Holt Joins Mfuse Board

Mobile-enabling technology provider Mfuse has announced the appointment of Bob Holt as Non-executive Chairman. Holt’s appointment follows that of Mark Blandford, the founder of Sportingbet, the online betting company, who joined Mfuse recently as a Non-executive Director.
Holt is Chairman and Chief Executive of Mears Group, in which he acquired a controlling interest prior to its flotation in October 1996. He has a 27-year track record in developing support service businesses, initially in a financial capacity and subsequently in general management.
In addition to his work with Mears Group, Holt spent three years as a non-executive director of Sportingbet. He is currently Chairman of Wyatt Group PLC, the AIM-listed investment company. He is also a director of Unicorn Asset Management and RRF, the investment fund.
Mfuse was incorporated in 2002 to offer clients a reliable and secure way to play, pay and transact using any mobile device. Specifically, its aim is to enable businesses to deploy mobile transactional services across multiple devices and in multiple territories.
“By strengthening the Board and adding Bob’s significant experience, it bodes well for the future and is illustrative of our ambition to become the leading operator in the mobile-enabling sector,” says Mfuse Chief Executive, Marcus Wareham. “Bob has a wealth of corporate knowledge and understanding that will be extremely beneficial to us. We are very pleased that he participated in the recent funding round and the Board looks forward to working with him as Mfuse continues to grow and expand its offering.”

SpinVox Hires Two for Unified Communications Push

Voice-to-screen messaging company SpinVox has announced the appointment of two executives who will lead business development for the company in the Unified Communications market.   
The appointments of Todd Woodstra as Vice President of Global Unified Communications Sales, and Brian Tyler as Unified Communications Business Development Manager, come in the same month as the company announced a relationship with Avaya, a global provider of business communications applications, systems and services.
Woodstra joins SpinVox from Nuance Communications where he most recently led efforts in its Global Network Speech division. Prior to his tenure at Nuance, he held a variety of executive and senior management positions at Scansoft, SpeechWorks International, Williams Communications Solutions, NORTEL, PacTel Meridian Systems and East Coast Telecom.
Tyler joins SpinVox after spending a decade at Nuance Communications, where his role grew as the company acquired multiple competitors in its space. Most recently, he was Senior Global Channel Sales Executive after being promoted from Director of OEM Channel Sales. Other stints in the industry have included business development and sales positions at SpeechWorks International, ScanSoft, PureSpeech and Voicetek Corporation.
“Our ability to convert voice to text in a carrier-grade environment makes SpinVox a natural player in the Unified Communications space and the key component in extending its power to anyone's mobile phone or email account no matter where they are located,” says SpinVox  Co-founder and CEO, Christina Domecq. “Todd and Brian bring nearly three decades of business development experience in the telecom and speech recognition fields to our company and their experience and enthusiasm will ensure SpinVox becomes synonymous with Unified Communications.”
SpinVox recently received $100 million (£50 million) in funding through Goldman Sachs, bringing the total invested in the company to more than $200 million, and valuing SpinVox at $500 million he additional capital will be devoted to further building the global business of the UK-headquartered company that already operates on four continents and has signed deals with 12 carrier networks and intends to double that number during the next year.
The funding will also enable the launch of new conversion services in Portuguese, Italian and other languages, launches with Tier 1 carriers in multiple geographies, as well as further enterprise offerings in the Unified Communications market. 

Digital Veteran Appointed to Ubiquisys Board

Google-backed femtocell vendor Ubiquisys has appointed Scott Kauffman to its Board of Directors. Kauffman brings over 20 years of leadership experience from across the marketing, advertising and internet Industries, including key positions at CompuServe and Time Warner. Ubiquisys says his experience will be invaluable as the company builds relationships with Internet application and content providers.
Femtocells are small consumer devices the size of a paperback book that connect to the home broadband connection. Mobile users benefit from excellent, high-speed 3G coverage using their existing handset, as well as low-cost voice and data and access to a  platform for exciting new services in the home.
“Femtocells give people affordable and dependable mobile broadband at home,” says Ubiquisys CEO, Chris Gilbert. “But the real opportunities stem from how consumers actually use this new freedom, and that's where media content and web applications come in. Scott brings unparalleled experience from the worlds of online advertising and digital media, which will prove invaluable as femtocells drive the convergence of mobile, web services and content.”
In 2006, Kauffman was named President and Chief Operating Officer of BlueLithium, a data-driven performance marketing company, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 2007. He also served as President and CEO of several Silicon Valley start-up companies, including Zinio Inc., one of the biggest global online publishing and distribution services companies, with divisions focusing on digital magazine and book publishing, and of AdKnowledge, one of the Internet industry's first third-party ad servers.
He holds an AB in English from Vassar College and an MBA in Marketing from New York University's Graduate School of Business. He was honoured by Advertising Age in 1996 as one of 20 Digital Media Masters.

Incentivated Picks Cotton

Following a run of recent account wins, mobile marketing agency Incentivated is boosting its Account Management team.
Jo Cotton (pictured), who joined the company in October 2006 as an Account Manager, is promoted to Account Director, overseeing all client direct business. Cotton will be responsible for developing the mobile and digital marketing services the company provides for clients including British Airways, the Central Office of Information, Halifax Bank of Scotland, NHS Choices, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Scottish Power and Visit Britain.
The client direct team will be expanded under Cotton’s leadership. Eleanor Ryan joins as Account Manager and will be responsible for handling day-to-day account business and extending the range of services existing clients use. She will also assist in responding to briefs for new business. Ryan joins Incentivated from off-portal mobile content company, Mediadeck. Incentivated says it is also hunting for new talent to beef up its New Business team, to head its Agency team, and for Account Executives.
“Incentivated has started 2008 with a string of account wins following competitive tenders, which means we need to staff up,” says Commercial Director Robert Thurner. “We are delighted to promote from within, and applaud Jo Cotton for her professionalism in client service and for growing existing business. I am confident Eleanor will prove a valuable addition to Jo’s team and expect to announce further appointments shortly."

GSMA Adds to Board

The GSM Association (GSMA) has revealed that the chief executives of MTS of Russia, SK Telecom of Korea, Telstra of Australia, Telecom Italia, and Zain, which operates in 22 countries, have joined the board of the GSM Association, the global trade association for the mobile industry. Leonid A. Melamed of MTS, Shin-Bae Kim of SK Telecom, Solomon Trujillo of Telstra, Franco Bernabè of Telecom Italia and Dr Saad Al-Barrak of Zain join other high-level representatives of the world's leading mobile operators on the GSMA's 27-strong board.
Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA, believes the outstanding calibre and geographic breadth of the new board members reflects the GSMA's position as the pre-eminent  trade group for the global mobile industry. He says:
“Their wealth of experience and leadership qualities will further enhance our ability to address the many strategic opportunities and challenges arising from the convergence of mobile services, with the Internet, entertainment, computing, financial services and other sectors.”
GSMA is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.
The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 82% of the world's mobile phone users.

Flirtomatic Hires Two

Flirtomatic, the mobile and online flirting network, has expanded its senior team with the appointments of James Stockton as Financial Director and Priya Prakash as Head of Product.  Previously, Stockton worked at iTouch UK (recently bought by Buongiorno). In joining Flirtomatic, he becomes the company’s first full time Finance Director. Prakash joins from Hachette-Filipacchi Digital, where she was Creative Director for Digital. In her time there, she launched Sugarscape, a teenage social bookmarking site for Sugar magazine and re-launched Elle online. Prior to this she was at the BBC as Innovation Executive.
Prakash will be leading product development, helping to drive user revenue and ensuring the user experience of Flirtomatic continues to improve. She has over eight years experience pioneering digital products from concept to delivery for global brands, including leading the BBC Mobile design team, and the BBC iPlayer prototype development, which was commended by Bill Gates for interface design.
Stockton is CIMA qualified and has extensive experience in the mobile entertainment world, with a long standing employment with iTouch and then Ostrich Media.   
“Having the right team is absolutely essential to the future of our business, and I’m thrilled we’ve been able to attract these two,” says Flirtomatic CEO, Mark Curtis. “Both Priya and James are the perfect kind of person we need at Flirtomatic for us to grow. Their expertise in digital and mobile means we can continue to drive revenue while ensuring our product is pushed forward.”

