Brad Cheney, Fox Sports, VP, Field Operations and Engineering

Brad Cheney manages technical and operational planning for golf, baseball, and college sports along with advanced-technology projects for Fox Sports Media Group.

He is a leader in new technology approaches, including IP-based live and postproduction centers, IP over RF, UHD, HDR, and UAS systems. His work includes innovative production approaches and executions for in-ground audio, robotic cameras, and home run productions.

Cheney is a six-time Emmy winner and previously worked for MLB Network, Late Show with David Letterman, Game Creek Video, and COX Sports.

Jason Dachman, SVG, Chief Editor

Jason Dachman oversees all aspects of SVG’s North American editorial operations, including the thrice-weekly SVG Insider newsletter and SVG’s annual print publications. A member of the SVG team since 2009, Dachman also serves as program director for SVG’s RSN Summit, Sports Content Management & Storage (SCMS) Forum, Sports Graphics Forum, and TranSPORT event. Prior to joining SVG, he spent three years covering local sports for The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, MA, and two years on the production staff of SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s The Ron & Fez Show. Dachman began his career in the Sports Information Department at Northeastern University in Boston, where he also earned a B.A. in media communications and cinema studies.

Pamela Dittman, Evertz, Director of Customer Support, Live Sports Production

Pamela Dittman joined Evertz in 2006 and has excelled through many roles within the company. Currently, she oversees live sports deployments. Prior to her current role, she was a senior systems engineering project manager where she managed deployments for major IP and baseband routing systems. Dittman has successfully deployed more than 30 mobile units and has supported high-profile events such as the Super Bowl, the Masters, PGA Championships, MLB All-Star Games, the Olympics, and U.S. Open Golf.

Dittman is a graduate of Niagara College in electronics engineering technology.

Robert Erickson, Grass Valley, Advanced Technology Director

A member of the Grass Valley team since 2008, Robert Erickson has more than 17 years of experience in the broadcast and IT markets with previous roles covering systems engineering, television station management, broadcast network design, and RF transmission systems. Throughout his career, his focus has been on designing and maintaining infrastructure and playout systems based on new and emerging technologies for both existing and greenfield broadcast facilities.

In his current role, Erickson is a participant in the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and advocates for proper implementation of current and emerging broadcast standards on live production equipment. He spends much of his time engaging with customers to educate them on emerging IP technologies and trains internal staff on how IP technology drives different system designs. Erickson also designs and manages IP POC (proof of concept) systems for customers worldwide, testing and implementing solutions based on a diverse product line that includes cameras, servers, routers, multiviewers, various processing nodes, and VM-based software solutions.

Erickson is an active participant and frequent presenter in many of the major industry associations, including the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), Society of Television Engineers (STE), Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA).

Vaishali Ghiya, Juniper Networks, Field CTO, WW Security Sales

Vaishali Ghiya has 20+ years of experience in cloud, security, and networking sales, as well as product management, marketing, strategic alliances and engineering capacities. She manages a large team of senior employees worldwide and works with C-level executives.

Ghiya is a field CTO for global security sales at Juniper Networks. She is responsible for WW security go-to market strategy and sales, along with driving innovative security and SD-WAN solutions in the field and partner ecosystem globally for enterprise and Telco/SP customers. Prior to her security sales role, Ghiya was a field CTO for commercial and partner sales where she was responsible for driving cloud, security and networking sales, GTM strategy, sales enablement, and sales plays. Prior to joining the Commercial Sales Team, she was responsible for the IBM Strategic Alliance, focusing on joint solutions and go-to market strategy for cloud, security, SDN, NFV, and analytics initiatives. Before joining the Strategic Alliances Group, Ghiya held product management and marketing roles in Juniper’s Ethernet Platforms Business Group where she was responsible for product launches, positioning and messaging, campus and service provider solutions, evangelizing EX switches in datacenter, and WLAN strategy. Prior to this, as part of her product management leadership role, Ghiya led Juniper’s Secure Access SSL VPN product and go-to market strategy.

