recently Dubai where she has worked with British Airways, and today is the Regional Director of Marketing - Arabian Peninsula and Indian Ocean, for Hilton Hotels.

Since joining Hilton Hotels in 2007, Nathalie has worked on various through-the-line promotional campaigns across the Gulf Region and Europe. After first developing British Airways' online strategy, she has used her base knowledge to explore how online can be used to target the right customer base and prove ROI for the developing online activities within Hilton Hotels.


Jon Dodd
Bunnyfoot

Jon holds a DPhil. in Visual and Computational Neuroscience from Oxford University, and has over 13 years experience of developing and coding online information resources that are usable and accessible to multiple user groups and browser-device combinations.

He combines business acumen with programming expertise, and behavioural expertise, ensuring 'fluency' in and between all the necessary components required to develop top-flight online resources. Jon has overall responsibility for the accessibility, usability and eyetracking services for the company. He works directly with clients (when he can) and frequently appears as an invited speaker at national and international industry conferences.

Jon is a former invited expert for the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and former editor-in-chief of the Usability Professionals Association online newsletter.

When not at Bunnyfoot you'll find Jon teaching scuba diving, entertaining the crowds with the local amateur dramatics society, wakeboarding or learning how to fly microlights (hang-gliders with hairdryers on the back).


Omar Koudsi
Jeeran

Getting an economics degree from Brigham Young University (Utah, USA) did not stop Omar Koudsi from getting heavily involved with the online world when it became commercialized in the U.S during the late nineties.

At the age of 20 and after experimenting with several models on the Internet and witnessing the rise and fall of several Internet giants, Omar and his friends launched Jeeran in 2000.

He returned to Jordan a year after and worked at the family's software development company. In 2003, Jeeran started showing a lot of promises; Omar decided to work on Jeeran full time even though it was making no revenue at the time.

Five years and a VC round later, Jeeran is the largest User Generated Content portal in the Middle East with several offices in the region. It is also the online community of choice among top regional online advertisers in the region.

Omar and the rest of the team are currently busy supporting the growth of Jeeran by filling in many shoes; typical of many entrepreneurs working on their startup.


Jimmy Leach
The Independent

Jimmy Leach is Editorial Director for Digital for The Independent, responsible for reinvigorating the newspaper's web and digital presence, joining them from top PR firm Freud Communications where he was Editorial Director for Digital, working for a variety of blue chip and charity clients.

Prior to that, he was Head of Digital Communications in the Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, where his work developing the Web 2.0 presence for both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, with podcasts, the first YouTube channel for a world leader, online petitions and more which won him the New Media Age award for 'Biggest influence on New Media' and made him (very briefly) one of London's 'most influential' according to the Evening Standard. Before that, he worked for 6 years on the Guardian's online presence, developing their business-to-business digital presences.


Ali Assy
Senior Manager for Online Sales and Marketing, Nokia Middle East and Africa

Ali Assy is Senior Manager for Online Sales and Marketing at Nokia Middle East and Africa. Part of the team to setup the Nokia's Middle East and Africa marketing operation three years ago, Ali has played a leading role in the development of digital marketing in the region. At Nokia, he has been working on driving increased focus on digital marketing based on improved performance results of digital media. He also works on identifying opportunities across the MEA region and implementing new global digital concepts for Nokia, many of which have been piloted in the MEA markets first.

Prior to Nokia, Ali worked with Publicis in Montreal, and Leo Burnett in Dubai. Within his agency roles, he worked on digital and CRM strategies for clients including GM, Wyeth, and L'Oreal.

Ali holds an MBA from McGill University, and Bachelors of Engineering from the American University of Beirut.


Yousef T. Tuqan
CEO, Flip Media

With over 12 years of regional experience, Yousef Tuqan is one of the most respected and sought-after online marketing consultants in the Middle East. Since building his first websites in his bedroom in 1996, he has gone on to work with a number of leading agencies, and has developed and executed online marketing initiatives for some of region's leading brands, including Emaar, Jumeirah, Nakheel and Emirates.

A regular contributor to regional publications and conferences on Internet strategy and marketing, Mr. Tuqan has been one of the most vocal and visible evangelists for the role of the Internet in the marketing mix. In his role as CEO at Flip Media, Mr. Tuqan is responsible for strategy and delivery at the largest interactive agency in the Middle East, with a team of over 150 digital specialists across 8 offices worldwide.


Ali Sinaei
Head of Online Advertising, BAYT.COM

Ali Sinaei was born in Tehran, Iran, 1977. His family moved to London in the United Kingdom in 1979, and that is where Mr. Sinaei was brought up and educated, and also where he started his career. After graduating with an Honours degree in Mathematics, Mr. Sinaei chose to work in Banking for the first 3 years of his career.