Dewe Takes CEO Role at Fronde Anywhere

Fronde Anywhere, the global provider of mobile financial services and multi-factor authentication solutions, has announced the appointment of Caroline Dewe as CEO. Dewe previously held the position of Vice President for Products and Marketing and was responsible for the company's go-to-market vision and strategy, including the product portfolio roadmap. Dewe takes over as CEO from Dean Johnson, who has stepped down.
“Having been with the company since its inception a year ago, I am delighted to take on the role of CEO,” says Dewe. “Our goal is to empower organisations to successfully enhance their business through mobile technology. I am confident that Fronde Anywhere will continue its strong progression thanks to the strength of its mobile payments, banking and multi-factor authentication solutions.”
Dewe will be supported in the role by Chief Technology Officer, Antony Williams.

Caroline Dewe Interview. Read

Kerr to Lead Bango Web Sales Team

Bango has announced that Adam Kerr, Vice President of its North American operations, is to head up the company's newly-established web sales division as Vice President of Web Sales.
The new division is focused on the mass market opportunity for Bango products, starting with Bango Analytics, which delivers mobile-focused web stats and which, says Bango, is essential for everyone with a mobile website.  Kerr will be responsible for developing new channel and referral programs for Bango, as well as fine tuning the web sales offer for the mass market.
Kerr has more than 15 years experience in the Internet and payments industries. He previously worked at WorldPay, an Internet payment company who were acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland, the world's fifth largest bank. Kerr has played a pivotal role in implementing Bango's North American sales strategy by building and managing a successful sales operation, headquartered in New York. 
“The time is right for the mobile web to become a key element in the world's marketing and advertising ecosystem,” says Bango CEO, Ray Anderson. “With the recent launch of Bango Analytics, and future offerings to come, Bango is well positioned to meet the need for mobile analytics world-wide. I am pleased that Adam will be heading up our sales efforts in this emerging market.”

MMA Reveals APAC Board

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has unveiled its 2008 Asia-Pacific (APAC) Board of Directors. The new board will be chaired by Jimmy Poon of Púca China.
The MMA established its APAC chapter in February 2007, and since then, has launched Mobile Advertising Guidelines for APAC. It is also working on a Code of Conduct and Consumer Best Practice guide for the region. The MMA’s goal is to create a sustainable industry for mobile marketing world-wide.
The MMA APAC Executive Committee members for 2008 include Jimmy Poon, Managing Director, Púca China (Chairman); Matthias Kunze, Director, Mobile Monetization, Yahoo! (Vice-Chairman); John Maguire, Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager, Asia-Pacific, CRE8 (Treasurer & Secretary); Rohit Dadwal, Director Mobile, Platform and One Care, Microsoft Operations Pte. (Director at Large); and Laura Marriott, President of the MMA, plus another 12 elected, founding, honorary and sustaining individuals and companies.
“The Asia-Pacific region is the world’s largest and fastest-growing mobile market, creating enormous opportunities for brands and marketers,” says Poon. “I’m honoured to be able to serve in such a key role in helping MMA members capitalise on those opportunities in 2008 and beyond. 2007 was the first year for the MMA in the Asia Pacific region and I am committed to helping further build on the strong foundation that has been set by the 2007 Board of Directors.”
MMA President Laura Marriott notes that Asia-Pacific continues to be a hotbed of mobile marketing innovation. She says:
“The MMA is privileged to have so many of the companies responsible for that innovation serving on the MMA Board of Directors. The MMA thank Sandy Agarwal, our 2007 Asia-Pacific Chairman, and each of the 2007 board members for their contributions to the association as we launched our Asia Pacific chapter.”
The MMA’s next Asia-Pacific event for mobile marketing, the Mobile Marketing Forum, will be held in Q4 2008. There’s more information on the event here.

Sponge Hires Beverley

Mobile marketing solutions provider Sponge has appointed Jon Beverley as Business Development Director.
Beverley will work alongside Sponge’s Business Development Manager David Alexander. He brings 14 years experience in digital media to Sponge, 10 of which have been spent in the mobile sector.
Beverley recently returned from New Zealand, where he helped build two successful businesses in mobile marketing and mobile banking. Prior to this, he was Co-founder and CEO of Scan Mobile, where he developed and secured mobile solutions for clients such as Home Retail Group (Argos), Orange, Vodafone and several retail banks, including HSBC. Before that, Beverley built, ran and subsequently sold his own new media consultancy. 
“Jon joins Sponge to help deliver on our expansion plans for 2008 and beyond,” says Sponge Client Services Director, Douglas McDonald. “His deep knowledge of the mobile and interactive sectors will go a long way towards helping our clients achieve the kind of results that are possible when using mobile as a central part of their marketing and business processes.”

TVi Expands Mobile Capabilities

TVi Media, an advertising sales company specializing in direct response television, interactive and mobile media, has hired two mobile marketing industry executives to help expand its capabilities in the mobile space.
Molly O’Brien joins the company as East Coast Mobile Specialists from Ipsh! Where she was Vice President of Sales, and played a key role in leading the company’s entry into the broadcast and cable network space. In her new role, she will work closely with TVi CEO John Andariese, and with Jeff Norman, President of Interactive and Mobile Technologies, to service the company’s mobile and interactive clients. 
Charles Edwards has also joined TVi as Emerging Technologies Specialist. In his new role, he will be charged with identifying and evaluating emerging technologies at the very early stage of their development. Prior to TVi, Edwards worked in web design, specializing in information architecture. Like O’Brien, Edwards also worked at Ipsh! where he was a Senior Project Manager, involved in building partnerships, sales engineering and project management. Before Ipsh!, he was an Operations Manager at Thomson Financial's webcasting division.
In addition to expanding its internal mobile capacity, TVi recently announced a long-term distribution relationship with mobile marketing company 5th Finger. As part of the agreement, 5th Finger will integrate its technical and strategic marketing expertise with TVi’s current offerings, to connect brands, media, and content with mobile marketing tools designed to engage consumers where, when, and how they prefer.

Rubberduck Appoints Komonen as COO

Scandinavian Mobile TV company Rubberduck Media Lab has appointed Jussi Komonen to the position of Chief operating Officer. Komonen was hired by Rubberduck in January from TeliaSonera, where he was Head of the TeliaSonera Medialab.
“I’m very satisfied that we’ve hired Jussi,” says Rubberduck CEO, Ola Svartberg, “He  has rare business and product experience from the development of Mobile TV services in TeliaSonera MediaLab. Skilled and committed employees is one factor that makes Rubberduck succeed with  big operator accounts such as Telenor, Hutchinson 3 and NetCom and broadcasters like BBC and NRK. Jussi will strengthen the supply chain and secure the coordination between sales and operations teams.
Komonen  says he has been impressed by Rubberduck’s dedication to technical excellence, and service quality.
“Rubberduck is a dynamic and quickly growing company operating successfully in a highly competitive market,” says Komonen. “I am very excited to join this team of extremely skilled professionals dedicated to delivering the best Mobile TV experience globally.”