Before joining Juniper in 2004, Vaishali spent 7 years at Nortel in product management and engineering capacities, leading the SSL VPN, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and WLAN strategy and solutions. She holds a Master of Science degree in computer engineering from University of Arizona.

Matthew Goldman, SMPTE, President, and Ericsson, SVP, Technology, TV and Media

Matthew Goldman is SVP of technology, TV and media, at Ericsson, where he is focused on video processing and media delivery solutions. Goldman has been actively involved in the development of digital television systems since 1992. He was a prominent participant in the Moving Picture Experts Group where he helped create the MPEG-2 Systems and DSM-CC standards. He continues to be influential in other industry organizations including the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), the Alliance of IP Media Solutions (AIMS), the Ultra HD Forum, the Digital Video Broadcasting project, the Advanced Television Systems Committee, and the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers. Four of Goldman’s projects have been later recognized by Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards.

Goldman received bachelor (high honors) and master of sciences degrees in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He holds six patents related to digital video transport. A SMPTE Fellow, Goldman is also a senior member of the IEEE and an inductee of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers. Goldman is currently serving as the president of SMPTE.

Saurabh Gupta, Google Cloud, Customer Engineer

Saurabh Gupta is a customer engineer with the media vertical in NYC. He helps major customers adopt and leverage Google Cloud for their streaming, business, and other applications, using core infrastructure, managed services, ML APIs, and professional services. Prior to joining Google, Gupta was with various startups as founding CTO helping build mobile apps and platforms that also heavily used Google technologies.

Mark Hilton, Grass Valley, VP, Live Production Products

Mark Hilton is currently serving as head of the Live Production Product Unit which includes marketing and engineering of cameras, production switchers, and replay systems. Prior to this, Hilton was running the Strategic Marketing group over Grass Valley Networking Products. He rejoined Grass Valley to lead the newly created product group resulting from the Belden acquisition of Grass Valley and its unification with the former Miranda core products. Hilton is responsible for product strategy, roadmaps, detailed product definition, R&D, and the general success of this segment of the business.

Prior to joining Grass Valley, Hilton was product line manager for HP Networking’s enterprise switching platforms. He also served within HP as European marketing manager for the networking division. Prior to HP, Hilton spent eight years with Grass Valley as director of infrastructure product management, business development manager, and modular product manager.

Hilton holds a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering and an M.B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Joop Janssen, Aperi, CEO

Joop Janssen has over 25 years of experience in creating value in the high-tech media, broadcast, professional video, audio, and telco industries. Janssen is currently CEO of Aperi, a provider of live IP Media Function Virtualization (MFV) solutions for the broadcast media industry. He is also the senior principal of Yoap Holding and involved in business angel investments and board-level advisory across various industries.

Prior to Aperi, Janssen served as president and chief executive officer of EVS (EURONEXT listed) and as chairman of Dyvi Live SA. Prior to EVS, Janssen was chief executive of Vitec Videocom and served on the group executive board of the Vitec Group in the UK. During his nine years with Vitec Videocom, he was the architect behind the division’s significant profitable growth and brand expansion, including numerous acquisitions and Emmy-award winning innovations.

Prior to Vitec Videocom, Janssen was president of Phillips Broadcast (formerly BTS) North America, where he was instrumental in the successful divestment to Thomson Multimedia and the subsequent acquisition of the Grass Valley Group. He has held senior and executive management positions including those at Philips Electronics Digital Networks in France, as managing director of digital satellite TV, and Philips Business Electronics in the Netherlands.

Janssen holds a masters (cum laude) and B.Sc in electronic engineering – telecommunications and computer science from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. He also has an industrial marketing degree from INSEAD, France.

Shane Keats, Akamai, Director, Global Industry Marketing, Media and Entertainment

Shane Keats is the director of industry marketing for media and entertainment at Akamai. He focuses on how OTT is transforming the media landscape.

Prior to Akamai, Keats ran product and corporate marketing for DataXu, a programmatic advertising company that was named a leader in Forrester’s most recent WAVE report. Keats has also held senior sales and marketing positions at SiteAdvisor, a consumer security company that was acquired by McAfee, and Oddcast, a New York City-based company that built user-generated media tools for companies such as Disney, MTV, and Universal Music Group.

