Lincoln Biederbeck, ST Engineering iDirect, Sales Director, North America Broadcast

Lincoln Biederbeck is ST Engineering iDirect’s sales director, North America Broadcast. He has over 20 years of expertise in the satellite and broadcast markets and has previously worked for many well- known players such as Tandberg, Comcast, Globecomm, Spacenet, and Advantech Wireless.

In his capacity as sales director, North America Broadcast, Biederbeck looks after major broadcast accounts including Disney, Warner Media/Turner, HSN, NPR, CBC, Sinclair, Fox, and ViacomCBS. Partner sales responsibilities include SES, Intelsat, USSI, Harmonic, MediaKind, Synamedia, Encompass, and Commscope.

Tom Buffolano, LiveU, Director of Business Development, Partnerships

Tom Buffolano has been an executive in the sports and entertainment industry for more than 25 years with MTV Networks, CBS Sports, SVG, and LTN Global Communications, among others. He has had roles in sales and business development, marketing, programming, and production; and has been at the forefront of content creation, distribution, and monetization utilizing advancements in technology.

Buffolano comes to LiveU in a role that is focused on developing global partnerships that will complement its current business and expand opportunities to generate incremental revenue from new businesses.

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

Brad Cheney manages technical and operational planning for baseball, boxing, and college sports along with transmission services and advanced-technology projects for Fox Sports.

Cheney is a leader in new technology approaches, including IP-based live and post-production 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, the Late Show with David Letterman, Game Creek Video, and Cox Sports.

Rick Clarkson, Signiant, Chief Product Officer

Rick Clarkson rejoined Signiant in 2018, filling the newly created position of chief product officer to steer the roadmap for new services that leverage Signiant’s market-leading SaaS platform and huge global footprint in the Media & Entertainment space. In his previous eight-year tenure at Signiant, Clarkson was one of the leaders in the company’s SaaS transition. His vision of using cloud technology to build a powerfully simple file transfer solution led to the category-defining Media Shuttle product, Signiant’s first SaaS offering. With over 25 years in software technology, Clarkson spent his early career as an engineer and moved into leadership roles in product management and strategy working with companies to include SevOne, VidSys, Motorola, Sightpath, Cisco, and others. When he is not busy defining the next big thing for Signiant, Clarkson spends his time golfing, traveling with family, enjoying wine and cheering on all the Boston sports teams. Clarkson has a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from Bentley University.

Ghislain Collette, Haivision, Vice President, Product Management

Chris Connolly, NBC Sports Group, VP, Olympic Venue Engineering

Chris Connolly has been with NBC Sports for over eight years. He oversees all transmission engineering and operations for NBC Sports Group and is based out of its state-of-the-art broadcast center in Stamford, CT. The center encompasses NBC Sports, NBC Digital, NBC Olympics, Olympic Channel, and Golf Channel.

Brandon Costa, SVG, Director of Digital

Brandon Costa covers the sports video production industry with a focus on live streaming, over-the-top (OTT), social media, and other digital distribution technologies and platforms. He also directs SVG’s internal digital strategies launching the company’s video outfit, ‘SVG On Demand,’ designing and overseeing its mobile application, ‘SVG Mobile,’ and serving as executive producer and host of The SVG Podcast. Costa serves as program director of networking events serving the SVG College and SVG Digital communities. Prior to his time at SVG, Costa spent five years producing digital content for MLB Advanced Media.

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 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.

Kristian Hernández, SVG, Senior Editor

Kristian Hernández is currently the senior editor of Sports Video Group. In his role, he is responsible for covering team-based and in-venue productions and various other sports technology topics within the industry. In addition, he is the program director for the annual SVG Venue Summit and SVG Teams Summit.

Before joining SVG, Hernández served as co-founder of CHC-TV, the first student-run television studio at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, PA. While at CHC, Hernández produced a daily sports show named “On the Hill with Hernández” — covering all men’s and women’s athletics for the college. Also, Hernández spearheaded the college’s newspaper, “The Griffin”, as its Sports Editor. Hernández graduated with a BA in Communications. Born in Brooklyn, NY, he currently lives in Queens, NY.