Yomego Hires Campbell from MTV

Interactive entertainment company Yomego has appointed Dan Campbell, formerly Head of MTV Flux, as Senior Planner. Yomego enables broadcasters, brand and media owners and their agencies to build communities through virtual worlds, social media, UGC and digital personalisation. The company’s white-label entertainment platform, launched in 2007, seamlessly delivers interactive services to mobile, web and TV channels.
In his new role, Campbell will be responsible for developing new products and services. Prior to joining Yomego, Campbell worked at digital agency Wheel, and at Flextech, which has since become Virgin Media. For the past seven years, he has worked with  MTV Networks UK in Ireland.
Campbell’s appointment is part of a move by Yomego to build the company’s presence within the media and entertainment market. Yomego currently works with a number of media and production companies, including MTV, GMTV, CSC Media and Viacom, and says it is looking to expand that business further through the deployment of virtual worlds, social networks, user-generated content and avatars.   

Montanaro To Head Up Jamba

Mobile entertainment company Jamba has named Mauro Montanaro as its Chief Executive Officer. Montanaro joins Jamba after more than a decade at Nokia, where he most recently headed mobile phone sales and channel development for the South East Asia Pacific region.
Jamba, a joint venture between News Corporation and VeriSign, serves 35 territories around the world with a wide array of mobile products and services. It also houses the assets of Fox Mobile Entertainment.
Commenting on Mr. Montanaro’s appointment, Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation says:
“Mauro’s considerable experience in developing mobile content channels and services will be a huge asset as Jamba continues to expand its reach and offering. Over the past few months, COO Lee Fenton has done a terrific job in moving the company forward and we think we’re in a position today to make a significant impact on the global wireless market. We look forward to building on that success and believe Mauro and Lee will make a first-class management team.”
Montanaro says he is thrilled to be joining Jamba at a point in its evolution where the company has a real opportunity to influence the future of mobile entertainment.
“The global market for wireless entertainment is exploding and we have the unique ability to produce, market and distribute mobile content and services globally,” he says. “It’s an enviable position and I look forward to working closely with Lee and the teams in Los Angeles, Berlin and around the world to capitalize on it.”

Microsoft Hires Peters

Microsoft has announced the appointment of Todd Peters as Corporate Vice President of Marketing for its Mobile Communications Business. In his new post, Peters will be responsible for driving marketing efforts for Windows Mobile, one of the fastest-growing businesses at Microsoft; Windows Live for mobile; and other mobility brand offerings related to product planning, product management and campaigns, and marketing communications.
Peters joins Microsoft from office supply company Staples, where he was Vice President  responsible for brand management and all US retail technology marketing. He was behind the development of the Staples ‘Easy’ brand concept that was instrumental in driving sales. It was also Peters’ idea to sell the Easy Button through retail outlets to raise money for charities such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America. 
Before joining Staples, Peters spent six years at Intel Corporation, where he was responsible for setting global brand strategy. He developed the brand architecture for the Intel family of processors that helped upgrade the chip manufacturing company’s market image. Before that, he spent 11 years with Hal Riney & Partners advertising in San Francisco, where he led the launch of the nation’s first true PCS offering for Sprint.
Peters will report to Pieter Knook, Senior Vice President of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft, who says:
“This is an exciting journey for Microsoft’s mobile business. With Todd’s winning combination of technology and consumer experience, he’s absolutely the right person at the right time as we expand in appeal to a broader audience.”

Ad Veteran Joins Celltick Board

Idle screen marketing specialists Celltick Technologies has announced two key appointments to support its continued growth. Paul Twivy has been appointed a member of the Board of Directors, while Stacy Fassberg has been appointed VP of Marketing.
The new strategic appointments have been made as Celltick continues to build momentum for its product Live Screen™ Media, now deployed by over 25 operators globally. The platform broadcasts targeted marketing messages across the idle screen of mobile phones, turning the handsets into a series of personal interactive billboards. With a reach capacity of 200 million users, generating over 35 million monthly transactions, Celltick says the medium provides brands with untapped, targeted access ,and operators with new revenue streams.
Twivy has been made a Non-executive Director and will provide strategic direction for the company in the rapidly-evolving mobile advertising marketplace. During his 27 year career, Twivy has started two communications agencies, run some of the largest and most successful advertising agencies in Europe including JWT, Bates and McCann Erickson, set up Marketing at the BBC and been heavily involved in some ground-breaking charity and public service initiatives. He is also a Non-executive Director of The Partners, WPP’s flagship design agency, and is working with the UK Prime Minister on social initiatives. He says:
“This is one of the fastest growing technology companies in Europe and it's operating in possibly the most dynamically evolving market there is right now. I’m very much looking forward to supporting the continued growth and success of this pioneering company. I am fascinated by the challenges of mobile marketing and advertising.”
Fassberg joins Celltick with over 10 years of telecommunications experience, most recently from AxisMobile where she was responsible for corporate brand development and management, analyst and public relations, product marketing, marketing communications and market research as VP Marketing. Previously, Fassberg was Associate VP, Corporate Marketing, at Comverse.
Fassberg started her career in the US, where she gained over 10 years experience in the direct marketing industry. She has worked in leading communications agencies, including Grey Advertising and Young and Rubicam, and achieved the position of VP Strategy for Harte Hanks Direct. In her new role, Fassberg will support the worldwide expansion of Celltick and be responsible for guiding the company's marketing strategy and activities. She says:
“I’m excited to be joining Celltick’s management team. Celltick’s unique combination of landscape intelligence, marketing appreciation and cutting edge technology assures success. The company is prospering, and I look forward to meeting and exceeding our goals.”
In 2007 Celltick announced its strategic shift from a license-based business model to a managed services one to expand its reach and increase revenue. Celltick was also ranked second in the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Awards. 

Actimagine Strengthens US Presence

In what it describes as “a significant strengthening of its presence in the United States market”,  Actimagine, developer of the patented software video codec Mobiclip, has announced two key appointments to its senior management team.
Nancy Allan has joined the company as Vice President, Operations and Business Development, while Sharad Huilgol has been appointed as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development. Actimagine says their arrival at the company will strengthen the its presence and comprehensive support service to customers in North and South America. Their competence in promoting the Mobiclip video compression software solution throughout the Americas will develop new business relationships with mobile device manufacturers, wireless operators and video content providers.
Allan has more than 15 years of experience at high technology companies in a variety of sales, marketing, and business development roles. Prior to joining Actimagine, she spent two years in a strategic business development role for a leading worldwide localization company where she spearheaded new account development and successfully launched a new wireless technology and interactive game division.
Previously, she was Director of Carrier Relations, for Europe and Latin America, where she handled the worldwide management of wireless content strategy and acquisition for a top tier wireless social networking website. In this role, she implemented strategic account contracts for mass market penetration of premium SMS content for mobile phone and Web2Phone Internet-based products.
Huilgol has more than 15 years of experience in the mobile market. He founded WiMonx LLC, a start-up focused on wireless multimedia. Prior to this, he spent 11 years working for Nokia in a variety of engineering, industry standards, business development and marketing roles.
Huilgol was responsible for setting up Nokia's India CDMA operations, successfully launching Nokia CDMA with multiple operators in India and Bangladesh. He has been granted a US Patent for system access algorithm during emergency calls.
Both Allan and Huilgol will be based in the company’s San Diego office in California, and will report to Actimagine President, Americas, Henri Linde.
“This is an exciting time for Actimagine as we look to meet burgeoning international demand for our Mobiclip application,” says Linde. “As the home location for many of the world’s leading studios and content providers, the US is key to our global development strategy. The addition of two seasoned industry veterans gives us the skills and experience we need to significantly expand our business in the Americas and to capitalize fully on the entire range of opportunities available in the US market.”

