Judging

CEO, Satellite Broadband Ireland

Kevin Ryan is the CEO of Satellite Broadband Ireland, a company that he co founded in 2008 with Sean Og Brennan, which provides a satellite solution for rural broadband in Ireland. Kevin created the company in 2008 in response to the serious lack of availability of a cost effective rural broadband solution and in 2009 he created a partnership with Eutelsat, the no. 1 satellite company in Europe, to use their Tooway service in Ireland. Satellite Broadband Ireland has to date successfully installed their service in 24 counties across Ireland. Kevin is an active lobbyist to the Irish government in increasing the provision and service of broadband in Ireland and has submitted a green paper in conjunction with his rural partners to the Seanad on the topic. Prior to setting up Satellite Broadband Ireland Kevin worked with IBM Ireland where he held several senior roles within Operations and Strategic Outsourcing. Ryan firmly believes that we now have the opportunity to deliver a fast and reliable broadband solution to all areas of Ireland and their company is committed to delivering upon that promise.

Director of Marketing & Operations, ESET Ireland

With over 16 years experience in business and marketing, Louise joined ESET Ireland in 2001. In 2004 she was appointed Director of Marketing & Operations and has since driven the growth in market share of ESET Security products in Ireland led by its flagship product, the highly acclaimed, ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

Louise has a wide range of experience in commercial enterprise and has gained valuable knowledge both in Ireland and across EMEA. Responsible for all marketing activities at ESET Ireland, she has a focus on growing the online marketing channel which has become one of the cornerstones of the ESET success story.

CEO, ECDL Ireland

Jim graduated from Queen's University, Canada with a degree in Science and Education in 1987. While living in Canada Jim was briefly involved with teaching before moving into sales and marketing with Merck Frosst Canada Inc.

In 1993 Jim moved to Ireland and graduated from University College Dublin with an MBA. In 1994 Jim joined Bioniche Canada Inc. as Business Development Manager and was stationed in Dublin with a brief to develop heir European business.

In 1997 Jim became Chief Executive of ECDL Ireland Ltd. (T/A ICS SKILLS) and has since established the ECDL as the leading computer literacy certification in Ireland.

In 2002 Jim was elected Chairman of the Board of the European Computer Driving Licence Foundation, the governing body for ECDL and ICDL worldwide.

In addition to ICS SKILLS and ECDL Foundation responsibilities in�January 2004�Jim became the Chief Executive of the Irish Computer Society.� Jim served as President of the Ireland Canada Business Association from 1998 to 2000 and is a Member of the MBA Association and Institute of Directors

CEO, doop

Brian is a Podcasting, Blogging & Social Media Consultant with many years experience in radio. With 23 years radio experience and 13 years web development experience with doop he began blogging in February 2003 and podcasting in March 2005. In November 2006 Brian won the first major internet award for podcasting in Ireland when he is awarded the Net Visionary Podcaster of the year, he also won Net Visionary Web Designer of the year in 2004. In March 2007 Brian joined forces with TalkingVoices.com International Podcasting Agency producing podcasts and independent radio content for clients throughout Ireland. Brian's mix of Open Source scripting and Open Community background blends with the practical appliance of business requirements in an ever changing technology landscape.

Director of Online Sales and Operations, Google Ireland

As Director of Online Sales and Operations, Ronan drives Google's online sales and account management for advertisers across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).� Based at our EMEA headquarters in Dublin, Ronan joined Google in 2005 and has�focused on growing the online sales channel for new and existing markets and also launched online operations for Google Checkout. �� Ronan began his career by earning a degree in electronic engineering at University College Dublin, from where he was recruited by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to work at their Information Storage Products division in Japan.� He went on to spend 9 years in Japan working in consulting and technology, and returned to Ireland in 2001 to work in private equity before joining Google.

Rick joined Facebook in June of 2009 as the Head of Mid Market Sales in EMEA. In this role, Rick helps oversee Facebook Europe's expanding advertising efforts with an emphasis on emerging brands, mid size ad agencies and large direct response advertisers. Rick spent seven years starting and leading similar teams for Yahoo! in both Boston and Barcelona, Spain. A native of Boston, Rick currently lives in Dublin with his wife Kim and son Ben.

Eamon McGrane is a freelance media consultant, editor and journalist. He has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Irish Daily Mail, Sunday Business Post, Sunday Tribune and Sunday Independent. In addition he has also contributed to specialist magazines such as Business Plus, Computerscope, Irish Computer and many others.

He has wide experience as an editor and has previously edited magazines such as Irish Computer and AMT for CPG (now Mediateam). Eamon also offers media consultancy services and has worked with companies such as Memory Bank and Logitech. He has also contributed to various TV and radio programmes.

Rachel O'Flanagan has worked in the Irish Film Industry for 12 years, initially with a production company, Treasure Films, and now on an independent basis. She is experienced in developing and script editing feature films, television series and single dramas.

