Team
LiveWorld experienced and expert staff provide these services:
- Account management teams, process, and tools
- Community management
- Moderation: standard, topical, programmed; multiple languages
- Value-add day-to-day insight and dedicated consulting projects
Peter Friedman: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Peter founded LiveWorld, Inc. in April 1996. With 20 years experience in the executive offices of Fortune 500 companies, he connects strategic and operating strategies, as well as financial metrics, to community strategy. Peter sets the LiveWorld vision and directs overall operations. He is an executive sponsor for several of LiveWorld’s major accounts, working with clients to define how our services will directly support the client’s business objectives, as well as developing creative concepts for the programs. He is one of the few Internet executives to have launched and managed multiple online services on a global scale. His background is an unusual mix of creative, business, entrepreneurial, and corporate, but has always focused on bringing people together in successful collaboration. Prior to founding LiveWorld, Inc., he was the vice president and general manager of Apple Computer’s Internet/Online Services business unit. He oversaw the creation, launch, and growth of Apple’s online services, including AppleLink, Apple’s global online loyalty marketing and customer support community service, and eWorld, a consumer service based on AOL technology and Internet services such as Salon. During his 12-year tenure at Apple, his responsibilities also included managing Business Systems Marketing and product line management in Apple’s Macintosh division.
Peter holds a Bachelors degree in American History from Brown University, and a Master’s in Business Administration from The Harvard Business School.
Jenna Woodul: Executive Vice President and Chief Community Officer
Also a LiveWorld founder, Jenna’s commitment to online community is both personal passion and company asset. LiveWorld’s strategic community model evolved from her 20 years of first-hand design and management of online social venues. In her role as executive sponsor and consultant for our clients, Jenna oversees the LiveWorld definition of community culture, strategic planning through community development, and the ongoing evolution of the LiveWorld model as it is propelled by technical innovation and customized to specific client needs. She began her online career in 1984 as part of AppleLink, Apple Computer’s business communications service. She was a core member of the team that developed a consumer-oriented version of that system. Known as AppleLink Personal Edition, the project eventually evolved into the service and company that became America Online. While at Apple, she created the eWorld Community Center, which housed the heart of eWorld’s interactivity. She continued to cultivate the model with the millions of users at Talk City, developing the community techniques and the actual talent that now manages communities for LiveWorld clients. (LiveWorld created, owned and operated Talk City from 1996 to mid-2001. With 3-4 million regular monthly users, and one of the stickiest usage patterns on the Internet, Talk City was one of the largest and highest quality Internet community sites in its time.)
Jenna holds a Bachelors degree in Hispanic Studies from Vassar and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of New Mexico.
Chris Christensen: Executive Vice President of Engineering and Operations
Chris directs the development and deployment of technology and operational systems infrastructure required to meet our clients’ goals. He oversees the team that develops our underlying architecture, applications, and tools, and codes our customer-specific implementation. Day-to-day, his roles range from management responsibility to lead engineer and coding on specific client projects. He brings a unique perspective to each client, blending the parameters of the client’s systems’ context with the value-add role of LiveWorld’s platforms and applications, to produce uniquely integrated and powerful solutions. Prior to LiveWorld, Chris managed client engineering in Apple’s Online Service division. He managed the development of a variety of applications and tools for Apple’s Internet and eWorld services, including the Newton email client, Windows and Macintosh online clients, assorted chat management tools, and Web server advertising systems. Chris was also one of the authors of Apple’s QuickTime plug-in, which brought its popular multimedia software to the Web. Previously, Chris programmed and managed application engineering at Momenta, a pen computer startup. He also spent five years creating and managing the simulation for Hewlett Packard’s Integrated Circuit CAD Group.
Chris holds a Master’s of Engineering in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
David Houston: Chief Financial Officer
David Houston joined LiveWorld as the Chief Financial Officer in October of 2006, and is responsible for accounting, resource management, financial transactions, and investor relations. From January of 2001 until September of 2006, Mr. Houston was a private consultant providing financial and merger and acquisition services to clients. From October of 1999 to December 2001, Mr. Houston managed the corporate development activity for the broadband group of Excite@Home, an Internet service provider. From May of 1994 to September 1999, Mr. Houston held various roles within CKS Group, a marketing communications company, where he was a key member of the management team and he focused on developing the management reporting systems, guiding the merger and acquisition activity, leading the international expansion strategy, and managing the world-wide financial planning and analysis.
Mr. Houston holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside and an M.B.A from the University of Santa Clara.
Bruce Dembecki: Vice President Moderation Services
A 20-year veteran in marketing technology development and implementation, Bruce translates our clients' business objectives into technology architecture and operational implementation. His roles at LiveWorld trace back to 1994-as an eWorld community host (a volunteer effort separate from his role at Apple Australia), then managing the Talk City host team, developing our chat technology, designing our event system, and being VP and General Manager of our Live Events business in the late 90's. Bruce now leads our moderation services team to provide clients with the best combination of standards, topical and editorial moderation to meet their needs on a worldwide basis. Bruce spent several years building distribution companies in the Australian IT industry, including Keyway, Allaw Technologies, and his own company, Axon Technology. In these roles he developed regional sales and marketing programs for companies such as Quantum, Seagate, Syquest, Activision, Rasterops and Radius.
Bruce studied Computer Science at Sydney University, Australia.