Before working in software, Keats spent seven years as a television news producer for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and CNN Moneyline with Lou Dobbs. Keats has an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.A. from Rutgers University.

Ken Kerschbaumer, Sports Video Group, Co-Executive Director, Editorial Services

Ken Kerschbaumer is co-executive director of editorial services for the Sports Video Group and SVG Europe. He was a co-founder of SVG along with Paul Gallo and Marty Porter in 2005 and has been writing about how sports networks and leagues use video and audio technology to deliver a quality TV experience since 1991. Kerschbaumer began his career in 1991 at Television Broadcast magazine before joining Cahners where he was founding editor of Digital Broadcasting magazine. In 2000, he joined Broadcasting & Cable magazine as senior editor of technology where he covered all aspects of broadcasting, cable, and Internet content creation and distribution.

Karen Hogan Ketchum, SVG, Senior Editor

Joining the SVG team in 2011, Karen Hogan Ketchum manages SVG’s print publications, including the semiannual SportsTech Journal, the annual Mobile Sports Production Yearbook, and all event print programs. She drives the company’s Venue Initiative, writing about the sports venue production industry and coordinating the agenda for the annual Sports Venue Production Summit and Venue Production Seminars. In addition, Hogan Ketchum is the director of SVGW (formerly SVG’s Women’s Sports Media Initiative). Hogan Ketchum began her career in sports at Fordham University with WFUV Sports, serving as Supervising Producer of “One on One,” WFUV Sports’ weekly call-in show. After graduating in 2009, she spent the 2009-10 season in the public relations department of the Trenton Devils (ECHL) before taking on a freelance copy editor assignment with Professional Sports Publications.

Michael Korten, Cisco Systems, Cyber Security Practice Leader, U.S. Media Operations

Michael Korten is currently a cyber security practice leader responsible for security products and services within Cisco’s Global Service Provider Media Operation. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business management from Binghamton University’s School of Management.

After 21 years of providing network security best practices and solutions to many Fortune 500 companies, Korten joined Cisco Systems as a security practice leader in 2003. He has successfully worked with and created strong relationships with clients from numerous industries such as financial, healthcare, insurance, legal, media, and government agencies. Prior to Cisco, Korten held various management and leadership positions with RSA Security, Qualys, CaseCentral, Finjan, Attachmate, and ITT Courier Systems.

Johannes Kuhfuss, Lawo, Head of Product Management

Johannes Kuhfuss is the head of product management at Lawo. He has been in the broadcast industry since 2001 and started out working in customer support and system planning positions before making the move over to product and technology management. Since then, he has been serving the broadcast industry in several roles including technical product manager, product owner, and chief technology manager.

Kuhfuss is deeply knowledgeable of IP networking technology and Scrum development methodology. He is driving the coordination of technology between Lawo’s product lines and the convergence of audio/video and networking. Furthermore, Kuhfuss is leading the product management teams of all Lawo product lines.

Kuhfuss studied media engineering with a focus on TV production at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences in Germany.

Ammar Latif, Cisco Systems, Technical Solutions Architect

Ammar Latif is a technical solutions architect with the Service Provider Media team at Cisco Systems supporting broadcasters and content providers. His current focus is on virtualization and IP-enabled cloud architectures for digital media workflows. Latif has also supported a number of large service provider networks in North America with a focus on advanced IP routing technologies.

Latif is a member of SMPTE and holds a masters of engineering degree from the University of Toronto. He also holds CCIE certifications.

Deon LeCointe, Sony Electronics, Senior Manager, Sports and IP Solutions

Deon LeCointe is the senior manager for sports and IP solutions at Sony Electronics Professional Solutions of America. In his current role, LeCointe oversees all sales and marketing activities for sports video production which includes sports networks, mobile production trucks, sports venues, professional leagues, and collegiate conferences. In addition, he also manages Sony’s NMI IP for production technology and the PWS-4500 production and replay server.

LeCointe received both a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Miami where his focus was on wireless communication and electro-optics.