Following an MA in Communication Studies (University of North London) she completed further professional training under the European MEDIA programmes North by Northwest and Arista.

She is currently attached to various television and feature drama projects in development with Irish, UK, Scandinavian and US based production companies and writers.

Produced Irish projects include Rasa� na Gaillimhe; The Running Mate; Showbands 1 & 2; The Clinic; On Home Ground; Home For Christmas.

Clients in Ireland include: Treasure Films, Parallel Films, Subotica Films, Great Western Films, Saffron Films, Wildfire Films, Newgrange Films, Rubicon Films.

Rachel has worked as a guest lecturer in Screenwriting, Film Development and Script Editing at the Huston Film School (NUI Galway: MA Screenwriting); Dun Laoghaire Film School (IADT: BA in Film & Television Production); Film Base (Film Institute of Ireland).

She is a script editor for MA Screenwriting students and occasional panel member for MA assessments at IADT.

She has been a reader for the Film Institute of Ireland Script Awards and for the North by Northwest MEDIA Training programme.

Managing Director, Newmedia

Cameron Ross entered the field of Multimedia and Internet development at the emergence of the industry. Having graduated with Honours in both Visual Communications and Production Design and having originally worked in these industries, he then co-founded Newmedia, a full service�multimedia agency�in 1996. Over the past 12 years Newmedia has developed countless multimedia solutions for clients such as Eircom, Toyota, Enterprise Ireland, Meteor, Allianz, FÁS, Independent News & Media, O2, RTÈ, Eirgrid and SONY.

Cameron has been the recipient of many industry awards including the Golden Spiders (Web Agency of the Year), the Institute of Creative Advertising & Design Awards, the IDI Awards, and the National Internet Business Awards.  He has also acted as a jury member for a number of events including the International Bombay Sapphire Designer Glass Competition and the Digital Media Awards since 2007.

He is an active member of the design community having sat on Council for the Institute of Designers in Ireland for 8 years, recently as President. He is also a member of the Irish Internet Association, was Chairman of the all-Ireland IDI Awards for 5 years and is a former Board Member of Design Ireland.

Managing Director, Digital Audio Productions

Dusty Rhodes is a renowned radio DJ, having worked with 2FM, Atlantic 252 and many other radio stations since the 80'.

In 2002 Dusty saw an opening in the Irish market for a new radio venture and established Digital Audio Productions with a view to developing this business. Since then DAP has successfully created a niche producing high quality syndicated radio programmes.

The quality of the work has been noted at the PPI Radio Awards. In 2004, the Irish language chart show Top 40 Oifigiúil na hÉireann beat national and major regional competition to win the Music Programming Weekly Award. In 2005 DAP was the first independent company to be awarded a nomination for a commercial series on RTE “Net Nanny” which also went on to win accolades at the PPI Radio Awards.

The following year this success was consolidated with a PPI Radio Award win for “CGI: Computers Games Internet - another programme series for national broadcaster RTE. Dusty is currently Vice-Chairman of the Independent Radio Producers of Ireland, lectures for Éist, the Irish broadcast training organisation and most recently was named one of the Most Influential People in Irish Radio by leading newspaper the Sunday Tribune.

Emmet Ryan is a freelance journalist based in Dublin working with several media organisations including, the Irish Times and the Sunday Business Post. He has also recently set up Villa81.com a video-based online review website. Emmet holds a Bachelor of Commerce (International) degree from University College Dublin and a Master of Arts degree in Journalism from Dublin City University. Since 2005 Emmet has worked in a wide range of media including online, broadcast and print journalism. He has written extensively about developments in the internet and how new media is changing our everyday lives and is a regular guest on several national and local radio stations. He is active in charity work having completed the Dublin City Marathon three times in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland. In August Emmet will walk the length of Ireland for this cause.

Aileen O'Toole is Managing Director of internet consultancy AMAS (www.amas.ie), which provides a range of strategic and operational services to business and public sector agencies.

The founder of two businesses, she has been a senior media executive in Ireland for more than 20 years. She is a co-founder of The Sunday Business Post newspaper and was a leading member of the team responsible for building one of Ireland's most successful media brands.

She was a shareholder in the newspaper from its inception in 1989 until 1997, when it was sold to Trinity Mirror plc. She was a Director and Deputy Editor of the newspaper. Previously, she was Editor of Business & Finance magazine and was the first woman to edit a national business title in Ireland.

In 2010 Aileen O'Toole launched and led the Ideas Campaign (www.ideascampaign.ie) a citizens' initiative to harness ideas for economic recovery. The campaign, funded by AMAS, met with a huge reaction, both in Ireland and internationally.

Aileen O'Toole is a board member of a number of non-governmental organisations. She is a director Business in the Community, which promotes corporate responsibility, and is a former director of Chambers Ireland.