Miyowa Hires de Kruijf

Miyowa, which specialises in mobile Instant Messaging (IM) client software, has announced the appointment of Jos de Kruijf as Chief Operating Officer and President. de Kruijf will report to Pascal Lorne, CEO and Co-founder of Miyowa. de Kruijf has been involved in the company as a board member since December 2006. He will now lead Miyowa’s product planning, customer operations, sales, strategic partnership, and design and development teams.
de Kruijf has extensive entrepreneurial experience within the IT industry and an impressive background in management of top-flight companies such as Adobe and  Nortel Networks. After founding Software.com Europe, he built Openwave EMEA from the ground up. More recently, he was Managing Director, European Operations of Desktop Standard. Prior to joining Miyowa, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager at mobile email company, Seven Networks International. 
“I decided to join Miyowa because its technology is one of the most promising in the mobile industry,” says de Kruijf. “Its track record and client list are already very impressive in the mobile IM and presence space, which is effectively still only in its infancy. This sector is set to grow further and mature in 2008. I will do my utmost to strengthen Miyowa to bolster its world leading position.”
Miyowa CEO and Chairman Pascal Lorne adds:
“Since its creation in 2003, Miyowa has had four fantastic years and the future looks set to be even more promising.  This second phase of growth will see Miyowa reinforce its team with all the necessary experience and skills. We welcome Jos, whose background and high-level experience with mobile operators will be key in our continued success.”
Miyowa plans to reinforce its sales team in the coming weeks by hiring area sales managers in Europe and Asia.

Gordon Takes OpenCloud CEO Role

OpenCloud, which supplies in-network application servers for next-generation convergent telecommunications services, has appointed Jeff Gordon to the position of Chief Executive Officer, with immediate effect. Gordon, who was appointed Chairman of OpenCloud's board of directors in June 2007, succeeds Stephen Newton, who continues on the board as a Non-executive Director, and will be actively involved in a business development capacity.
Gordon has more than 28 years industry experience, and an outstanding track record, having held executive leadership roles with large corporate entities in the telecoms sector. The company says his strong operational and management skills will strengthen OpenCloud’s position as a significant global player in the next-generation telecoms network application server market.
Previously, Gordon headed up Motorola's EMEA infrastructure business, for which he was responsible for 1,400 employees and $1.6 billion (£815 million) in annual revenues. Prior to Motorola, Gordon chaired the Unisys European management board. He has spent the last eight years working specifically in the telecommunications sector building software businesses such as Axiom Systems, which provides service delivery solutions to the telecommunication industry, and Celltick which provides mobile content discovery and marketing solutions, and where Gordon remains as Chairman.

Ward Takes O2 Music Role

O2 UK has appointed Matt Ward as Head of Music for O2 UK. Ward joins O2 from Mobix Interactive, where he was Head of the Consumer Proposition team, responsible for the creation, development and management of consumer-focused mobile live services. At O2, he will be responsible for music strategy, music services and the continued successful management of all the music customer propositions for O2 UK.
Prior to his time at Mobix, Ward worked was Business and Digital Manager for UK independent music label, Kickin Music. He was responsible for covering all online and mobile deals for Kickin as well as day-to-day day label management. Ward also has experience in record label licensing and compliance, having worked as Music Licensing Consultant for MCPS-PRS.
“Having successfully established ourselves in the digital music space, and with the integration of music services into sponsorship properties such as The O2 and O2 Wireless Festival, Matt’s appointment will further strengthen the delivery of new and engaging content for our customers,” says Grahame Riddell, Head of Content at O2 UK. “Matt joins O2 with a strong and vibrant background in both mobile content development and the wider music industry. We are extremely excited about having Matt on board and are confident he will ensure O2 customers continue to have access to the latest in digital music on the mobile.”

Medio Strengthens Management Team

Mobile search and advertising solutions provider Medio Systems has appointed Eugene M. Kuerner as Vice President of Engineering, and Cheryl Scott as Vice President of Carrier Deployments.
As Vice President of Engineering, Kuerner will be responsible for enhancing Medio's current technology platform, as well as producing the next generation of mobile search and advertising solutions. He will also oversee Medio's development team. 
As Vice President of Carrier Deployments, Scott will manage Medio's deployment team, responsible for efficiently deploying search solutions for operators such as Verizon, T-Mobile USA and T-Mobile International.  Both Scott and Kuerner will report to Chief Operating Officer, Rob Lilleness. 
“We are pleased to add Eugene and Cheryl to our team at this exciting time in our company's growth," says Lilleness. “We continue to expand our leadership position with more tier-one carrier partners than any other search provider, while pioneering in mobile search and advertising. Cheryl and Eugene both have excellent track records for delivering results and in-depth knowledge in their respective areas, allowing us to continue to expand and excel in 2008 and beyond.”
Kuerner's background includes more than 20 years of product development experience, including 11 years of senior software development leadership, technology management and business development. As a General Manager at Microsoft, Kuerner led technical teams for MSN.com and Live.com. Prior to Microsoft, Kuerner managed software development teams at The Walt Disney Company and Sun Microsystems. He earned a Master of Science in Engineering Management and Computer Engineering from the
University of Santa Clara, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical and Computational Sciences from Stanford University.
Scott has more than 25 years experience in delivering software solutions to international companies, with 14 years of senior leadership in software design and operational excellence. As a consultant to Universal Electronics, she drove multiple releases of award-winning embedded consumer products for mobile platforms, helped develop the company's product strategy for Nevo, and managed development relationships with partners including Hewlett-Packard.
Prior to Universal, she served as Vice President of Internet Services Group at Trilogy and held management roles at Microsoft, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Execucom Systems. She earned an MBA in Management Information Systems from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois.

Staas Takes Ad Infuse Marketing Role

Ad Infuse, which specializes in delivering highly-personalized mobile ad experiences, has announced the appointment of David Staas as the company’s Vice President of Marketing. Staas brings more than 12 years of experience in the mobile, broadband and high-tech industry, leading product management, market development and product marketing teams. 
Prior to joining Ad Infuse, he ran the global product marketing organization at Openwave Systems. He was responsible for a broad portfolio of products, generating over $400 million (£203 million) in annual business with leading mobile and broadband telecommunications providers in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He led the market and launch strategy of many of the company’s most successful business lines, ranging from messaging to mobile content to mobile clients. Working closely with operators, Staas co-founded the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group, and has served as Chair of the Wireless Committee. 
Prior to joining Openwave, Staas worked in the management consulting practice of Deloitte Consulting, as well as in brand management with the Coca-Cola Company. He holds a B.A. in Architecture from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. 
“We are very fortunate to have David join the Ad Infuse team, as he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in creating, leading and executing successful marketing programs,” saysAd Infuse CEO Brian Cowley. “We are excited to be expanding our marketing department with this new position and believe that David will be exactly what Ad Infuse needs, as we continue to grow rapidly and position ourselves as the most effective mobile advertising solution in the ecosystem.”
Staas himself says he is excited to be joining a company that has established itself as a leader and innovator in the mobile advertising market. He says: “With brands increasingly looking for richer media advertising solutions, and the need to make advertising a relevant and positive experience for consumers, Ad Infuse is uniquely positioned to deliver this next wave of industry growth. I’m looking forward to joining such an experienced management team, and extending Ad Infuse’s position as the leader in personalized advertising experiences across all mobile media formats.”

