AdMonster Meetup

Build vs. Buy: The Big Ad Tech Question

May 26, 2015

5:30 pm to 8:00 pm PT

Yelp Headquarters

Why would a company in the digital advertising space decide to build their own tech solutions when the market offers so many options? Then again, why wouldn’t a company want to build something that allows them to differentiate from everyone else? It’s an age old debate that only increases in importance as more focus is placed on both operational efficiency and innovation at the same time. This panel discussion will talk through the pros and cons of both sides and offer best practices from those making these critical decisions. It’ll be a great event for product, operations and their IT counterparts to attend and come away with some ideas on how to tackle this big issue.

Featured Speakers:

 Tony Ralph
Director of Ad Technology
Netflix

Schooled as a software engineer during the internet heyday, Tony eventually realized his calling was not writing code in the isolation of a comfy cube. The desire to interact withprompted him to take on a liaison role with Yahoo’s adserver engineering team. It was here, interacting with sales teams, external partners and industry standards bodies, that he discovered a passion for uniting technical and non-technical audiences in the context of digital advertising. After Yahoo, Tony took on similar consulting and management roles at Google. In his current role of Director of Ad Technology at Netflix, he sits in between marketing and core engineering teams driving global tech decisions and engineering solutions.

Keval Patel
Senior Director of Product Management
Coupons.com

Keval Patel is the Senior Director of Product Management at Coupons.com Inc. where he manages a portfolio of advertising and data products.  He specializes in building unique advertising solutions for audience targeting, reach and performance, by operating a robust data and ad technology stack that activates publisher data from owned and operated and affiliate sites.  Earlier, Keval worked at Yahoo!, focusing on ad effectiveness, publisher yield and analytics for Display and Search.  Keval has a BS degree from the University of York (UK) and an MBA from Imperial College of London. 

Mike Kisseberth
Chief Revenue Officer
Purch

As Chief Revenue Officer, Mike oversees Purch’s multiple advertising revenue streams. Prior to Purch, he was the President and CEO of International Data Group (IDG) Consumer & SMB division, where he led the growth of PC World and Macworld, evolving both to digital media and more than doubling the audience size. He also launched a new brand, TechHive, built a marketing services business “Content Works,” and dramatically expanded IDG’s mobile and paid product offerings. In addition to being a digital advertising innovator, Mike is a sought-after thought leader for new market potential in the digital media space. Prior to IDG, Mike held high-level positions at CNET Networks, serving as SVP, Corporate Sales and Operations, where he led sales efforts and played an active role in implementing business strategies for every brand under the CNET Networks umbrella.

Rob Beeler
Content Czar
AdMonsters 

Rob Beeler is Vice President of Content and Media for AdMonsters and has worked in Ad Operations for over 15 years. Rob oversees the development of content for AdMonsters events and is Editor in Chief for AdMonsters.com. Rob Beeler joined AdMonsters in October 2008 after nearly 10 years at Advance Internet, a leading creator of local news and information web sites across the United States. At Advance Internet, Rob started as the only Ad Operations person and developed a department of 15 people in 8 locations across the country responsible for operations, project management, business development, web analytics and financial reporting, becoming Executive Director of Ad Operations and Analytics in early 2007.  Rob graduated from Syracuse University in 1990 with a dual major in Producing for Electronic Media/English. Rob currently resides in Hazlet, NJ, with his wife Nancy and their three children.