Having always been interested in the world of Media, Mr. Sinaei was constantly looking for ways to hone the analytical experience he had gained, and when the opportunity arose to take up a position as an analyst at Propertyfinder.com, he jumped at the chance. Having gained some experience working for a "dot.com", he next moved to AOL UK where he headed Strategic Planning for their Online Advertising division.

In April 2007, Mr. Sinaei could not turn down the opportunity to move to Dubai permanently to establish and Head the Ad Sales division at Bayt.com, the Middle East's Number 1 Job Site.

A year in, Bayt can now boast some of the most successful global and regional companies as its clients.


Dan Healy
CEO Real Opinions

Dan Healy is the CEO of the full service market research company Real Opinions which has offices in Dubai and London. He has over 10 years international and online market research experience, having worked on over 100 different research projects over this time with various governments and global brands such as Visa International, British Airways and Hewlett Packard.

Real Opinions has launched the Middle East's first Internet audience measurement tool Effective Measure after discussions and support from websites, media buyers and advertisers on the challenges facing the global website measurement industry and in particular the implications of 'cookie deletions' which are now solved with this solution.


Husni Khuffash
Google Country Business Development Manager, UAE

Husni Khuffash is Google's Country Business Development Manager in the United Arab Emirates. He is responsible for developing and exploring strategic and operational initiatives in the UAE as well as provide market expertise to identify growth opportunities in the market.

Husni is an entrepreneur and management professional possessing 13+ years of extensive experience in spearheading strategic initiatives across industries including IT, e-commerce, mass media and logistics.

Before joining Google as a consultant, Husni founded his own enterprise - CommYOUnity, a specialized consultancy focusing in business development, sales structuring, e-marketing and online. Prior to that he worked as Regional Manager for maktoob.com, the world's largest Arab web portal. At Maktoob, Husni led the development of local sales offices across the Middle East. From there he spearheaded its sales and marketing division to establish it with the largest share of online advertising revenues in the Middle East.

Husni's biggest passion is emerging markets and in particular the Middle East, considering the vast degree of cultural diversity and challenges it faces. He is fascinated by the role that technology plays in empowering people in those communities and has dedicated his career towards that passion.

Husni received his BA of Law from Amman University and is a member of the International Advertising Association. Considering his vast background Husni speaks Arabic, English and is learning Russian. He is currently enrolled in the Executive MBA program with London Business School.


Mohammad Itani
Digital Director, MEDIACOM

Newly appointed as the Digital Director of Mediacom, Mohammad Itani is charged with the task of leading and growing the agency's digital media business. With 5 solid years of digital media experience, he paved the way for the industry in the region by serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Neo Digital, the first dedicated online media agency in the Middle East.


Nahel Menon
eComms Director, Corporate Communications DU

Nahel Menon has been working with Du as Director of Digital, encompassing all the digital and e-commerce activity done by Du, before which Ms. Menon worked with Google/Double Click for 3 years managing 2 products: DFP and Sales Manager. Prior to which Ms. Menon worked with A.C.Nielsen to help P&G and Kraft to optimize their Statistical Research.


Richard Mullins
Director ME ACCELERATION

Richard Mullins is Acceleration's Director for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and has been with the company for 9 years. He has played an instrumental role in the company's growth, opening the Johannesburg office and helping clients throughout MEA identify industry-leading solutions to their digital marketing needs. Prior to joining Acceleration, Mr. Mullins developed extensive experience in the agency industry, working with Ogilvy and Saatchi & Saatchi for clients including Unilever, Sun International, Nedbank Guinness, Toyota and M-Net. He also holds a degree in Communications.

Acceleration is a global provider of digital marketing consulting, outsourcing and technology services. They have more than a decade of experience helping marketers, publishers and agencies realise the full potential of their digital marketing efforts. With operations on 4 continents and an unprecedented service offering incorporating paid search, web analytics, email marketing and ad-operations, we are uniquely positioned to meet the evolving needs of today's digital leaders.


Sander den Hartog
CEO MOBITRANS

After a corporate career with KPMG and KLM, Sander den Hartog joined an Amsterdam based Venture Capital Fund backed by Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for mobile technology investments. After this Mr. den Hartog moved to Shanghai to join the Siemens and Softbank invested mobile marketing company Mobile2win as Director Business Development, before he landed in Dubai, to Co-Found Mobitrans, which owns Mozook.com and is the largest publisher and online and mobile advertiser of mobile content in the Middle East.


