Digitalsmiths, the video metadata experts, announced today that former iBHAN, Inc. president Gregory Hodges and Roger Lynch, current executive vice president of advanced technologies at Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation, will join its senior management team and Board of Directors; respectively. Hodges will be taking on the role of new chief operating officer and Lynch will join as a new member of the Digitalsmiths’ Board of Directors. In these roles, Hodges and Lynch will bring a combined 40 years of team management experience to help drive Digitalsmiths’ financial growth and help further the company’s strategic development and operations.
“Given the growth of our company and the strength of our new business pipeline, we need veteran professionals with a strong financial background, a proven track record of growing companies, and a keen understanding of the vastly changing digital entertainment landscape.,” said Ben Weinberger, CEO and cofounder of Digitalsmiths. “Gregg and Roger’s insightful vision and years of experience in business operations will strengthen our company as they can apply a laser like focus to continuing to grow our business in an increasingly competitive market.”
Prior to joining Digitalsmiths, Hodges was responsible for operations management at iBAHN Inc. which provides IP platform based entertainment solutions and high speed Internet solutions for the hotel industry guests and meeting attendees in more than 30 countries.
Hodges was charged with operational responsibility and field revenue generation throughout North, Central and Latin America. Since joining in 2003, he led teams that experienced a doubling of revenue and 27 straight profitable quarters. During his six plus years at iBAHN (formerly STSN) the company was recognized as being one of the fastest growing privately held companies in North America by Inc.
Lynch, currently executive vice president of advanced technologies at Dish Network and EchoStar Corporation, which specializes in creating hardware and service solutions for cable, telco, IPTV and satellite TV companies worldwide, is currently responsible for the development and deployment of new technologies and services utilizing IP technology.
“I am extremely excited to be joining the Digitalsmiths team,” said Hodges. “As the IP-based video industry continues to mature, seamless consumer experiences must be matched by increasingly sophisticated back-end systems which support them – from deep metadata management to personalization of the video experience to multiplatform distribution. Digitalsmiths set the bar high and I look forward to continuing that tradition here.”
“I was drawn to Digitalsmiths because of its technical differentiation,” said Lynch. “The company clearly leads when it comes to offering deep metadata capabilities. This company is the fuel that will power the next generation of search, discovery and personalization. I am eager to be involved in these projects and help Digitalsmiths grow.”
Hodges holds a B.S. in Accounting and Management from the University of Colorado. In the past he has acted as the fundraiser chairperson for the American Heart Association and the chairperson for budget and financing for the National Kidney Foundation.
Lynch holds an M.B.A. from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth where he excelled with highest distinction and received the Leach Prize for Excellence in Finance. Prior to Dartmouth, he attended the University of Southern California where he received his B.S. in Physics.
Digitalsmiths
Digitalsmiths provides the industry’s only studio grade digital media analysis solution with an advanced, time-based metadata framework that empowers digital media companies to distribute premium video content across multiple platforms, open up new revenue streams for film and TV assets, and build audience. To date, Digitalsmiths has indexed over 3,000,000 tracks of metadata across 29,000 pieces of content and more than 200 terabytes of premium video content.
The company’s flagship product, VideoSense®, powers the digital media analytics for today’s leading Hollywood studios, broadcasters, distributors and publishers including Warner Bros., Telepictures and TMZ.com. Digitalsmiths was named one of the "Top 45 Companies to Watch" by Dow Jones, one of the “OnHollywood Top 100” and “OnGlobal 250” by AlwaysOn, "Technology of the Year" by North Carolina's Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), and winner of the "Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards." http://www.digitalsmiths.com/