Mark Horchler, Haivision, Marketing Director, Products and Solutions

Alex Joyce, The Switch, Senior Sales Engineer

Alex Joyce joined The Switch as a senior sales engineer after more than 30 years working in production with the NFL, ESPN, the MLB, the NHL, MLS, ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox (to name only a few!) Having worked almost every position in a control room, he’s most comfortable solving production puzzles and helping streamline remote production workflows.

Joyce works with clients both domestically and abroad to help solve their cloud-based production needs with MIMiC, the Switch’s native cloud-based production, transmission, and communications platforms. Adding the power of The Switch’s studios, event production teams and fiber infrastructure allows a holistic solution for any type of production challenge.

Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Co-Executive Director, Editorial

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.

Jon Landman, Teradek, VP, Sales

Jon Landman serves as vice president of sales for Teradek, managing worldwide sales, consulting, and broadcast systems integration. He has over 30 years of experience in the industry, with expertise in AVC, HEVC, and cellular bonding technologies, as well as many other forms of IP video deployment.

Dan LaTerra, CBS Sports Digital, VP, Advanced Production Technologies

Dan LaTerra currently oversees CBS Sports Digital’s Premise and Cloud Production Engineering teams. With live production, media asset management, cloud architecture, and networking as a primary focus – he is dedicated to delivering sustainable, scalable, and resilient workflows empowering the teams of today as well as tomorrow.

Susanna Mandel-Mantello, SES Satellites, VP of Strategic Accounts, Sports and Events

Susanna Mandel-Mantello is vice president of strategic accounts, sports and events at SES. In this capacity, she focuses on finding end-to-end solutions for major sports clients (broadcasters, agencies, and federations). These solutions include satellite, fiber, IP, production, and network origination.

Prior to joining SES in 2012, Mandel-Mantello was in the sports industry for over 20 years. Most recently, she was with Sm2 Sports, which she founded in 2004, focusing on satellite transmission solutions around the world for top sports properties. In November 2012, Sm2 Sports was acquired by RR Media and Mandel-Mantello joined the company to head the Sports & Events division.

Mandel-Mantello earned a B.A. degree in political science at NYU and an M.B.A. at Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Mickey Miller, Vislink Technologies, CEO and President

Carleton M. “Mickey” Miller was named CEO of Vislink Technologies in January, 2020. He has over 25 years of experience in creating and building growth businesses in the technology and communications industries. He has a proven track record in delivering results, from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, in both growth and turnaround situations. Miller brings the combination of strategic and organizational ability to lead billion dollar organizations and the entrepreneurial drive and creativity for mid and small cap companies.

As co-founder, CEO and president of BLiNQ Networks, he created a new product category of wireless connectivity to address the rapid growth in mobile data traffic. After three accretive funding rounds and success with AT&T, Vodafone, and America Movil, BLiNQ was sold to Communications Components. Prior to BLiNQ, Miller was president, Wireless Network Solutions Group of Andrew Corporation. During his tenure, Andrew Corporation sales more than doubled to $2.2 billion, culminating in the sale of the company for $2.6 billion.

Prior to Andrew, Miller was part of the team that built and sold Lucent Power Systems to Tyco for $2.5 billion. After the sale he led Tyco Power Systems for four years increasing cash flow by over $100M. Prior to joining Lucent, Miller held various sales and engineering roles at General Signal and AT&T.

Miller holds an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from Rockhurst College, completed the Corporate Finance Program at the London Business School, and holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Missouri.

Janel Moorefield, LiveU, Director of Sales and Sales Group Manager, Sports

As the director of sports sales, Janel Moorefield is responsible for driving the strategy for LiveU’s Sports Group. She has been integral in bringing LiveU Sports solutions to professional teams, sports associations, and production companies, allowing them to create more unique live content and increase fan engagement. Throughout her career, Moorefield has worked with broadcasters, producers, and distributors of sports, entertainment, and news seeking reliable and robust backhaul video services. She is a graduate of Florida State University where she received her Bachelor of Science in business management.

Julie Morrison, Warner Bros. Discovery, Manager of Content Transmissions

Julie Morrison manages a core team supporting transmissions on behalf of Turner Sports. Soon after joining Turner Broadcasting in 1995, she became the first female sports coordinator for live events on TBS.