LeCointe joined Sony in 2007 and has since worked in a number of roles related to post-production workflow technologies, A/V codecs and compression, IP video transmission, 4K production, product switchers, and content management systems for broadcast and news.

Joshua Liemer, VISTA Worldlink, EVP

Joshua Liemer is the EVP of VISTA Worldlink, a media solutions provider headquartered in South Florida. In his role at VISTA, Liemer spearheads their emerging technology department providing internet broadcasting, IP transportation, and digital archiving. Liemer is also responsible for expanding VISTA’s production offerings, providing both remote integration (REMI or at-home) and traditional onsite production packages. Liemer’s team of producers manage over 500 REMI events annually and additionally provide downstream global production services for over 1,000 events. Liemer was recently responsible for re-branding VISTA Worldlink, bridging technical expertise with creative storytelling.

Liemer graduated in film and video from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Grant Nodine, NHL, SVP, Technology

Grant Nodine started his career working as a systems librarian at Editel. He moved on to working as a web developer on sites like Rodale Press’s MensHealth.com. He later co-founded a web development firm called Mercury Seven where he worked as the firm’s chief technologist. Eighteen-plus years ago, Nodine arrived at the NHL where he has been involved in building a technology infrastructure that supports NHL.com and all 30 of the team’s websites, numerous systems to produce and deliver streaming media, and many other large technology implementations.

Gary Olson, GHO Group, Managing Director

Gary Olson is one of the thought leaders in IP broadcast technology. He is an IP-broadcast designer, project executive, author, and trainer on media technology. An advisor specializing in the transition of traditional media technology, workflows, and business processes to computer-based IP and file technologies and workflows, he focuses on the adaptation of organizational structure, staffing models, and workflows to implement digital-media technology. Olson has substantial experience working with project sponsors and stakeholders to help them understand the changes associated with digital media platforms and file-based workflows. He is an industry thought leader with practical experience in the analysis, selection, and uses of technology, as well as an innovator in media technologies and broadcast design. Olson holds a U.S. Patent in streaming media automation and distribution.

Olson’s book, Planning and Designing the IP Broadcast Facility – A New Puzzle to Solve, is a comprehensive technical guideline for making sound decisions when implementing IP technology. He is a contributing writer to the Broadcast Bridge on IP technology and file based workflow, and the creator of online courses for SBE University and IABM on IP facility design. He was a contributing author in the 2016 SBE Broadcast Engineers Manual, as well.

Olson was named one of CIO Review‘s “Top 10 CIOs” in 2016 and recognized as one of the “30 Innovative CEOs to Watch” by Insights Success in 2017. In 2018, Insights Success named GHO Group one of the “10 Most Innovative Media and Entertainment Companies.”

Andy Rayner, Nevion, Chief Technologist

Andy Rayner is Nevion’s chief technologist and is based in the UK. Before joining Nevion in 2011, he spent 22 year heading up BT’s broadcast technology center. Rayner is a director of the Video Service Forum (VSF) and an active contributor to the definition of industry standards, most recently on SMPTE ST 2110.

Scott Rothenberg, NEP, SVP, Technology and Asset Management

Scott Rothenberg is NEP’s senior vice president of technology and asset management. In his current role, Rothenberg focuses on understanding and matching clients’ needs with NEP’s technical capabilities and capacity. He works tirelessly across all of NEP’s divisions to ensure that the right equipment is always in the right place and that NEP is always working to develop technical solutions to meet emerging client needs. In addition, Rothenberg is responsible for improving NEP’s internal operations and processes. He works with key vendors to source and develop specialized equipment.

Rothenberg started with NEP in 1995 as a maintenance engineer after working as a freelance technician, providing engineering and operational support for television crews and solving all manner of problems under the pressure of live television. Rothenberg has been a member of three Emmy Award-winning NEP technical crews (twice for NASCAR and once for PokerDom), and won a CableACE Award in 1995 for his work on “Ripken’s 2131st Game” for HTS.

Fernando Solanes, Evertz, Director, Solutions Engineering and IP Technologies

With over 25 years of real-world broadcast and IT technology experience, Fernando Solanes has been providing guidance in the global adaptation of industry standards in the continuously evolving technology landscape.