Stonham Takes Miyowa Marketing Role

Mobile Instant Messaging (IM) company Miyowa has appointed Scott Stonham as Vice President of Product Marketing. A seasoned technology marketing professional, Stonham has held various positions at major companies including Vodafone and Qualcomm Europe.
Stonham joins Miyowa from Openwave Systems where, as Marketing Director, he was primarily responsible for defining and driving the company’s strategies for location-based services (LBS) in EMEA and the global strategy for mobile advertising. 
Prior to this, Stonham held the position of Senior Marketing Manager at Qualcomm Europe, working with mobile carriers including Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefonica, SFR, O2, Telecom Italia, H3G and WIND. Stonham led the market insertion and business development activities for Qualcomm’s gpsOne Assisted-GPS product line in EMEA. He was responsible for positioning Qualcomm as a leader in location technologies and driving the mobile adoption of GPS and Assisted-GPS.
“Scott’s broad technical background, extensive mobile experience and marketing talent, makes him the ideal choice for Miyowa, says Miyowa CEO, Pascal Lorne. “In his career, he has been responsible for implementing and driving numerous winning product marketing initiatives with international reach. We are delighted to have him on board.”

AdMob's Buckley Takes Senior MMA Position

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), which represents more than 500 companies across the mobile ecosystem, has announced the appointment of Russell Buckley, European Managing Director of AdMob, as Vice Chairman of the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Chapter. He replaces dotMobi CEO, Neil Edwards. Buckley, also a current EMEA Board member, was unanimously chosen to assume the position as Vice Chairman. He will take an active role in fulfilling the MMA EMEA’s charter to build a sustainable ecosystem for the mobile marketing industry in the EMEA region, while protecting the consumer experience. He has already begun fulfilling his role by leading the EMEA board meeting in Vienna last week.  “It’s a great honour to be appointed to this position with the MMA,” says Buckely. “I look forward to taking an active role in growing the mobile marketing industry in EMEA as well as globally, and building the MMA’s already fantastic work in the region.” Buckley will be working directly with Vodafone’s Head of Mobile Advertising, Richard Saggers, who chairs the EMEA board. Saggers says: “Russell Buckley is a welcome addition to the team. We look forward to putting his expertise and knowledge to good use in the further development of the mobile marketing industry in the EMEA region.”

TAXI Calls Up Muhlstock

TAXI New York has appointed its Client Service Director, Rich Muhlstock, to the newly-created role of General Manager at TAXI Content, a service launched in August for TAXI clients in Canada and the US. Muhlstock will report to TAXI Content President, Daniel Rabinowicz.
TAXI Content’s purpose is to find new ways to connect brands with consumers in all media, whether online, over mobile phones, in videogames or via other media. Designed and overseen by Rabinowicz, TAXI Content conceives and implements these new approaches using internal TAXI resources, or by partnering with outside vendors. Muhlstock, based in New York, was TAXI New York’s first hire, and has a firm understanding of TAXI’s philosophy and approach to solving client problems.
“With his nearly 20 years as a marketer, working on both agency and client sides, Rich understands how to turn ideas into reality,” says Rabinowicz. “Rich also has experience working in evolving media, having led marketing efforts for web and mobile content innovators.”
TAXI New York President John Berg adds:
“Making Rich General Manager of TAXI Content is a direct reflection of TAXI New York’s commitment to helping clients connect with consumers in new and powerful ways. Rich brings, to this important role, a passion for and understanding of new media.”
TAXI Content works closely with Chokolat, the branded entertainment and television production partner of creative agency TAXI. Since its launch nearly four years ago, Chokolat has produced branded and non-branded content products for clients including ESPN, Nike, Viacom, MSN and the NFL Network.   

SpinVox Hires Wilks

Voice-to-screen messaging company SpinVox has appointed Beverly Wilks to the role of Vice President Consumer Marketing, North America. Wilks joins the company as SpinVox builds its global brand with consumers and invites the world to “speak freely” through its industry-leading voice-to-screen applications. She joins the company after a successful tenure at OZ communications, where she led marketing and communications efforts and  strategic marketing relations with companies such as AOL, AT&T, Bell Canada, Gap and Virgin Mobile USA.
Prior to her role at OZ Communications, Wilks managed marketing and communications efforts for Adacel, a simulation software and air traffic management solution provider, and before that, for VIPswitch and Memotec.
“The SpinVox brand has been built by stealth for the past four years as we’ve honed our technology and integrated our voice-to-screen services with telecommunications carriers around the world,” says James Scroggs, VP Consumer Business at SpinVox. “The time has now come to directly raise the awareness of consumers on how voice-to-screen can dramatically improve efficiency and productivity in existing applications like voicemail or allow users of Web 2.0 applications like Facebook and Twitter to ‘speak in the moment.’ Beverly is the ideal candidate to drive these efforts in North America.”
Within the past year, SpinVox has launched services in North America with Cincinnati Bell and Sasktel. Between now and the end of the year, the company says it will launch services with Rogers in Canada and Alltel in the US. Around the globe, the company has formed relationships with Vodacom, Skype, Vodafone Spain, Six Apart and Telstra.

Acision Hires Tech Veteran

Acision has announced the appointment of Louis Corrigan as Chief Technical Officer. As CTO, Corrigan will be responsible for defining and communicating Acision's technology strategy. The company supplies messaging and bulling services to over 300 network operators and service providers worldwide. 
Corrigan has over 25 years' experience in the telecoms industry, and has spent the last few years as CTO at Accuris Networks. Prior to that, he held the position of CTO with both Mobile Cohesion and Logica Mobile Networks, where he was responsible for the development of technical strategy and the introduction of new products and technologies. He has also held senior technical and consulting roles in Aldiscon, PKI and Retix.
Having worked within the telecoms industry for so long, Corrigan has been involved in the definition, standardisation, development and initial deployment of many network technologies. His experience includes extensive work with mobile operators to evolve new ideas, and with industry bodies including ETSI, the WAP Forum, OMA and 3GPP. Corrigan was also heavily involved in the development and deployment of the first commercial SMS products.
“Over the past few months, our new investors have been working hard to ensure Acision is equipped to continue to serve its customers and take advantage of the opportunities the market presents, says Acision CEO, Rory Buckley. “Louis will be driving Acision's technology strategy as well as supporting our global customers with his valuable experience. I am very pleased that Louis has joined the executive team, bringing his wealth of market expertise to Acision." 

AdMob Hires Scott from Google

Mobile advertising marketplace AdMob has added to its executive team by hiring Kevin Scott, a former Engineering Manager at Google. While at Google, Scott held leadership positions in both search and advertising.  At AdMob, he will be responsible for managing both the software and hardware infrastructure, which currently enables over 1.5 billion targeted mobile banner and text ads each month.
“We are thrilled to add a proven technology leader to our management team”, says AdMob Founder and CEO, Omar Hamoui. “Kevin brings deep experience building advertising solutions that maximise targeting and quality. Adding Kevin to our team empowers us to aggressively address the challenges of targeting and optimization for the mobile environment.”
As Senior Engineering Manager at Google, Scott led the ads quality team’ engineering efforts, focused on improving the relevance of ads to users and increasing ROI for advertisers.  He won the Google Founder’s award for his early work as an engineer on automating quality assessment of ads. He also directed teams responsible for improving the value of search results for users. His time at Google also included M&A work for two successful acquisitions; establishment of the annual Google Faculty summit; and the creation of a number of leadership development and engineering education programs.
Scott took leave from the Computer Science PhD program at the University of Virginia to join Google in 2003. Before this, he was a visiting researcher and instructor of computer science at the University of Goettingen in Goettingen, Germany. He is the recipient of an Intel Foundation Ph.D. Fellowship, and an ACM Recognition of Service Award.