Ziad Khammar
General Manager AME Info

Ziad Khammar, a Lebanese national, was appointed as the General Manager of AME Info following its acquisition by EMAP for $25 million in 2006.

Ziad, who has lived in Dubai for nearly 20 years, has a degree in business from the American University of Beirut as well as Chartered Institute of Marketing and Webmaster qualifications.

His business, marketing and web expertise are key qualities to lead the team to build on and strengthen the success of the AME Info site, which is visited by 1,500,413* people every month, to reinforce AME Info's position as the leading online business tool in the region.

*audited October 2008


Caroline Whyatt
Portal Manager AME Info

Caroline's involvement in the internet stems from a design background, after she gained a BA (Hons) in Typography and Graphic Communication. From here she decided to follow a technology route, with her first role being interface designer in a software company in Henley-on-Thames.

After being promoted to team manager Caroline then decided to pursue her career in London. Working at a couple of branding/digital agencies she gained a wealth of experience in all areas of the digital industry.

In 2003 she joined O2 as Head of Portal Project Management where she managed a number of projects including the launch of the new o2.co.uk portal and mobile review / mobile guide sections.

Caroline joined AME Info as Portal Manager in June 2007. She oversees the site on a day-to-day basis and has worked on a number of projects including the development of event microsites, new newsletters, SEO activities plus overseeing a number of developments in the campaign management team.


Laszlo Horvath
President ACTIVEMEDIA

Laszlo Horvath's award winning company puts its clients on top of the search engines' results pages - increasing their visibility and sales worldwide, making their entry into new markets cost efficient. He founded global online search, advertising and media agency ActiveMedia (www.activemedia.com) in 1996. Prior to launching his business, Mr. Horvath was tapped as a Strategic Consultant for America Online in 1995. His clients included the Greenhouse of AOL Studios, the AOL Finance Channel and a wide range of interactive brands like the Motley Fool, iVillage and NetNoir. Mr. Horvath placed the first advertising program on AOL's largest content site.

Mr. Horvath received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. He graduated from the Film Academy of Budapest in 1989, as a film and television director, including a study period at the BBC in London. Mr. Horvath received his Bachelor of Arts degree in languages literature from the ELTE University of Budapest, Hungary. He chairs the Service Export Task Force of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Mr. Horvath serves on the board of advisors of mybizhompage.com, leros.net and Kurt USA. He is a member of the Harvard Club of New York and Washington DC. Mr. Horvath is a sought after speaker at US and International conferences on online marketing, advertising, branding and Internet strategy, including the United States Department of Commerce, Fortune Magazine, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the CEO Clubs International.


Rob Jones
Editorial Director AME Info

Rob Jones is the Editorial Director at AME Info, a position he has held since June 2007. AME Info is the regions largest website covering daily news and information across key industries in the Middle East including real estate, construction, banking, and finance and economy. Prior to relocating to Dubai, Rob was online editor-in-chief for two of Britain's largest technology titles. With some 15 years of business and consumer journalism behind him, he has edited a number of titles over the past eight years including Personal Computer World, Computeractive online, VNU News Centre and Network News.


Ziad Skaff
Group Director INTEGRAL

Ziad Skaff is the Group Director of Integral, the insights and research consultancy of the Omnicom Media Group, which also includes OMD and PHD.

In this role since January 2007, he has already overseen several research and service initiatives such as C.Web, a continuous tracking survey of the consumer online behavior, and TMT (Total Media Thinking) that covers multi-tasking in media with special focus on Mobile and Gaming.

Mr. Skaff has been working in the research field in the region for the past 8 years, in Saudi and UAE with regional project management responsibilities.


Chris Averill
Founder and Managing Director CADINTERACTIVE

Chris Averill is one of the UK's leading experts in persuasion centred design and behavioural targeting, with award winning website projects behind him, a wealth of experience in web, mobile and interactive TV, Mr. Averill develops successful customer engagements for clients on a daily basis. He writes regularly for major magazines and online resources and has been featured in Revolution, New Media Age, Marketing Week and Broadcast. Mr. Averill's company, we are:London, is also establishing close relationships with leading software vendors including Maxymiser, Vigenette, Keynote and many more, helping shape the future of online customer engagement. Recently, he has been applying his persuasion, emotion & trust (PET) methodology to one of the UK's largest travel operators website and has spent over 9 months leading the digital strategy development for the Abu Dhabi Media Company, with ADMC's executive director of new media, Ricky Ghai.