Trevor Griffiths: Engineering Vice President
Trev brings extensive business experience and over 20 years of leading online and Web-based initiatives to creating solutions for LiveWorld clients. He manages creation of our key client projects-from conception to market, including all phases of specification, design, development, testing, and deployment. He’s also been responsible for specifying, researching, and developing our own platform of products, including LiveWorld’s Platform (in its various applications) and LivePresentation. His analysis of best practices for online support forums frames the LiveWorld focus on customer care and defines our ideal model for it. Trev’s past track record of launching new products includes pioneering the development of AppleLink (the first graphical online system), AppleLink Personal Edition (the first online consumer support system, which later became AOL), and eWorld (online community for Apple users). In addition to his 13-year career at Apple, during which he championed all of the company’s online services, Trev also led the development and launch of a highly scaleable web-based, registered, kids community for Nickelodeon.
Trev has diplomas in Software Design, Software Engineering, Computer & Servo Technology, Electronics, and Advanced Electronic Technology.
Jay S. Bryant: Sales Vice President
Jay Bryant joined the company in 2007 as Sales Vice President based in New York, NY. In this role Jay is responsible for building partnerships with agencies, media companies and Internet developers to deploy LiveWorld's products and services. As an active blogger, Jay has first hand knowledge of the power of individuals to build communities and influence groups.
Prior to working at LiveWorld, Jay has held various roles in business and product development with publishers and software developers. Jay's most recent position was Director of Online Products for TV Guide. At TV Guide Jay developed and deployed one of the largest blogging communities focused on entertainment.
Prior to TV Guide, Jay held positions as Director of Business Development for Educational Testing Service, Vice President of Online Communities at bigchalk.com, Information Architect for Communities at KOZ.com and Manager of Corporate Communications at Freedom Communications.
Jay earned a BA in Photography from Southern Illinois University and spent many years as a newspaper photographer & editor before starting work in community technology in 1996.
Bryan Person: Social Media Evangelist
Bryan Person joined LiveWorld in July 2008. Bryan serves as the lead blogger for LiveWorld’s SocialVoice community. He also connects regularly with online community and social media enthusiasts across the web, and in person at industry events, conferences and meetups.
Bryan is the founder of the Social Media Breakfast series, which began in Boston in August 2007 and has spread to cities around the world.
Prior to joining LiveWorld, Bryan worked as a content producer and community manager for Monster Worldwide. He has also worked as an educational marketer and advisor.
Bryan blogs at BryanPerson.com and Twitters regularly (some would say obsessively!) at Twitter.com/BryanPerson.
Bryan earned Bachelor's degrees in communications and Spanish from Syracuse University, and a Master's degree from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia.
Debbie Dembecki: Director, Client Services
Debbie arrived on the Online Community scene when, as a teacher and assistant principal, she discovered the Internet and the excitement of communicating with other educators worldwide. At the inception of LiveWorld’s Talk City, Debbie created and managed an online educational forum for children and parents. Eventually she also took on the role of managing the development and organization of Talk City’s online communities, including content development and the management of chat room and discussion board moderation. She later developed the company’s Community Management department, focusing on blending the more traditional account manager and customer support roles with the concept of community expert/facilitator.
Under Debbie’s direction, LiveWorld Community Managers have become responsible for the integration of the company’s full range of products and services, using strategies tailored for the unique needs of our customers. Community Managers also serve as the primary day-to-day liaisons with our customers, maintaining awareness of usage patterns, trends, business goals, and appropriate solutions.
Debbie has a Bachelor of Science with dual major in both Elementary and Special Education, as well as a Master’s in Education, from Northern Arizona University
Dan Zaner: Engineering Vice President
Dan combines engineering and business perspectives to create both strategic and tactical solutions supporting the community objectives of LiveWorld’s major customers. A multi-disciplinary member of LiveWorld’s team, Dan has at various points during his time at the company worked in Product Marketing, Engineering Management, Software Development, and Sales Engineering. Prior to joining LiveWorld in 1999, Dan co-founded both DataLAN and Third Planet, an industrial electronics and web database company, respectively. He also spent two years managing multi-million dollar software development projects at Pacific Gas & Electric Company and three years managing computing facilities at Stanford University.
Dan holds a MBA with a concentration in Software Development from the University of California, Davis.
Andrew Oliver, Director of Operations
Andrew is responsible for the management and technical operations of LiveWorld’s extensive 24x7 infrastructure of servers, systems, and networks as monitoring and escalation processes—including aspects of our seamless integration with clients systems and operations models. He ensures that LiveWorld solutions meet our demanding service levels. When the vast Internet brings forward its normal day to day problems, his team is there for rapid response and resolution. Focused on continuous enhancement of the reliability, predictability, security, maintenance and performance of all our services, Andrew serves our company and clients using industry best practices for technology and process engineering/improvement.
Born and raised in England, Andrew holds two advanced Level degrees in Mathematics and Biology. Prior to LiveWorld, Andrew managed the networks for a multi-national software company and traveled all across Europe and the US building the companys network from the ground up.
Cheryl Paul: National
Sales Director
Cheryl is responsible for developing new LiveWorld business, along with the retention and growth of existing clients. She works with clients to assess their business needs and manage the day-to-day aspects of the business relationship. Since joining the company in 2002, Cheryl has been instrumental in bringing on such clients as MINI USA, A&E Television Networks, Fidelity Investments, BEA and QVC. Prior to LiveWorld, she worked as Manager of Business Development at ThingWorld, a CMGI venture that created interactive technologies to build loyalty, brand extension, and website traffic. She has over 10 years of experience in sales and account management in the online technology, consulting, and health care industries.
Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism from Boston University