SpinVox Hires Kirkland

Voice-to-Screen messaging company SpinVox has announced the appointment of Jim Kirkland as Director, Corporate Development, Mergers and Acquisitions. Based in San Francisco, Kirkland will assume global responsibility for strategic transactions, with the emphasis on incorporating advertising relationships in the voice messaging marketplace, enterprise engagements, and cable and wireline partnerships.
“SpinVox is at a critical moment in its growth as a global corporation,” says Christina Domecq, SpinVox CEO and co-founder. “Jim’s depth of experience in creating relationships spans the carrier, content and technology space. To date, we’ve only scratched the surface of the potential for applications of voice-to-screen services. He will provide new depth as we expand into new arenas.”
Kirkland previously served as the Executive Vice President, Strategic Development and General Counsel for Covad Communications Group. There, he orchestrated strategic agreements with EarthLink, AT&T and Verizon. Prior to Covad, he held a similar position with the broadband wireless Internet provider, Clearwire Technologies. Before Clearwire, Kirkland was a partner at Washington D.C. based Mintz Levin, one of the largest communications law practices in the US.

Nuance Hires Miller to Drive Growth

Speech and imaging solutions company Nuance has appointed Steve Miller as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Nuance EMEA. Targeting existing and emerging markets, Miller will work closely with Nuance partners, customers and prospects across EMEA to capitalize on new growth opportunities and drive further adoption of speech and imaging applications. 
Miller has 20 years experience in the software industry, demonstrating consistent success in business start-ups, turn-arounds and established Fortune 500 companies. He has driven exceptional growth with blue-chip enterprise organizations including Oracle Corporation, Siebel Systems and Macromedia/Adobe.  His experience spans both European and international geographies, and extends across direct sales and two-tier distribution/reseller business models with particular focus on key verticals including finance, telecommunication, eCommerce and mobile.
Nuance has made two major moves in mobile in the past six months. In May, it bought mobile voice technology company VoiceSignal Technologies for $293 million (£144 million). VoiceSignal offers speech-to-text, text-to-speech, voice recognition and voice-activated mobile search solutions. Then in June, Nuance acquired Tegic Communications, the company behind T9 predictive text, for $265 million. 
“Steve brings to Nuance the necessary and relevant skills and experience to further grow the Nuance business across EMEA and accelerate the pace to which we will become a billion dollar company,” says Don Hunt, Nuance Senior VP, Worldwide Sales. “I am confident that his fresh insight and proven leadership will complement the knowledge and experience of his colleagues at Nuance, and create new opportunities for the company. At the same time, Steve will continue to emphasize customer service and deliver value to our regional customers and partners.”

Sponge Hires Saville

Mobile marketing solutions provider Sponge has appointed Kate Saville as its new Projects Director. Saville joins Sponge from Intext Media, the telecoms, TV, radio and print consultancy group. Here she held the role of Account Director and was responsible for key services including the vote lines for the BBC’s Restoration Village programme and other prime time TV projects.
Saville has over eight years experience of handling interactive campaigns for media clients, and has worked with all UK terrestrial broadcasters as well as major publishing groups such as Associated Newspapers and the National Magazine Company. As Projects Director at Sponge, she will head the team that oversees development and implementation of client projects.
“Kate joins Sponge as the company is working on numerous high profile brand projects for clients including Northern & Shell, Birds Eye and Vodafone,” says Sponge Client Services Director, Douglas McDonald. “Her management experience of detailed ‘mission critical’ activities will make sure our projects continue to run smoothly and are delivered on time."

Bubble Motion Hires Clayton

Voice SMS company Bubble Motion has appointed Tom Clayton to the position of CEO. Clayton was previously the worldwide General Manager for BEA Systems' Telecom business. The appointment comes as Bubble Motion expands rapidly in response to high customer demand for its services.  As CEO, Clayton will be responsible for defining the company's strategy and leading its global expansion.
Clayton was appointed to the role based on his track record of success across a number of high profile leadership roles and his ability to thrive in entrepreneurial positions. In his various roles, Clayton has consistently succeeded in rapidly building loyal, high-calibre organisations which capitalised on high-growth markets.
“Tom's appointment is great for Bubble Motion and for the whole of the Voice SMS market,” says Gaurav Garg, who specialises in semiconductor and systems investments at Sequoia Capital. “Tom has consistently delivered incredible results and growth in numerous early stage markets and he understands the dynamics of the global telecom market extremely well. Looking at the quality of the management team and the technology that they are pioneering, I think it is fair to expect great things from Bubble Motion."
Clayton himself says he admires Bubble Motion “for having the vision and skills to create and grow a new sector in the way that they have.”

Fjord Hires Mobile Innovator Lindholm

Digital innovations and design consultancy Fjord has appointed Christian Lindholm, a renowned innovator in the mobile and mobile Internet space, as a Director and Partner in the business.
Lindholm is known as the father of the Nokia Series 60 user interface, and is the inventor of the Nokia Navi-Key, one of the most widely deployed mobile user interfaces, with over 600 million units sold. He will bring his extensive experience and know-how to help grow Fjord’s consultancy business and steer the company's incubation activities.
Lindholm joins Fjord from Yahoo!, where he served as Vice President of Global Mobile Products, overseeing the development of Yahoo!’s mobile services. At Yahoo!, he helped to take Yahoo! Go from first- to second-generation, making major concept and experience overhauls and evolving it to the now well-known Carousel design. He also drove the creation of the FIFA World Cup services, most notably the alert and mobile website.
Prior to joining Yahoo!, Lindholm spent 10 years at Nokia, where he and his team worked in partnership with Fjord to create the Nokia Lifeblog, a multimedia diary automatically created on the user’s mobile phone and archived on their PC. Lifeblog allows users to share desired moments on a blog from either their mobile or PC and now comes as standard on all Nokia N-Series devices. Lifeblog has since been hailed as one of the first true convergence products in the mobile space.
Lindholm also  co-authored ‘Mobile Usability - How Nokia changed the face of the mobile phone’, a vivid insight into the processes and working methods that enabled Nokia to revolutionise usability, and holds several patents in user experience and mobile software. He also appears regularly on conference platforms around the world sharing his thoughts on strategic developments affecting the mobile and mobile internet industries.
“In his former roles at Yahoo! and Nokia, Christian was a long-term customer of Fjord” says MD and Founder, Mike Beeston. “He has an incredible track record and a visionary perspective that will enable us to reach new levels of digital innovation and design. He will strengthen our offer to businesses looking for a strategic understanding of digital media and the design of world class solutions and will be a key driver behind our own ventures.”

O2 Hires Thompson

Mobile operator O2 has announced that it is to appoint Gav Thompson as Head of Brand Strategy, with effect from 29 October 2007. Thompson replaces Tim Sefton, who has been appointed Senior VP Strategy & Development for O2 Group. Thompson will report to O2 Customer Director Cath Keers, who is also responsible for business strategy, communications and business development, reporting to O2 UK Chief Executive Matthew Key. Thompson has had a 13-year career in ad agencies in London, New York & Sydney. In 2004, he set up SHOP, a communications agency which includes Mercedes-Benz, Christian Aid and Invesco Perpetual among its clients. He began his career at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, where he rose to lead the team which created the Guinness ‘Good things come to those who wait’ campaign. While Managing Partner of TBWA\London, he was responsible for the successful global launch campaign for PlayStation 2, as well as looking after 3, Absolut, Strongbow, Red Stripe and Ask.com.
“O2 are clearly the thought leaders in their market space” says Thompson. “The opportunity to help shape one of the great brands of the 21st century is hugely exciting, and I can't wait to get cracking."