Robert Salomone
Associate Media Director STARCOM IP

Robert Salomone arrived in Dubai in July 2008 from New York; he is responsible for Starcom's digital department, developing innovative and integrated online plans for clients including Emirates Airline and P&G. Strengthened by the experience and best practices from working several years in the US, key priorities include refining planning processes, improving research and analytics in the region, and pushing brands to increase their commitment to digital within the overall media mix.

Prior to Dubai, Mr. Salomone was Digital Manager on P&G at MediaVest Worldwide in New York and instrumental in managing the transition of Gillette brands into the portfolio following Procter's acquisition. He is a graduate of Boston College and when not busy getting clients to spend more on digital, he's probably training for a marathon or out taking photos.


Alain Portman
Founding Partner WEB LIQUID

A native of Chile, Alain Portman started his advertising career in 1996 at Wunderman Cato Johnson, New York as an Assistant Media Planner working on the American Express, Gevalia and AT&T accounts. While focusing on direct response television, radio and print Mr. Portman participated in the initial incursions of the American Express Credit Card Division team into online advertising.

In November 1998, Mr. Portman joined Brand Dialogue, New York, the dedicated online agency launched by Young & Rubicam to service its clients. As a Senior Interactive Media Planner, Mr. Portman was responsible for managing the online media budgets of Glaxo Smith Kline, Star Alliance and United Airlines.

Sensing an opportunity abroad, Mr. Portman joined AGENCY.COM London in April 2000 as a Media Supervisor responsible for managing the British Airways account. By late 2002 he had become Media Director of AGENCY.COM London, working across Save the Children, British Airways and Hilton International. In 2003 Mr. Portman departed AGENCY.COM to start Web Liquid. Web Liquid was born out of the need to provide clients with more in-depth and strategic online marketing solutions.

Web Liquid's model of combining consulting with advertising services has proven incredibly successful with the agency being named the UK's Most Efficient Digital Marketing Agency in 2006 and 2007 as well as establishing long-standing relationships with Avis, Hilton International and British Airways Open Skies. Mr. Portman leads the media and strategic consulting offering of Web Liquid across its London and New York offices.


Jassim Ali
Director Digital PHD IQ

Jassim Ali forayed into the internet scene at the age of 18 with his own startup, Quizcovery.com, a knowledge entertainment content provider to major portals and websites in India. In 2003, he joined Webchutney, the leading digital agency in India as a client partner in charge of key accounts; in 2004 he was promoted as Group Manager and was in charge of setting up the Mumbai operations managing a clientele including Microsoft, General Motors, ESPN, HBO, ICICI Bank etc. Webchutney went on to win several accolades such as India's best digital agency by the ET digital agency reckoner as well as the first ever Asian agency to be inducted to the Marketing Sherpa hall of fame and was also selected as a red herring top 100 company. In 2006, he moved to the middle east joining OMD Digital in Dubai, as Manager Business Development and Planning overseeing the key accounts of Pepsi, Kellogg's, du, Jumeirah. In 2008, he was promoted as Digital Director in charge of setting up and managing PHD iQ in the Middle East.


Sajid Abdul Rahiman
Business Consultant - Middle East and North Africa Yahoo

Sajid Abdul Rahiman currently overlooks business and sales operations for Yahoo in the region and is responsible for facilitating Yahoo's entry into the Middle East market. Currently involved with acquisition, expansion and sales strategies, he divides his time amongst his markets working closely with local partners.

Born and brought up in Dubai, Mr. Rahiman comes from an engineering background with a Bachelor's Degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. Having been interested in the online industry right from its infancy stages, Mr. Rahiman jumped first onto the bandwagon by founding a E-Commerce site in India way back in 1996 during his school days. Since then he has gained more than 7 years of international online experience.

Prior to this he had worked with the Flip holding group in a 3 year career that saw him rapidly rise through ranks from Media Buyer in Neo Digital to eventually leaving as Product Manager - Global at Brand Central, the first ad serving platform in the region. He still serves in an advisory capacity with the same.

Currently involved in adapting global Yahoo! offerings to the local market, Mr. Rahiman has been instrumental in introducing performance advertising in the region which reverses the trend of traditional value proposition of display advertising to a more dynamic and exciting model which allows real time measurement of an Advertisers return on Investment.


Fadi Khater
Marketing Communications Stream Leader DU MEDIA LAB

Fadi Khater has a very strong experience in Telecom advertising; ranging from his role in Leo Burnett Riyadh for the launch of the Saudi Telecom brand, to JWT Bahrain launching MTC-Vodafone, Leo Burnett Dubai launching du, and Delta Partners re-branding MTC to Zain across 22 countries. Mr. Khater is currently heading marketing and communications at du Media Lab.