Now, as manager of Content Transmissions, she leads a team vital to ensuring the success of tent-pole events and high profile shows – including many complex remote productions – across multiple platforms. In addition, she supports various contribution networks, delivery systems, and fiber connectivity into the Techwood NOC. On behalf of Turner Sports, Morrison and team manages transmissions ranging from NBA & NHL to MLB & NCAA March Madness (as well as upcoming soccer), averaging about 25,000 feeds yearly.

With the recent merger of Discovery and WarnerMedia, Morrison is also involved in expanding transmission diversity, business continuity, and acquisition partnerships to leverage strengths of both companies into a robust home for live sports.

Ciro Noronha, RIST Forum, President; Cobalt, CTO

Dr. Ciro Noronha holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University. He has worked in the compressed video over IP space since 1995. He is currently the president of the RIST Forum and CTO at Cobalt Digital. Dr. Noronha is the author or co-author of a number of academic papers and patents.

Emeka Okoli, Zixi, VP of Customer Success and Solutions

A Technology and Engineering Emmy Award winner, Emeka Okoli is a passionate advocate of Zixi’s customers and products and as vice president of customer success and solutions leads customer care, pre-sales technical consulting, and solutions delivery. Prior to Zixi, he was the CTO and vice president of product and information systems at WARM2Kids, a charitable foundation. Okoli developed a unique method of broadening technology outreach in inner cities and suburbs across the United States. His model was recognized and achieved significant grants from Microsoft and others.

Okoli was also previously at Polycom as IS manager and a pre- and post-sales manager at MeetU. In the mid-90s, he also co-founded OHC, a technical support service provider. Okoli holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science (Magna Cum Laude) and technology and a master’s degree in management, information technology from Northeastern University.

Chris Pulis, Globecast, CTO, Americas

Chris Pulis, a strategist and cloud broadcast specialist is responsible for architecting Globecast Americas’ move to the cloud and for the company’s broadcast services portfolio including growth and development of the distribution services for sports and live events. His duties include oversight of IT, security, facilities, operations, and engineering. Prior to Globecast, Pulis held senior technical roles including posts at ESPN and Deluxe Entertainment. Pulis is a patent holder in content security devices and control systems and has a master’s degree from the University of Montana.

Andy Rayner, Nevion, Chief Technologist

Andy Rayner is chief technologist at Nevion. As well as providing company-wide technical strategy and direction, he heads up the Nevion UK technology centre.

Rayner is a regular speaker at key global broadcast technology events and conferences. He is a SMPTE fellow and sits on the VSF board of directors and the AIMS TWG. He is an active participant in many standards forums.

Prior to joining Nevion in 2010, Rayner was head of broadcast technology at BT. In this role, he was responsible for the design of the BT Global IP Media Network – the world’s first traffic engineered MPLS media network. Rayner also oversaw and architected the development of key video interfacing, monitoring, and protection technology. He has filed many patents – both with BT and Nevion. During his time with BT, Rayner was awarded the prestigious Martlesham Gold Medal for technical innovation. With Nevion, Rayner was one of the team who received a technical Emmy for JPEG 2000 standardization.

Steven Soenens, Skyline Communications, VP, Product Marketing

Steven Soenens, VP of product marketing at Skyline Communications, has vast experience in product marketing, product management, and engineering of broadband and video solutions for broadcasters and cable, telco, satellite, and mobile service providers. While Soenens is currently responsible for the product marketing of Skyline’s DataMiner platform, previously he handled worldwide product strategy and product management for video, IP and satellite solutions for Newtec, Cisco Systems, and Scientific-Atlanta.

Paul Spinelli, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Director of Engineering

Paul Spinelli is the director of distribution and network systems for Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG). Previously, he had been the director of engineering, starting in 2014. Prior to this he served as the engineering manager of Sinclair Television Group’s corporate facilities. He has held various operations and engineering positions with SBG for the past 12 years. Before his time at Sinclair, he spent time working at WBOC, PSAV, and QVC.

Spinelli is active in many broadcast-related technical organizations such as the ATSC, Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE), and the Avid Customer Association (ACA). He has been an SBE certified member and an Avid certified support representative for the past 10 years.

Spinelli has expanded SBG’s linear and file-based acquisition and distribution strategies and technologies. He attended Salisbury University on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where he earned a B.A. in communications, B.A. in theatre, and played football. He remains active in the Salisbury University Maroon & Gold Club to support fundraising efforts for student athletes.