Enpocket Hires Saatchi Director

Mobile marketing company Enpocket is expanding its European office with the appointment of Rebecca Jones as Director of Client Solutions. Jones will lead Enpocket’s focus on providing brands with end-to-end, turnkey mobile advertising solutions.
As post-click innovation becomes more crucial, the company says, the Enpocket Platform enables clients to deliver a large variety of mobile mechanics, including display advertising, in the browser, as well as messaging programmes, and have their campaigns analysed and optimised through one system, ensuring maximum advertising effectiveness and the highest ROI experience.
“Our brand advertiser clients are looking for one enabler to help them plan, create, execute, measure, and optimise their mobile programmes,” says David Barker, Managing Director for Enpocket EMEA. “As brands evolve out of the test phase and begin to embrace mobile advertising, we are pleased to have Rebecca’s depth of experience to help clients maximise the channel’s potential."
Before joining Enpocket, Jones was Regional Director at Saatchi and Saatchi and responsible for the Procter & Gamble account, originating all marketing initiatives across TV advertising, interactive and direct marketing. Jones was also one of the first graduates of Martin Sorrell's three-year WPP Marketing Fellowship.
“Enpocket is the one company in the mobile space that has the ability to realise truly integrated programs across all mobile formats,” says Jones. “That’s why we’re outperforming the sector. With a $10 billion (£5 billion) mobile advertising market being predicted by 2011, it’s great to join a company that focuses on delivering real return on investment through targeting and optimisation.”

Dialogue Unveils New Management Team

Mobile agency Dialogue Communications has announced a new management  structure and new managing director, Dr. Guillaume Peersman. The announcement comes as the company celebrates its most successful financial year to date, with year end turnover and profit the highest in the company’s 13 year history.
As managing director, Peersman will be supported by Simon Bury, who has been appointed as new Chief Operating Officer, and by Head of International Sales, Miguel Sousa. Company founder, Hugh Spear, 47, is overall Chief Executive Officer across Dialogue Communications in the UK and Australia.
The restructuring was in part previously planned by Paul Griffiths and Hugh Spear, who pinpointed this management team as the group to drive the company forward, and now following Paul’s tragic death, the team has been put in place to continue the company’s success.

FoneStarz Hires Voda Content Chief

Mobile content company FoneStarz Media has bolstered its operator business with the appointment of former Vodafone Australia Head of Content Keith O’Brien to the position of Senior Vice President/General Manager Operator/On-Portal.
O’Brien arrives fresh from Vodafone, where he was the driving force behind the company’s successful content business, firstly as Head of Music at Vodafone UK and then in his last post as Head of Content at Vodafone Australia. He has been tasked with enhancing the company’s growing global operator business by developing its 42 current channels and leveraging its content portfolio to expand the company’s extensive global network.
“For the last five years in my position at Vodafone I have been a customer of FoneStarz and I have seen the company’s profile and recognition as a market leader prosper” says O’Brien. “I’m delighted to join the company at a very exciting time and I look forward to building on its past successes and extending its customer network in both new and existing international markets”.
FoneStarz Chief Commercial Officer, Grant Smuts says O’Brien brings substantial depth and breadth of experience to the operator side of the company’s business.
“He has been instrumental in building and managing successful operator portals and his vast experience will enhance our ability to drive our core business forward” says Smuts.
FoneStarz’s Operator/On-Portal business line sits alongside its Brand Enablement and newly formed D2C divisions, the latter of which saw the recent launch of kazzip and Mobilicit.

3 Hires Middleton

Mobile network 3 has appointed Guy Middleton as Head of Corporate Communications, reporting to Hugh Davies, 3’s Director of Corporate Affairs. As Head of Corporate Communications, Middleton will be responsible for managing the 3 press office and developing an ongoing proactive communications programme.
Middleton joins 3 from Mobile magazine, where he was Managing Editor.
“I’m excited Guy has agreed to join our team” says Davies. “In the past 12 months we have launched some ground breaking products and services, including X-Series and its associated flat rate mobile broadband package, so we needed to ensure the person we brought on board had the right skill set. Guy has invaluable knowledge of the mobile sector so is well equipped to help drive our story forward. He has a great reputation in the market and we’re very pleased to have him on board.”
Middleton says he’s delighted to be joining “the real innovator” in the mobile space.
“3 is driving change and stands out from the competition” he says. “It’s an exciting time to join and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Dialogue Hires Lovell

Mobile specialist Dialogue Communications has appointed Steve Lovell as Head of Technical Services, to support the company’s growing client base. Lovell, joins Dialogue from Orange, where he was Head of Support Operations for seven years, responsible for multimedia technical operations and services. During one three-year period at Orange, all services within Lovell’s remit achieved 100% uptime. Prior to Orange, he worked for BT as Service Operations Centre Manager, where he oversaw technical support teams responsible for all live NHS services provided by BT.
“I am really looking forward to working with a team of people that already have an excellent reputation in the mobile arena,” says Lovell. “One of my main objectives is to further develop Dialogue’s technical infrastructure and procedures, in order to continue to improve platform and service reliability. My other main focus is to provide the best possible customer service to new and existing customers as well as meeting and forming good relationships with Dialogue customers.”
Dialogue MD Hugh Spear says Lovell will be an integral part of helping drive the business forward. He says:
“Steve’s technical knowledge and expertise will help continue to improve Dialogue’s reliable platform, and ensure we continue to provide a great service to our customers”

Telecom Express Hires Pitt

Interactive services company Telecom Express, which provides SMS and IVR services provider to the media sector, has appointed Matthew Pitt to the newly-created role of Digital Director. The role will see Pitt spearhead the development and roll-out of a range of new digital services for Telecom Express’s extensive media owner client base.
As more people migrate to media brands online, a growing body of research and experience is revealing a range of additional services for which people are prepared to pay a fee. Such paid for content has high value to the user, which in turn strengthens their loyalty and engagement with the media brand as well as delivering significant incremental revenues to the media owner.
Telecom Express numbers amongst its clients such media companies as Guardian Media Group, News International, Telegraph Media Group, The Scotsman Publications, Financial Times, Five, the BBC, The Spectator and Time Out.  The company manages a variety of interactive audience services for these media industry players, an existing track record which the company says will be greatly expanded into new digital products and services under Pitt’s leadership.
Pitt has over twenty years experience in media and digital consultancy. Prior to joining Telecom Express, he was Founder and Managing Partner of Generator Consulting, the digital management consultancy division of UK digital media agency, i-level, which he set up in April 2002. Generator provided strategic advice and consultancy services that assisted a range of leading UK and global businesses to increase the effectiveness and revenues from their digital assets. 
“My personal experience has a strong emphasis on both understanding media brands and working with them at a board level to enhance their effectiveness and revenues online” says Pitt. “The opportunity to combine these skills in an environment where I can direct and influence the actual digital product produced for media owners was too good to turn down.” 
Telecom Express CEO Damon Russell adds:
“Matthew joining us as Digital Director is crucially important to the direction in which we are taking the company. Although we have been, and will remain, media-agnostic when it comes to enhancing the customer experience, there is no doubt that new web and mobile services are where much of the development is happening currently with media brands. Matthew will be able to take the initial developments that we have already created with our clients, and rapidly extend this area of our business.”

