After 25+ years in Research&Innovation, Operations and Sales&Business Development, Oliver is today in charge of developing international markets as well as portfolio innovation for Fincons Group, a leading international Consulting and System Integration company. Thought leader in the Media sector he’s involved in Digital Transformation, Cloud Transition and Omni-channel Video Distribution, pioneering HbbTV/HybridTV in Europe and ATSC3.0/NextGenTV in the US. His former experience in Energy&Utilities -Researcher for ENEL and Critical Infrastructures Consultant for the European Commission- as also in Public Administration (EC and UN), Manufacturing and Retail, helps now to understand and support the application of Media Solutions to Non-Media markets.

John represents broadcasters, consumer technology innovators, and financial institutions in a wide variety of complex regulatory, corporate, and transactional matters before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He is highly skilled at advising buyers, sellers, lenders, and equity investors on FCC regulatory requirements, playing a leading role in numerous broadcast mergers and acquisitions, complex investment restructurings, and financings. John also has extensive experience counseling television industry clients regarding the voluntary transition to the new ATSC 3.0 television transmission standard and advising a leading consumer technology company on the voluntary transition to all-digital radio. As an industry next generation leader, he received the Bayliss Broadcaster Award for his contributions to the radio industry, and over the last decade has served as a panelist and speaker at various industry events hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and other industry groups.

"SuperFrank" Copsidas is Founder and President of the LPTV Broadcasters Association and CEO of IntrigueTV which owns and operates 10 LPTV Stations. Previous to LPTV, he owned and operated 12 radio stations, managed performing artists and public figures worldwide (including James Brown), and was a leader in transportation, from ground to a charter airline. Frank is driven to embrace new challenges and make them reality.

Guy Hadland is the CTO of UniSoft. He has been employed by UniSoft since February 1983. UniSoft Corporation was founded in 1981, initially working as a Unix porting company, completing over 225 Unix ports to numerous CPU architectures. These included the provision of Unix source code to Sun Microsystems, Inc., and the initial implementation of Apple's A/UX. We have been active with the broadcast industry since early 1997 when we started to work with the ATSC Digital TV Application Software Environment (DASE) standard and subsequently ATSC 2.0 and 3.0. Our main focus is the provision of ATSC 3.0/NextGenTV delivery system components, integration services and data casting solutions. UniSoft is a privately held California corporation with headquarters located in Hayward, CA.

Skip Flenniken, VP & GM, Technology Business Development at Sinclair Broadcast Group, is managing Sinclair’s ATSC 3.0 commercialization efforts. He has worked extensively on the development of a wide variety of ATSC 3.0-enabled business models, spectrum issues, technology solutions, and content opportunities.

In a previous role as Sinclair’s AVP Business Development, Skip served as a finance executive overseeing the creation, development and launch of a wide variety of business models.

Prior to joining Sinclair in 2014, Skip worked as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics and Communications from Vanderbilt University.

A social impact entrepreneur, Erik Langner leads the Information Equity Initiative (IEI), an international nonprofit organization committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of geography or income, has access to high quality, digital learning resources. Founded by PBS member stations and supported by Schmidt Futures, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Endless Network and the Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, IEI works with government agencies, broadcasters, content producers, and funders to efficiently and inexpensively connect homes and facilities via “Datacasting,” which leverages nearly ubiquitous broadcast spectrum to deliver curated and critical information to those who lack access to broadband.

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Prior to co-founding the Information Equity Initiative, Erik was President of Public Media Company (PMC), a boutique non-profit investment bank serving public broadcasters in the United States. During his fifteen years at PMC, Erik managed more than 75 mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships, and co-founded and sits on the board of VuHaus, public media’s first music network. 

Early in his career, Erik was a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco and Kirkland & Ellis in New York City, and also worked at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and the United States Mission to the United Nations Refugee Program, also in Geneva.

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Erik graduated cum laude from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and received his B.A. with Distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Roger is Director, Automotive Connected Mobility in the Global Automotive Practice at TechInsights, and is an advisor to the L.A. Auto Show Automobility forum, the International Telecommunications Union, and the Informa’s AutoTech Detroit event. Roger draws on 25+ years’ experience in the technology industry as an analyst, journalist and consultant. Roger is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

John Lawson is President of Convergence Services, Inc, a consulting firm focused on “techno-political strategy” for spectrum, climate resilience, intelligent transportation, and Next Generation TV (ATSC 3.0).

Through his firm, John serves as Executive Director of the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance, an international coalition of broadcasting, consumer electronics, and professional tech companies. The Alliance is leveraging NextGen TV to develop Advanced Emergency Information.

He’s also co-founder of America’s Emergency Network, LLC, which integrates ATSC 3.0 rich-media with the existing Alert FM network. AEN also is creating AEN-TV, a reality channel based on content generated by emergency managers.