Brian Stanley, ARCTEK Satellite Productions, Owner and CEO

Brian Stanley has been working in the television and satellite industry for nearly 30 years.  In 2003 after a 10 year stint at CONUS Communications, Stanley along with 2 partners, started ARCTEK Satellite Productions. 19 years later he is the sole owner, overseeing the day to day operation and management of his six uplink trucks. ARCTEK transmits over 400 sporting events per year. ARCTEK transmits everything from a single feeds back haul to multi-camera REMI/at-home productions via satellite, fiber, and internet. ARCTEK trucks travel coast to coast.

Tim Stevens, Verizon Business Group, Global Leader, Strategic Innovation for Sports, Media & Entertainment

Tim Stevens is Verizon Business Group’s global leader of strategic innovation for sports, media, and entertainment. Leveraging a deep understanding of business operations, technology, industry trends, and competitive landscape, Stevens is responsible for marketing strategy, product positioning, market intelligence, and business development. Prior to joining Verizon, he held senior technology roles at Newsweek, Viacom/ MTV Networks, Showtime, and New Line Cinema.

Emory Strilkauskas, Telstra Broadcast Services, Head of Business Development, Americas

Emory Strilkauskas is the head of Americas business development for Telstra Broadcast Services, leading the TBS business in Canada, the United States, and Latin America. In this role, Strilkauskas draws on his diverse background covering broadcast, telecommunications, and all aspects of live sports production. His 30-year career includes a Technical Emmy win and a successful track record of executing engineering integration strategies, developing solutions-driven technical workflows, and managing complex system deployments.

Prior to joining Telstra, Strilkauskas was managing partner of network operations for Brklyn-Media, a virtualized media company he co-founded to focus on camera-to-consumer cloud workflows and software applications. A majority of Strilkauskas’ career was spent with ESPN/Disney, holding a range of positions covering product management, programming, engineering, operations, transmission, contribution, affiliate distribution, and direct-to-consumer offerings. He also served in the United States Navy as an Intelligence Cryptologic Technologist.

Sean Sullivan, Astound Business Solutions, Senior Director, Media Network Architecture

Sean Sullivan is the senior director of media network architecture at Astound focused on network designs, media transport protocols, and fiber network designs customized to meet SMPTE standards and high bandwidth availability. Sullivan has an extensive history and experience in the delivery of sporting events in both international and domestic markets. He started in sporting events in 1994 with the U.S.-based World Cup soccer delivery and distributing remote games and fiber builds at the IBC in Dallas Texas. In 1996, he built and coordinated the U.S. Olympics delivery for CCTV in Atlanta, GA with dedicated optical fiber and satellite delivery backhauls and turnarounds to international markets.

Sean Sullivan spearheaded the adoption of MPG2 broadcast signals over satellite and participated in the terrestrial interface developments of encoded ASI signals integrating teleports with fiber network delivery across the North American market while at Teleglobe. Sullivan subsequently brought that experience to MCI / Verizon and built the first dual rail diverse 10Gig Optical network for a major television network connecting London, Washington D.C., and a major Hub in New York City. Sullivan has brought that experience to Astound, formerly RCN, and implemented extensive optical and media specific network solutions to major stadiums, venues, and studios across the United States. Sullivan is an active member of SMPTE and Video Services Forum and a former member of the VSF Board of Directors.

Adam Whitlock, ESPN, Director, Remote Traffic Operations

Adam Whitlock oversees the daily operation of ESPN’s Remote Traffic department, which is responsible for the acquisition of all live event contribution transmissions for ESPN linear and digital networks, both domestic and international. Since joining ESPN in 2001, Whitlock has provided transmission planning and on-site support to a variety of remote event productions including the Super Bowl, World Cup, World Series, X Games, and NBA Finals, as well as Monday Night Football.

The three-time Emmy recipient also oversees all remote telecom services, managing a voice-over-IP system used to support more than 1,000 remote events annually. In 2014, Whitlock supported the SEC Network launch by designing and implementing a completely fiber-optic video and data network across more than 100 athletic venues within the conference to facilitate unlimited campus productions and ESPN Remote Operations events. In 2019, he launched another conference-wide fiber optic video and data network in support of the ACC Network.

Whitlock is currently focused on seasonal sports and live-from-home production workflows while overseeing more than 70,000 satellite, fiber optic, and IP based transmissions annually.