Solanes has a great understanding of the current industry and its future direction, as a result of designing architecture for delivering content of large scale events and some of the world’s largest broadcast facilities. As one of the core architects for Vancouver 2010, his in-depth knowledge and understanding of network technology lead to the first all-digital Olympic broadcast.

Solanes has also lead hundreds of global education seminars. In doing so, he has helped the media industry design, configure, and deploy leading-edge technology.

Jonathan Solomon, Aspera (an IBM Company), FASPStream, Strategic Initiative Engineer

In 2014, Jonathan Solomon joined Aspera, an IBM Company, bringing more than 20 years of system design, administration, and project management experience in media and entertainment. His vast experience in broadcast and IP allows him to routinely bridge the two worlds. Career highlights include architecting the WWE OTT Network, dark fiber network design, and project design and management for several multi-million dollar broadcast facilities.

Over his twenty years of broadcast engineering experience, Solomon has held a variety of roles with industry leaders. Prior to his role at Aspera, he was a senior engineering project manager at WWE, director of engineering for Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, and spent more than a decade as an engineer-in-charge, supporting remote television broadcasts. His travels as an EIC covered 45 of the 50 United States.

James Stellpflug, EVS, VP, Product Marketing

James Stellpflug has more than two decades of industry experience including facility design and integration, mobile satellite communication, and mobile TV production. In his roles, he has overseen several major technology transitions, including migrations from analog to digital, SD to HD, and more recently from linear to cloud and VOD distribution. Stellpflug has designed and operated production trucks, as well as consulted on developments of early NLE news editing platforms. He has been with EVS Broadcast Equipment since 2000, serving in various roles from technical operations management and program management to his current role as global VP of product marketing.

During his tenure with EVS, Stellpflug has been involved with teams that have earned awards including a Technical Emmy for EVS Super Motion systems, as well as a Sports Emmy for involvement in Olympics coverage. Stellpflug holds a bachelor of science degree in broadcast technology management (engineering emphasis) from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville, and is a member of SMPTE, SBE, and PMI. 

Jason Taubman, Game Creek Video, VP, Design and New Technology

Jason Taubman spearheads Game Creek Video’s innovative efforts in truck design and helps service the company’s vast profile of high-profile sports clients, including ABC, CBS, ESPN, FOX, HBO, NBC, MLB, NBA, YES Network, USA Network, NFL Network, and Winnercomm. Prior to joining Game Creek in 1999, Taubman was an engineer-in-charge for National Mobile Television and VTE Mobile Television Productions.

Richard Wolf, The Switch, EVP, Marketing and Corporate Communications

Richard Wolf is the EVP of marketing and corporate communications of The Switch, a provider of customer-controlled video and data transport services throughout major media markets of the United States and abroad. His impressive career has spanned almost four decades. Prior to joining The Switch in January of 2014, Wolf spent 33 years at The ABC Television Network where he served as VP of telecommunications and affiliate support. While at ABC, he was responsible for all technical, operational, and management systems associated with the distribution of the ABC Network to its 240 affiliated broadcast stations. He was also in charge of the contribution process associated with the gathering of video/audio content for the programmers of The ABC Television Network including ABC Daytime, ABC Entertainment, and ESPN on ABC. Prior to joining ABC, Wolf spent a year at RCA American Communications and three years at Hughes Television Network from 1976 – 1979.

A graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications studies, Wolf also holds an Associate of Arts degree from Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY. He is currently chairman of the Society of Satellite Professionals International (SSPI) Awards Committee, leading the process for SSPI’s annual awards programs including the Industry Innovators Awards, the SSPI Hall of Fame, and The Promise and Mentor Awards. Additionally, Wolf is an Advisory Board member of the NAB Show NY and has been a member of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA), serving on its technical, news, and operations committees. He is currently on the Board of Directors of The Emma Bowen Foundation, a multi-year program that prepares a diverse group of talented young professionals to enter the media workforce with specific job related skills, knowledge of the corporate environment, and a strong foundation for career advancement.