John was one of four signatories to the original Joint Petition that led to FCC approval of ATSC 3.0 transmission in 2017. John served on FEMA’s National Advisory Council IPAWS Subcommittee and graduated from FEMA’s Emergency Management Executive Academy. He was an expert panelist at the White House Earthquake Resilience Summit in 2016 and has served on three FCC emergency communications advisory committees.

As CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations 2001-2008, John led efforts that secured large increases in federal funding for the digital transition of stations, grew education programs, fought for editorial independence, and negotiated the largest digital cable carriage deal in history. Later, he was Executive VP of ION Media Networks and Executive Director of the Mobile500 Alliance. Board service includes the National Association of Broadcasters, the Open Mobile Video Coalition, and Senior Warden of Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.

As just its sixth president in more than 60 years, David has led PBS KVIE since 2008 and is a multiple Emmy award winner. He joined the station in 2001 as a vice president. His prior experience includes positions with a Fortune 500 company, a publicly traded software company, and a venture capital backed software start-up. He has served as a board member of the Public Television Major Market Group and as president of the California Public Television association. He has represented PBS KVIE on the PBS Digital Advisory Council, PBS Development Advisory Committee, and the PBS Communications Advisory Committee. His local community board service includes American Leadership Forum, California Hall of Fame Advisory Board, Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, Los Rios Foundation, Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Sacramento Metro Chamber, and the Sutter Club Foundation. David received his B.A. in English, magna cum laude from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He is an active Vistage member and completed the UC Davis Executive Program, Leadership Sacramento program, and American Leadership Forum. He was named in Sacramento Magazine’s Power & Influence 100, Sacramento 300, and the Sacramento Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. In 2018, David received the Pillar of Public Service Award from America’s Public Television Stations.

Retired electrical engineer with a long career in telecommunications and energy development Jerry is most recently focused on community interest in his home state of Montana serving as Chair of Western Sanders County Television District and Treasurer of the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority.

Career successes includes pioneering broadband Internet technology, conversion of auto retail industry from legacy services to reliance on cloud based infrastructure and transformation of agriculture producers to new energy paradigms. 

Raised on a Montana ranch Jerry still maintains positions in agribusiness.

Madeleine Noland is the President of the Advanced Television Systems Committee Inc. A 15-year industry veteran who is widely respected for her consensus-building leadership style, she chaired the technology group that oversees the ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standard before being named ATSC President in May 2019. Previously, she chaired various ATSC 3.0-related specialist groups, ad hoc groups and implementation teams since 2012.

Noland began her career in the television industry in 2004 with Backchannelmedia Inc., an interactive television technology developer. It was during her work there that she first became involved in ATSC projects. In 2012, she moved on to product and project management roles at Telvue Corp. before joining LG Electronics CTO’s office in 2013. Noland represented LG in a variety of industry organizations for over six years.

Most recently, Madeleine was awarded the prestigious 2022 David Sarnoff Medal by the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) in a ceremony held in Hollywood, California. She has also received TV NewsCheck’s “2019 Futurist” Women in Technology Award and was named one of 2018’s “Powerful Women in Consumer Technology” by Dealerscope magazine. In 2016, while the Chair of TG-3, she received the ATSC’s highest technical honor, the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award recognizing her leadership related to the development of ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV.

Credited on three U.S. patents for television technology, Noland is a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – Broadcast Technology Society. Noland graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts. She enjoys travel, and she plays keyboards in a band called “Brave Pursuit.”

Joonyoung Park is senior vice president and fellow at DigiCAP and DigiCAP has been supplying NextGen Broadcast end-to-end solutions to South Korea and US broadcasters. Joonyoung is the architect of HomeCaster product line where HomeCaster is a ATSC 1.0 & 3.0 home gateway device capable to redistribute both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 signals over Wi-Fi and Ethernet. HomeCaster has been commercially deployed to US schools and has been helping to close so called the homework gap utilizing datacasting. Before joining DigiCAP, Joonyoung had been leading new Internet device development & commercialization at NAGRA, as vice president of engineering for 5 years.

Greg Petrowich is the President & CEO of WFYI Public Media in Indianapolis where he leads a joint licensee with about 90 full-time employees. WFYI operates a full power ATSC 1.0 station and a Low Power ATSC 3.0 station both serving metro Indianapolis the nation’s 25th DMA. In addition to WFYI-FM, WFYI assumed the licenses for WBAA AM and FM in West Lafayette in 2022. WFYI is a content leader in the public media ecosystem with several initiatives that serve local, regional, and national audiences. WFYI houses one of the Midwest's largest newsrooms that includes the Side Effects health reporting collaborative, IPB News, a regional journalism hub for Indiana, and America Amplified, a nationwide partnership with CPB and stations across the country to support community engagement journalism. Before coming to WFYI, Petrowich led WSIU - Carbondale, Illinois; KUAC - Fairbanks, Alaska; and KRCU - Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Ransomware survivor & cybersecurity leader in the public sector. I led the recovery efforts & technological pivot of KQED's systems after a massive ransomware attack on June 15, 2017. In hindsight, the most brutally stressful chapter of my career (so far), and an experience I wouldn't trade for the world.