ZAC Toons Hires Basson for Partner Role

ZAC Toons, an animation studio that produces premium entertainment properties for mobile, online and TV, has appointed Nicki Basson as lead Account Director for the company’s international and local partnerships. Her core role will be to oversee and manage relationships with ZAC Toons’ mobile, TV and online partners, and to help develop ZAC Toons’ properties, and the company’s marketing strategy.
Before joining ZAC Toons, Basson was at Warner Bros. Entertainment, where she managed the mobile pan-European marketing campaigns with key operators and aggregator partners. Prior to this post, Basson was an Account Director at Stream, the branded entertainment company, where she looked after clients such as Orange, Philips and Red Bull. She began her career at Music Innovations, a music and sports marketing agency that executea Pepsi’s music and football marketing strategies and promotions.
“Nicki is a proven and informed industry player and her mixed background of new media, entertainment and mobile is a perfect fit for our company as we continue to launch more of our entertainment properties such as Mr Patel, Cheeky Devil and Bitter Barney on more and more mobile, online and TV channels” says ZAC Toons, Managing Director Troy Zafer.
Commenting on her appointement, Basson says:
“I was very impressed by the quality and originality of ZAC Toons’ properties and the team’s commitment to creating characters with a long term strategy in mind rather than simple, short term gain. I look forward to bringing my digital & mobile marketing expertise to the mix to help build on ZAC Toons’ current and future successes.” 

Incentivated Appoints Cray to Fish for New Business

Mobile agency Incentivated has appointed Steve Cray as its first Sales Director. Cray will develop the company’s sales strategy and lead three teams handling new business sales, client direct and agency account management. He will also play a key role developing sales training and recruiting new talent.
Cray joins Incentivated from GCap, where he was Head of New Media and Digital, managing 54 websites and five digital radio stations. At GCap, he devised and implemented the new media sales strategy across the entire group.
“Steve joins at a critical stage in our company’s expansion” says Incentivated Commercial Director Robert Thurner. “We aim to provide the market’s best client servicing to match the mobile solutions we’re creating and implementing for our clients. I am confident that Steve’s experience and extensive network of contacts will help us achieve this goal."

Sponge Appoints Cotton

Mobile marketing solutions provider Sponge has recruited former 12snap MD Emma Cotton, who joins the company with the core remit of overseeing key client accounts. Cotton comes to Sponge from 12snap, where she has worked since 2001. She has a lot of experience of running large on-pack promotions for major FMCG brands, including McDonald’s, Carling, Tango, Pepsi, Walkers and Kellogg’s.Prior to joining the industry, she worked client-side as Sales Planning Manager for Renault UK.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Sponge” says Cotton. “I have always respected the company’s business approach and admired its success in the mobile marketing industry. I will be helping to expand the company’s client base and enhance Sponge’s offering to large brands through their agencies.”
Sponge currently has a staff of 21 working in technical, commercial and account management roles. The company works with agencies, media groups and network operators to create worldwide campaigns for clients such as Coca-Cola and publisher Northern & Shell.   
“Appointing someone of Emma’s experience and capabilities is great news for Sponge and its clients,” says Sponge Chairman Alex Meisl. “Emma will be instrumental in helping us achieve our aggressive growth targets going forward."

Lilleness Takes Medio COO Role

Mobile search and advertising company Medio Systems has appointed technology veteran Robert P. Lilleness to the position of Chief Operating Officer. He will report to president and CEO Brian Lent.
Lilleness joins Medio from Universal Electronics, which develops software, firmware, chips, and consumer products for mass-market deployments in the cable and satellite, consumer electronics, computing and telecom industries, where he held the position of President and Chief Operating Officer.
During Lilleness's tenure, the company fortified its technology, tripled its patent portfolio, shipped over 100 new products, and expanded to serve other industries. As a result, revenue grew rapidly from $104 million in 2002 to over $230 million in 2006 and earnings more than doubled, resulting in a tripling of the company’s stock price.Today, it is estimated that around 250 million people use Universal's technology around the world.
“We are excited to have Rob join the Medio team," says Lent. “His experience developing and launching consumer technology and digital media products to millions of end-users, combined with his stellar experience with scalable, high-availability systems will benefit all areas of the company's operations."
Prior to his stint at Universal, Lilleness served as Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at Trilogy Software a which develops enterprise-class, e-business software for Global 2000 corporations. Lilleness was also on the initial team that built the Windows Networking business at Microsoft where he served in a number of management roles. He was responsible for shipping multiple versions of Windows NT Server and helping to build the Windows networking business to over $500 million in sales. Lilleness started his career with Ernst and Young in Zurich, Switzerland.
“With more than 3 billion cell phones in the world and expanding network capabilities, Medio's leading technology in mobile search and advertising well positions the company to enrich millions of consumers mobile phone experience," says Lilleness. “It's great to be part of a company that is taking mobile to an entirely new level."

Gordon Takes Opencloud Chair

OpenCloud, which supplies open standards-based application servers for the deployment of next-generation convergent telecommunications services, has announced the appointment of Jeff Gordon as Chairman to help drive the company’s commitment to world-class delivery of robust, mature and proven infrastructure software to large telecom operators.
OpenCloud recently raised $10 million (£5 million) of venture capital investment from Advent Venture Partners, Motorola and No. 8 Ventures. Gordon will build on this, and the increased demand for OpenCloud’s Rhino platform, to consolidate the company’s position as a significant global player in the next-generation telecoms network application server marketplace.
Gordon has more than 28 years experience and an outstanding track record in holding executive leadership roles with large corporate entities in the telecoms sector. His previous experience includes a spell chairing Unisys’s European Management Board, and heading up Motorola's EMEA infrastructure business, in which he led 1,400 employees, and was responsible for $1.6 billion in annual revenues. He is Chairman of Axiom Systems, which provides service delivery solutions to the telecoms industry, and also chairs Celltick and Pallasium.
“We are very excited to have a industry luminary like Jeff join OpenCloud,” says Stephen Newton, OpenCloud CEO.  “The appointment of Jeff to the Chairman’s position fills a strategic leadership role in the company. Jeff’s experience will be particularly valuable in helping us to drive channel partner relationships, and to effectively manage the rapid growth of the company.”

Weisz Moves Up

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), has promoted Rob Weisz to the position of Director of Wholesale Billing Products and Services, where he will be responsible for the strategic commercial development and success of Mobile Billing products, including premium and non-premium SMS, MMS, WAP Billing (Payforit) Video and Voice shortcode services.
Weisz, joined MIG in March 2005 as Commercial Partnerships Manager. In the past two years, he has built a significant business where his sole purpose was to build, service and manage relationships throughout MIG’s Wholesale business.
MIG has built one a robust, reliable and high-speed European mobile application platform, and now also offers access to the Irish, and US markets. Moving into 2007, MIG says it will continue to invest heavily in this area with new products being launched, including a new, high-speed, interactive platform called MIDAS – Mobile Interactive Delivery Application Solution.
“Rob is an outstanding asset to the MIG business and has built a strong reputation for first class customer service and delivery” says MIG MD, Barry Houlihan. “He has signed some very impressive contracts and a number of new partnerships are in the pipeline. This promotion reflects his ability to manage a major P&L in the MIG business. We have already expanded the sales and technical account management teams and plans are in place to continually grow our business again this year.”

MIG Hires Beasley

Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), the multimedia mobile interactive services provider, has hired Dan Beasley as Account Manager to maintain and build stronger relationships with UK network operators and handset manufacturers.
Prior to joining MIG, Dan worked at BlueStar, where he was in charge of numerous campaigns, including the ‘Motored Square Event’, a high profiled Scissor Sisters gig in Trafalgar Square where he oversaw the management and implementation of the ‘Text to Win’ concert ticket competition mechanic and the build of the WAP site – a  first for WAP redemption of competition tickets. 
Other clients included The Sun, where Dan headed up the day to day management of all mobile campaigns implemented in the newspaper group; and Motorola, where he successfully delivered the David B