Who We Are

John Battelle

Bob Berenson

David Senior

James J. Finn

Darell Smith

John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor and author who has founded or co-founded scores of online, conference, magazine and other media businesses. Battelle is Founder, Chairmen, and CEO of Federated Media, a company committed to the highest quality independent voices, communities and conversations representing more than 100 of the most respected social media properties on the Web. Prior to founding Federated Media, Battelle co-founded and continues to serve as Executive Producer of the Web 2 Summit conference, as well as "band manager" with BoingBoing.net.

Battelle recently wrote The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture (Penguin/Portfolio), an international bestseller published in more than 25 languages. He created Searchblog, a daily site which covers the intersection of media, technology and the Internet. He is an expert in the field of search and has appeared on many national and international news channels such as BBC World News, CNN, PBS, Discovery Channel, CNBC, etc.

Battelle was named a "Global Leader for Tomorrow" and "Young Global Leader" by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He was a finalist in the "Entrepreneur of the Year" competition by Ernst & Young and has recently been named an "Innovator—One of Ten Best Marketers in the Business", by Advertising Age and one of the "Most Important People on The Web" by PCWorld.

Bob Berenson retired as Global Vice Chairman in February of 2005 after a 40-year career with Grey Global Group, one of the world's largest communications holding companies, operating over eighteen companies in marketing communications disciplines including media, direct marketing, internet marketing, public relations/public affairs, healthcare marketing and sales promotion. Its largest company, Grey Worldwide, included the largest advertising agency in the United States.

Since leaving Grey Global Group, Berenson has had an active consulting practice in diverse fields. In late 2007, WPP hired him to create the first completely integrated global communications agency and build it from the ground up to handle their client, Dell Computers. In the Food Service Industry, he has consulted for large, quick service chain restaurants, fine dining restaurants as well as individual chefs. Berenson is also a member of the Board of Directors for Tranzact, a leading customer and lead generation company and Adap-TV, an online video ad management company and he is on the Executive Advisory Board of Gryphon Investors, a private equity firm based in San Francisco. Berenson also teaches Integrated Advertising and Marketing Communications to MBA students in the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College (CUNY) in New York City.

David Senior is the Founder of Pronaia Capital Partners, Ltd. and serves as the Company's Chairman and CEO. Prior to the formation of Pronaia, he was the CEO of Yamagata Corporation, a multi-national investment enterprise, from 1995 to 2005.

Senior's professional experiences also include engagements as a Vice President at both The Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation and Bank of America. At Mitsubishi, he was responsible for Pacific Rim business development and investment banking.

Senior serves as a Director of FLP, Japan, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, and he is fluent in the Japanese language. Senior also serves as a Director of Town and Country Bank in St. George, UT, and BCI International in Lawrence, Kansas. He teaches International Business as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

James J. Finn is chief communications and marketing officer and a member of the advisory board at Groovy Corporation, a leading provider of parallel SQL processing software that enables real-time applications for the Live Web. In this role, Mr. Finn is responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of global external public relations programs, including accountability for media relations and executive communications, industry analyst relations and presenting a relevant and differentiated global brand.

Finn brings to the BriefLogic advisory board extensive corporate communications experience gained over the course of a distinguished executive career in blue-chip high technology, financial services and automotive companies. Most recently, he was vice president of corporate communications at Avaya, Inc., a leading provider of communications solutions. Finn led the communications efforts taking the company private in 2007, when it was sold to private equity firms, SilverLake and TPG, for $8.2 billion.

Prior to joining Avaya, Finn was vice president of communications at IBM Americas. Prior to rejoining IBM, he was vice president of Worldwide Corporate Communications at Oracle Corporation, where he led the communications strategy for Oracle's successful acquisition of PeopleSoft, the largest and longest-running hostile deal in technology history.

Darrell Smith, along with partners Jon White and John Dahlin, founded and built Dahlin Smith White, Inc. (DSW) into one of the premier technology advertising agencies in America. DSW developed brands for such clients as Intel, Iomega, Minolta, Ask Jeeves, Novell, and WordPerfect. Started in 1985 in Darrell's Orem, UT basement, DSW grew to employ 250 people in offices in Salt Lake and San Francisco by 2000. Most notable is DSW's work from 1990 to 2000 for Intel. The "Intel Inside" program established Intel as one of the ten most valuable brands in the world, according to Financial World's 1993-96 rankings.

Because of the growing global needs of its clients, Smith, White and Dahlin sold majority ownership of DSW to the Paris-based EURO RSCG network in 1996. Smith left full-time involvement with DSW and EURO in 1999. Since then he has consulted and has been an owner and investor in several entrepreneurial ventures. A Journalism graduate from the University of Utah, Darrell also earned a master's degree in Advertising from Northwestern University. Smith has taught advertising courses at BYU, and has lectured to entrepreneurial and marketing students at the BYU School of Management, the University of Utah, and Utah Valley University. Smith has also served on the National Advisory Board of the BYU Museum of Art.