Working with international broadcasting for more than 10 years and with PBS stations for 10 years. In 2018 I joined CentralCast and have been leading the transformational efforts to assist public broadcasters across the country with their tech challenges and NextGen.

R. Matthew Straeb brings over 25 years of industry experience in mobile applications, broadcast systems and engineering to Global Security Systems, LLC (GSS). His primary responsibilities at GSS, as a principal, is building the Alert FM nationwide alerting network and providing locales with disaster resistant alert systems. Prior to GSS, Mr. Straeb was involved with companies focused on digital media and wireless communications. Mr. Straeb holds a B.S.E.E. from Southern Methodist University and is a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University. 

In addition to presenting lectures, papers and being a visiting professor, he serves on the FCC Communications, Security, Reliability, Interoperability Committee (CSRIC) as a participant and leader with working groups related to Cyber Security, Emergency Alert Platforms and Wireless Communications; NAB and Consumer Electronics Association Joint Venture: National Radio Systems Committee; and is Chair of the Consumer Electronics Association R6WG16 CAP to Fixed/Mobile Device Working Group and Chair of NRSC Emergency Alert and Information Working Group.

Joe Walker, Crispin’s VP of Technology and Product Solutions / Deputy CTO, is no stranger to Broadcast Operations. He started his broadcast career in his local NBC affiliate’s Master Control as an operator before joining his local PBS station as a Broadcast Engineer, with stops in Production, Traffic, and IT along the way.

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His various experiences throughout both commercial and public broadcast operations help him quickly understand customer needs and identify solutions for them. Starting as a Tier 2 Support Technician in 2007, Joe has managed Crispin’s Technical Support, Software QC, Manufacturing, Project Management, and Product Management teams before moving to his current role as the VP of Technology and Product Solutions.

Robert Weller is Vice President for Spectrum Policy at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), a position he assumed in July 2014.  Mr. Weller is responsible for developing and implementing spectrum policy for NAB.

Prior to joining NAB, Mr. Weller served as Chief of Technical Analysis in the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, leading the development of mathematical models relating to electromagnetic wave propagation, frequency allotments, spectrum sharing, human exposure to radiofrequency energy, and other areas.  He played lead roles in the development of rules and policies pertaining spectrum sharing, including the broadcast incentive auction, television white spaces and modernization of interference analysis software.  Earlier in his 15-year FCC career, Mr. Weller was Director of Denver District Office where he was responsible for the agency’s enforcement, engineering, and public relations activities over a five-state area.   

Mr. Weller also worked for 14 years as a senior consulting engineer with the firm of Hammett & Edison, San Francisco, where he advised clients including technology start-ups, broadcasters, wireless companies, and others on the regulated use of radio.  He designed numerous broadcast, satellite, and wireless facilities to technically implement the business plans of clients, and provided expert assistance to local governments to draft model legislation to implement provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Jeff began his career in 1983 as Master Control Operator for WITF (PBS) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Working with his father, Larry Winemiller, and other engineering mentors, he became the lead transmitter engineer for the station.  He left WITF in 1990 to head News Sports Microwave Inc. (NSMI), based in Del Mar, California. NSMI provided microwave equipment and technical support for major sporting events, including the Olympic Games, Goodwill Games, and Tour Du Pont Cycling, as well as custom applications for the FBI and other government agencies. Jeff’s next career move was Chief Engineer of WPMT (Fox) in York, Pennsylvania where he designed and built their first news operation. Jeff left WPMT in 1997 to start his own company, Winemiller Communications.

Most recently, Jeff established Lowcountry 34 Media, LLC to purchase the broadcast license for full-power station WSCG(DT) Ch. 34 in Savannah, Georgia, and nearby LPTV stations. Jeff designed and built the stations from the ground up, including a studio and master control in Beaufort, SC, and transmitter sites in Baxley, Hinesville, and Savannah in Georgia, and Beaufort and Parris Island in South Carolina.  Lowcountry has subsequently purchased or partnered with other broadcasters to build and optimize LPTV stations across the country. He has assisted several broadcasters in building out stations that were in danger of forfeiting their licenses after being off the air for nearly a year. He has also constructed and optimized stations for major television broadcasters such as Gray and Nexstar to support their efforts to convert to ATSC 3.0 operations or to enhance their existing over-the-air services. 

In 2015, the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters presented Jeff with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Here is a link to the interview Jeff gave for that event: (226) Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Honoree - Jeff Winemiller - YouTube.